Just got your new porcelain throne installed and ready for action? Are you already feeling stressed about keeping it looking this clean and shiny through the years?
Of course, nothing can ever look as good as the day it’s fresh out of the packaging. The good news is that there are many toilet cleaning hacks to maintain your toilet’s appearance.
If you’re like the majority of Americans, tackling the toilet is your most despised household chore. The reality is that your toilet and the area around your toilet is one of the dirtiest spaces in the whole house. It needs a focused and thorough deep clean regularly.
To really get that good-as-new sparkle, you're going to need a little more creativity. Here are our top toilet cleaning tips so it always looks clean, pristine, and close to brand new.
1. Take advantage of overnight treatments
One of the easiest toilet cleaning tricks, requiring almost no effort on your part, is to let your toilet essentially self-clean overnight. Certain treatments will do the dirty work for you, breaking down grime and mineral deposits while you’re asleep.
The first treatment we suggest is an overnight soak with white vinegar. This will block off your toilet’s siphon jets and work away for hours at any built-up stains or grime. In the morning, sprinkle a little baking soda in the bowl, scrub with a toilet brush, and flush clean. The vinegar treatment is a surefire way to make any bowl return to that first-day shine.
The second treatment you can try is to pour toilet cleaner into the toilet’s tank overnight. All you need to do is add a few ounces of liquid cleaner or a dissolving cleaning tablet into the tank before bed. The cleaner will then incorporate into your toilet’s siphon jets and with every subsequent flushing, it will run into the bowl and eliminate pesky residue. This tactic will also help break down mineral deposits in the siphon jets over time.
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2. Don’t neglect all that’s outside the bowl
Tackling the interior of the toilet bowl is usually what most people focus on, but every inch deserves care and attention. In fact, there’s no way your toilet will look brand new if you neglect the areas around the bowl – such as the seat, tank, handle, and base.
Since all parts of the toilet will factor into how new it appears, start by liberally spritzing the entire exterior of the bowl, base, and tank with a disinfecting spray. Make sure all of those hard-to-reach areas, like the back of the base, are accounted for. You can also use baby oil to buff the toilet’s handle and the outside of the seat (this trick works great for all bathroom fixtures!)
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3. Quickly attack stains with a helpful pumice stone
One of the most obvious signs of a well-worn toilet is staining. Annoyingly, it’s almost impossible to avoid stains from appearing in your bowl. If the stains are rust-colored in particular, this could be evidence of minerals in your water system, which may need to be addressed with vinegar or hydrogen peroxide.
If you find yourself scrubbing and scrubbing with a toilet brush to no avail, experts recommend attacking tough stains with a pumice stone. A pumice stone is a type of volcanic rock that’s porous and is safe for use on toilet bowls, sinks, tubs, and tile. Opt for a pumice stone on a stick so you don’t have to get too close to the bowl itself while you clean. Despite its tough exterior, it won’t scratch porcelain as it works to magically remove all those rusty-colored water lines.
Are you an expert on how to clean your toilet? Maybe you're ready for a new toilet instead? Check out all the options at DecorPlanet.
