Keeping your bathroom in tip-top-shape inevitably includes the chore no one ever wants to do: Cleaning your toilet. Getting this job done isn’t rocket science, but there are a few tips and tricks you can add to your cleaning routine. Frequent cleaning doesn’t take too much work, and you’ll have a squeaky-clean toilet for longer if you go the extra mile. Freshen up your cleaning routine with a few of our tips – we’ll go through everything from the basics of cleaning your toilet bowl and cleaning the toilet seat to getting rid of tough stains and grime.
To clean your toilet properly, we recommend working from the inside out. That way, any drips or splashes (ick – we know, bear with us here…) which escape the bowl can be cleaned up at the end and you’re not doing twice the work you ought to be. Sound good? Let’s get started.
Firstly, get all the gear you need. Toilet cleaner, a toilet brush, and disinfecting wipes are usually part of a household’s cleaning supplies. However, we suggest going the extra mile here for the best way to clean your toilet. Get a pumice stone for cleaning brown stains on a toilet and elbow-length rubber gloves. (You can see where this is going, and while it's not glamorous, it's certainly effective).
Now, add your toilet bowl cleaner to the bowl and give it a good scrub with your toilet brush. This gets rid of any yucky residue, meaning that at least it is clean on the surface before you get a little closer. For really tough stains in the bowl, let the cleaner soak for a bit and do its thing. While this is happening, give the seat a good wipe down with the disinfectant wipes. Then, lift the seat to get at the rim and give it a proper wipe down, too. You’ll want to get some toilet cleaner under the rim as well to remove limescale or other build up from hard water. You may find that you get stains in the toilet from where the water flushes out – this is normal wear and tear, but you can correct the staining with regular cleaning.
Rinse the toilet bowl by flushing it a few times. You can also rinse your toilet brush by holding it into the water stream of the flushing toilet. You should now have a clean toilet bowl, seat and toilet rim. Now we’ll get to the expert stuff.
Grab your gloves, because this is where you need to get up close and personal with your porcelain throne. Have you spotted stains or toilet ring in your toilet? It happens. Cleaning these kinds of stains from your toilet needs extra work, but you won’t need to do it often if you use an automatic toilet bowl cleane. We recommend Soft Scrub® Duo-Cubes In-Tank Automatic Toilet Cleaner which helps fight toilet ring, hard water & limescale stains
If you can turn off your toilet’s water and drain it, do so, but you can clean your toilet just as well with the water still there. Put on your gloves, grab your pumice stone and get started on any stains there may be, both under and above the waterline. The minerals and chemicals in your water may add to discoloration, as well as urine deposit build up – sorry, but that’s a thing. Pumice is an ideal alternative to steel wool (too hard and could damage the porcelain) and sponges (too soft and won’t get the job done).
Tip! If you’re a little more squeamish (totally understandable), then you can also try and find a pumice stone on a stick, which acts like a toilet brush for stubborn stains.