If keeping your toilet bowl clean is a task, you don’t need to purchase every specialty item in the cleaning section or use harsh chemicals. Instead, turn to a simple, natural cleaner that’s already in your kitchen: vinegar. It’s an affordable cleaner to keep handy, not only for cleaning your coffee machine, cutting boards, shower doors, and windows, but also those stubborn stains and odors in your toilet bowl. Mineral deposits like calcium and magnesium, bacteria, and mold settle on the waterline, leaving rings as they build up over time. The acetic acid in vinegar can break down and dissolve those rings, as well as hard water stains, rust, and limescale, leaving a much cleaner and better smelling bowl behind. It’s also effective at killing some bacteria, viruses, and even mold. Follow these tips for cleaning your toilet with vinegar.
How Often To Clean Your Toilet Bowl
Clean your toilet bowl every week to keep stains, mineral deposits, mold, and bacteria from building up. You can also do a quick daily refresh for bathrooms that get heavy use.
Considerations Before Getting Started
When cleaning with vinegar, make sure the room is ventilated. You should also wear gloves when cleaning to avoid extended contact with vinegar. Though safe, it can lead to skin dryness and irritation. You’ll want to let the vinegar soak in the toilet bowl long enough to break down any buildup, so you may want to get it started before moving onto other tasks. You can use either the regular white distilled vinegar that you cook with or 5 percent cleaning vinegar, which needs to be diluted for use. Regular vinegar can be used alone.
Warning
Never mix vinegar with bleach, ammonia, or harsh chemicals because it will create harmful fumes.
What You Need
White vinegar or cleaning vinegar
Toilet brush
Paper towels
Baking soda
How To Clean A Toilet Bowl With Vinegar
Pour 2 cups of vinegar into the toilet bowl.
Let it sit for 30 to 60 minutes so it will dissolve stains and grime.
Use a toilet brush to scrub inside the bowl, including under the rim.
Flush the toilet to rinse the vinegar out.
How To Clean Toilet Bowl Rings With Vinegar
For toilet bowl rings, lower the water level in your toilet by turning off the water supply valve behind the toilet and flushing it.
Soak some paper towels with vinegar and layer them over the surface of the toilet bowl. Let them sit for 30 minutes.
Remove the paper towels and throw them in the trash. Do not flush them or you may clog the toilet.
Turn the water valve back on. Scrub the bowl with a toilet brush, then flush to rinse the bowl and allow the water level to return to normal.
Removing Stains From A Toilet Bowl
To get rid of tough toilet stains, add the power of baking soda. After pouring vinegar into the toilet during the cleaning process, sprinkle the vinegar with ½ to 1 cup of baking soda and allow it to bubble. Let it sit for 15 minutes before scrubbing with a toilet brush, then flush to rinse.
For tougher stains, use a pumice stone. Wet both the pumice stone and the surface where the stain is, and gently rub the pumice over the stain in short strokes until the stain is gone. Since the pumice can scratch some surfaces, only use it on porcelain toilet bowls and not plastic seats or polished fixtures.
Tips For Keeping A Toilet Bowl Clean Longer
Keep up with bathrooms that see heavy use by sprucing them up between cleanings. Give the bowl a quick swish with some vinegar and a toilet brush, then flush.
Flush the toilet after every use to keep the contents from sitting too long and causing stains.
In bathrooms that aren’t used often, make sure to flush the toilet occasionally to prevent buildup around the water’s surface.
Don’t clean with a dirty brush. Soak the toilet brush in vinegar or a bleach and water mixture each month to disinfect it.