How to Clean Your Toilet with Natural Cleaners

Most commercially available toilet cleaners contain harsh chemicals and bleach which can not only affect your health, but can also be bad for your septic system. Here are some natural alternatives that will get your toilet just as clean without all the nasty side effects.

For basic toilet cleaning use vinegar and water. Start by spraying down the outside of the toilet including the tank and base of the toilet with a vinegar/water mix. It takes a little time to disinfect, so leave this and allow it to soak while you get to work on the inside of the toilet.

For the bowl, pour some undiluted vinegar into the toilet and scrub it with a toilet brush. Scrub from the top of the bowl down rather than from the bottom up. Be sure to get up under the rim of the toilet. You may want to use a small mirror to peek up under and ensure you have gotten it totally clean.

Close the lid and flush the toilet. Now, wipe down the vinegar and water you sprayed on the outside of the toilet. Scrub any areas that are particularly dirty and spray more vinegar if necessary.

Finally, move on to the seat and lid. Spray them down with vinegar and allow them to soak for a few minutes to give the vinegar time to work. Then wipe them down thoroughly making sure to get the top and bottom of both the lid and seat as well as back by the hinges where dirt and grime can accumulate.

To make your toilet cleaning easier try running a brush around the toilet bowl each day and wiping down the outside of the toilet before you go to bed. Then when weekly cleaning time rolls around your job will be a lot easier.

In lieu of vinegar for the bowl you can also try putting a foaming denture tablet in the bowl and allowing it to fizz. When the fizzing is done scrub the bowl with a toilet brush and flush to rinse.

For hard water or rust stains inside the bowl that require more intensive cleaning try this. First, turn off the water to the toilet at the shut off valve and then empty the water from the bowl with a plunger. Pour straight vinegar around the sides of the bowl and allow it to soak. Then take a brush and scrub away any stains. Use a pumice stone for extremely tough hard water stains. Also, if you have particularly difficult to remove hard water or rust stains consider filling the bowl above the ring with straight vinegar and letting it soak overnight.

The vinegar smell will disappear once the vinegar has dried.