"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," says Patty Stoffelen, a bath fixtures merchant for The Home Depot to Martha Stewart.
What I recommend, that works well is distilled white vinegar. As far as your toilet to keep it clean inside the bowl. Use 1 cup of white distilled vinegar and poor inside your toilet tank, also pour half of that cup in to the overflow, which is the small, round pipe that stands up in the middle of the tank .
You may like the fresh blue look of the water when using in-tank tablets, but you are actually damaging your toilet — and the long-term cost of repairs and replacements to your toilet far outweigh the short-term ease of dropping in a cleaning solution.
Cleaning your toilet regularly with vinegar will prevent hard water stain buildups. 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.
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.
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.
The important thing is to reach for a non toxic dish soap that, once it's flushed and enters the water supply, will be safe for animals and the planet. And of course, you also want one that doesn't irritate your eyes, lungs, or skin in the process, as well.
If you take a plastic bottle, put a few pebbles or rocks in it, fill it with water, and then place it in the back of your toilet, you can save up to 10 gallons of water per day. By placing the bottle in the toilet tank, less water is needed to fill the tank and therefore less water is being flushed.
While you can use bleach to completely sanitize your toilet bowl as part of a mixture, it is not recommended for your toilet tank as it can ruin the inside of the tank.
Fill the tank with at least 3 gallons of distilled white vinegar and allow it work for at least two hours. After the soaking period, empty the tank by flushing away the vinegar. Follow the same steps as with the disinfectant cleaner. Use a long-handled brush to scrub the loosened grime.
Cleaning with a mixture of baking soda and vinegar in the bathroom can work really well. To clean your toilet with vinegar, pour a cup of vinegar in the toilet bowl and let sit overnight. The next morning, sprinkle a little baking soda into the bowl, scrub, and then flush clean.
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.
In theory, every time you flush, the soapy water will clean the toilet's internal plumbing and wash out the bowl. According to the Centers for Disease Control, soapy water is actually quite effective at removing mold from hard surfaces, like the inside of your toilet tank.
UNCLOGGING TOILETS
Pour a cup of Dawn liquid dish detergent into the toilet bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour a bucket of hot water from waist height into the toilet bowl to clear it out.
Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner With Dawn & Vinegar
The grease-fighting power of Dawn is unmatched. Add that to the acidic nature of vinegar, and you have a powerful 1-2 combo for this easy recipe. In an old dish soap bottle, combine 1 cup vinegar with 1 cup Dawn.
It's pretty simple — just like they do on food particles that are stuck to your dishes in the sink, the combination of hot water and dish soap help to dissolve and break up whatever it may be that is lodged in the toilet, causing a clog. This handy tip is great should you find yourself in a pinch.
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.
In this case, a basic toilet cleaning product may not be enough, and you will need to use undiluted bleach. As a one-stop cleaning solution, pour one cup of bleach around the bowl. Then tackle every inch with a toilet brush or a handheld scrub brush. Let it sit for five minutes, then flush.
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. We'll walk you through a few different methods to clean the tank so your toilet will be sparkling clean and germ-free in no time.