I am partnering up with The Maids for this post to bring you some of our best bathroom cleaning tips. As always, all opinions are 100% mine.
Okay guys! We are getting a little down and dirty today. It’s time to talk about one of my least favorite {but most frequent!} cleaning tasks – cleaning the toilet!
As a Mom of two boys with terrible aim and poor toilet flushing abilities {this is seriously one of my biggest pet peeves!}, our toilets require frequent cleaning and disinfecting. Unfortunately, toilet cleaning involves much more than just swirling the toilet brush in the bowl with some cleaner, and often those areas on the outside of the toilet {and surrounding areas!} are the ones that are forgotten in our basic cleaning routines.
If your toilet is in need of a little TLC, here are my top cleaning tips to really deep clean your toilet….
Cleaning the Toilet Bowl
For the most part, I think we are all pretty good at swishing the toilet brush around in the toilet bowl. What we often miss; however, is cleaning the underside of the rim and the siphon jets {these are the holes underneath the rim where the water actually comes out}. If you are starting to notice vertical stains along the sides of your toilet bowl, this is a sign that they need to be cleaned. Often times, toilet brushes can’t quite get up into these spaces, and over time, grime builds up.
To give your toilet bowl a real deep cleaning {without any harsh chemical cleaners}, pour some castille soap down the sides of the toilet and thoroughly scrub all areas of the bowl with a toilet brush. Next add about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of Borax along the sides of the toilet and use your toilet brush to bring up some of the soap mixture from the toilet bowl to form a thicker foam. This should by thick enough that it sticks to the sides of the toilet bowl rather than just sliding down into the water {just add a little more Borax if it is not thick enough}. Use a toothbrush to scrub away any grime around the rim and siphon jets. To get up a little further into the jets, soak a paper towel with the foam and place it around a metal hanger to really get up into the jets. If you are having trouble seeing these you can use a small mirror to get a better view. Allow the foam mixture to sit for 10-15 minutes, give it a final scrub, and flush.
Removing Mineral Build-Up
If you have hard water and significant mineral build up in your toilet that doesn’t come clean with the cleaning method above, you just need to add an additional cleaning step. Start by completely closing off the water supply to the toilet. Next you need to flush the toilet until the bowl no longer fills and then plunge out as much water as possible. If there is still water remaining, use an old towel to soak it up. Once the bowl is empty, add some cleaning vinegar {or regular white vinegar if this is all you have} to the bowl to completely cover any stains. If your stains are more up underneath the rim or along the sides, soak a rag or paper towels in the vinegar and place over stain. Leave overnight and then scrub. If all stains are not removed, you can either repeat the process again or try the same method with a product containing hydrochloric acid {HCL}. Just be sure to follow the safety precautions on the product as this is a much stronger chemical. Also note that bleach SHOULD NOT be used on rust stains as it can actually cause the stain to set.
Cleaning the Toilet Seat Attachments
If you have boys, one of the prime spots for spray is around the toilet seat attachments. For regular cleaning, use a toothbrush and some castille soap to scrub in all of the little grooves, and then wipe awaywith a 50:50 water/vinegar spray and microfiber cloth. Steam cleaners also work amazing for this task and save a lot of time and scrubbing! Once or twice per year, you should also remove the toilet seat to get rid of that grime that seeps underneath. Just flip up the covers and use a screw driver to remove the seat. Give everything a good cleaning with castille soap and replace. Spray with the vinegar spray and use a microfiber cloth to wipe dry. You will likely be amazed at what you find under there! Make sure you also clean along the groove where the tank meets the toilet base- it’s another common place for pee spray to lurk!
Cleaning Around the Toilet
If you can’t seem to get your toilet area smelling clean, chances are it needs some extra cleaning and disinfecting around the base and surrounding areas {including those walls and baseboards!} The quickest and easiest way to tackle these areas is to use a steam cleaner – it’s super effective, gets into all of those little nooks and cracks, and it requires no harsh chemicals. For those of you without a steam cleaner, wipe down the area with castille soap and water using a microfiber cloth. Use a toothbrush to get around the edges of the toilet base and around the knob covers on the base of the toilet. Next, create a paste of baking soda and water {you can also add some essential oil to this to make it smell even better!} and spread this around all of your targeted areas. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes and then wipe away. For extra disinfecting power, you can then wipe down with vinegar. {NOTE: I don’t recommend mixing the vinegar and baking soda together at the same time. While it will create an impressive chemical reaction, you are basically neutralizing each of the components. This takes away their cleaning power and basically results in creating salt.}
For more tips on maintaining a clean bathroom {and the number one tip that every Mom should know!}, check out this post from The Maids. And if anyone has any tricks for improving little boy aim, please let me know!
If you are looking for more bathroom cleaning and organization ideas, you may enjoy these posts…
Original article and pictures take www.cleanandscentsible.com site
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