Add a little vinegar to the bowl and scrub away stains with your toilet brush once weekly. Since you'll likely have hard water buildups in your toilet tank, a monthly vinegar application up top can keep the whole system clean. If you don't want to use vinegar, citric acid is dynamite against hard water buildups.
Pouring acidic cleaners down the toilet can help you prevent hard water stains and mineral deposits. Some people recommend lemon juice, but the most reliable and affordable product to use is white vinegar. Each month, pour a cup of white vinegar into the toilet tank. Leave it for 30 minutes before flushing it.
White Vinegar in the Toilet Tank
Cleaning the toilet tank isn't fun. But if you have a little vinegar and a lot of time then you can just let vinegar do all the work. Now that you have the knowledge, it's time to clean your toilet tank. You might even want to add it to your cleaning schedule.
Cleaning professionals and plumbers recommend cleaning with vinegar to remove buildup and stains from toilet tanks and other surfaces. Mix it with baking soda, however, and you could damage your tank and plumbing.
Cleaning your toilet tank is pretty quick and easy with vinegar and baking soda. You only need to do it once or twice a year, and it can help get rid of bacteria, mold, and mineral deposits to keep you and your family healthy.
Vinegar is a natural acid that can dissolve calcium deposits. You can pour vinegar into the toilet bowl and let it sit for a few hours before scrubbing with a toilet brush.
Vinegar is a great toilet cleaning solution. Not only is it free of chemicals and naturally antibacterial, it's also an acid, so it will remove minor lime and calcium deposits. All you need to do is pour a couple cups of vinegar in your tank and let it sit for an hour or so, then scrub and flush to rinse.
Preparing to Clean the Toilet Tank
"The biggest don't when it comes to toilet tanks is bleach—do not use bleach or products containing bleach inside the tank, as it can corrode the internal parts of your toilet. If you are aiming to remove tough stains from the tank, I also recommend white vinegar diluted with water."
White vinegar and baking soda in equal parts is a cost-efficient and effective means of getting rid odors in a toilet. Add them to the tank, mix them in and then use the toilet brush to gently scrub the tank. Let it sit for a few hours, scrub the tank again and flush.
If the clog still seems to be intact, start over at step 1 and repeat the process a couple of times. For extra-stubborn clogs, you can let the fizz mixture sit overnight or combine this method with plunging.
The water tank can get filthy for a variety of reasons, and may get dirty even if the bowl may still look shiny clean. If you find water in the tank that is very dark black color, it's likely to have elevated levels of manganese in your water supply. If there are brown stains, it is probably from iron in your water.
According to Abrams, an ordinary bar of soap placed inside a mask, a net, or any other porous material should be a perfectly safe way to keep a toilet bowl clean when you flush it. But there are a few caveats to consider.
Use Vinegar & Baking Soda
White vinegar is a natural solution that can be utilized to dissolve calcium buildup. Sitting overnight, you will be able to remove lime buildup from the drain while avoiding the harsh chemicals in traditional drain cleaners.
A frequent cause of smelly drains and dirty toilets are urine sediments. Urine scale occurs as urine particles build up on the porcelain. As hard water evaporates, it leaves behind calcium and magnesium deposits which combine to form limescale.
A popular TikTok video promises your bathroom will smell like clean laundry every time you flush the toilet if you pour a cup of fabric softener into the toilet tank. However, like many social media hacks, this one is too good to be true, and plumbing experts warn that you'll actually be ruining your septic system.
It won't damage your toilet or the septic system. Fans have praised the idea and have used the hack on their own toilets, while critics argue that the detergent will clog, and even damage pipes before long.
The easiest way to thoroughly clean the toilet tank is to spray it down with a disinfectant cleaning spray such as Lysol or 409.
By cleaning your toilet tank regularly—twice a year, at least—you may extend the life of your toilet and all of its parts, freshen your bathroom's smell, and save yourself some elbow grease the next time you sanitize your toilet bowl.
Because water deposits build up under a toilet's rim, it can take only 24-48 hours for colonies to start breeding. As it grows, you will see what looks like black debris or rings inside the bowl. This can cause respiratory problems for people as the mold and mildew release tiny spores into the air.
Pour one cup of baking soda into the clogged toilet, and then chase it with the hot water/vinegar mixture. Leave the volcano mix to do its job, checking in about 30 minutes. In most cases the clog will have come apart, and a simple flush with send it all down the drain. Plus your toilet bowl will be cleaner!
For extra-stubborn clogs, you can let the fizz mixture sit overnight or combine this method with plunging. If your toilet remains clogged or continues to get clogged, this may be an indication of plumbing problems such as mineral buildup or pressure issues.