It's recommended to clean your toilet tank at least twice a year. If you have well water or hard water, which can leave behind more mineral deposits and residue, you should aim to clean the toilet tank every other month or four times a year.
"Cleaning your toilet tanks helps prevent the buildup of rust and mildew." Though cleaning the toilet tank is a little more involved than cleaning the exterior, it doesn't need to happen as frequently; Stoffelen recommends adding this chore to your list just "once or twice a year for upkeep."
We recommend using a mixture of ¼ cup of vinegar for every 1 cup of water. This ensures your toilet tank is being disinfected without causing damage, which the use of bleach or chemical cleaners can do.
The brown stuff is setiment, basically dirt. The water coming in your house has disolved solids in it, rust, dirt, calcium and since the toilet tank always has some water in it, the sentiment settles on the bottom of the tank over time.
Vinegar and Borax
Borax is a great cleaning product that, when combined with vinegar, can successfully eliminate hard water and mineral deposits. You can use this combination in your toilet and most other plumbing fixtures, too.
Sprinkle baking soda inside the empty tank and add the vinegar, which will result in a fizzy reaction to lift stubborn stains. Commercial cleaning products: You can find many commercial toilet tank cleaners in stores and online.
If you want to go the extra mile, you can clean the inside of your toilet tank with CLR, too. Pour some CLR into the tank, fill it with water, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, flush the toilet a couple of times to rinse everything away.
Turn off water faucet, below toilet bowl, then flush water left in tank. That will remove 95% of the water in the tank. Then use a sponge to soak up the remainder. You can then use a paper towel to wipe out any sediment.
Various minerals in the water can result in rust stains in the toilet. High levels of calcium, limescale and other minerals in the water cause spots to appear over time. These brown and yellow stains cannot be removed with scrubbing or regular cleaning.
Water tests for homes with well water often reveal that iron, manganese or sulfur bacteria are causing their brown stains. In these instances, a chlorine injection system is an excellent option for solving the problem.
While they may seem like the perfect way to clean and sanitize your toilet, the reality is that they're quite harmful to it. Those blue toilet tablets can cause corrosion to parts inside the tank and contain harmful chemicals that may be released into your home and the environment.
If you want to keep the tank clean longer, you can also go back in with the vinegar, adding a cup or two to the tank once a month, letting it soak, and flushing the toilet the next morning.
Vinegar is great for removing hard water deposits, soap scum, and other build-up from many surfaces in your home, including your toilet. When used correctly, it can be a safe and effective cleaning agent. However, leaving vinegar in the toilet overnight may not be the best idea.
Water quality issues can cause buildup and sediment in your plumbing system, leading to murky water or stains in your toilet tank. Fortunately, there are simple solutions to the problem, from regular maintenance to installing a water filtration system.
Every time you flush, toilet tanks are supposed to refill with water. The water level should be about a half inch below the overflow tube and take around 10 seconds to refill.
You can buy a bathroom or all-purpose disinfectant cleaner to clean the inside of the toilet tank, or you can make a disinfecting solution using rubbing alcohol or white distilled vinegar. For rubbing alcohol solution, use two parts rubbing alcohol to one part water.
The pink/orange stains in the toilet are most likely bacteria called Serratia Marcescens. This type of bacteria is most frequently observed in toilet bowls, on surfaces in shower stalls, inside dishwashers, on tiles, in sinks, and in pet water dishes.
It's recommended to clean your toilet tank at least twice a year. If you have well water or hard water, which can leave behind more mineral deposits and residue, you should aim to clean the toilet tank every other month or four times a year.
It's essential to clean the inside of a toilet tank to remove mineral deposits that can damage or interfere with the toilet's operation. Baking soda will absorb odors, break down stains, and dislodge fungal growth with its abrasive power.
Hook up your drain hose. Shut off the water coming from the water heater but leave the cold water feed to the water heater on. Open the drain valve, the water pressure from the feed should stir up the sediment in the bottom and get the water moving. After it runs for a few minutes, turn off the cold water feed.
Mix equal parts of lemon juice and borax to form a paste. Apply the paste to the affected areas and let it sit for at least two hours. Use a toilet brush to scrub the rust stains away, and finally, flush the toilet. Repeat the process as necessary until the rust is completely gone.
Using dish soap can damage your toilet, as it's tough on rubber and can potentially break down the seals on your toilet over time. Instead, stick with cleaners that are made for toilets, and save dish soap for other areas of your home, such as for your mop water, degreasing kitchen cabinets, and cleaning appliances.
So, which one should you go for? It really depends on what kind of cleaning you need to do. If you're dealing with really tough, built-up mineral deposits, especially in your bathroom or kitchen, CLR might be the way to go. It's strong enough to handle stains that vinegar might struggle with.
Here's the hint: Add several drops of blue food coloring to 1/2 gallon of vinegar. Remove the tank lid and pour the vinegar straight into the overflow tube. You will see the blue vinegar seep into the bowl. Let the acid of the vinegar do its magic for 30 minutes; the vinegar will dissolve the calcium.