Does it seem like your toilet is always dirty? You swear you clean it regularly, but the build-up is relentless.
A self-cleaning toilet would make life much easier, however, until someone comes up with an affordable option it’s on us to keep our toilets clean.
There’s no rule that says how often we should clean a toilet but there are some things to be aware of. A thorough cleaning might be necessary once every week or two, but maintenance cleanings might be required after heavy deposits (you know – number 2).
In this article, we’ll discuss how often your toilet should be cleaned and I’ll offer up a few professional tips to keep your toilet looking good inside and out.
Inside The Bowl – How Often Should You Clean Your Toilet
The inside of our bowl is filled with fresh water, however, once in the bowl, it mixes with bacteria. There’s the mildew that makes up the ring in the bowl, and those brown skid marks that won’t go away (use a pumice stone to get rid of your toilet ring).
Most households have a toilet brush that sits on the side of the toilet. It’s helpful to remove those embarrassing skid marks, but it’s a dirty tool.
If your brush is white, you’ll watch it slowly turn a rust color as bacteria grows on it. Keeping a toilet brush clean is almost as hard as keeping the toilet clean.
Daily Maintenance:
This is mostly done for messes that won’t flush. Everyone hopes for the perfect flush without skid marks, but sometimes our waste rubs against the side of the toilet while it’s being flushed.
The result is strong evidence of what you just did, so the toilet brush is brought out to remove the marks. Problem solved.
Weekly Maintenance:
Weekly maintenance is a smart move to keep those rust and yellow colors from appearing in the bowl. Over time, a film of bacteria will grow inside the bowl. Surprisingly, the fix is easy and only requires a few scrubs with the toilet brush.
No cleaning solution is needed, only a little muscle behind the brush.
If you use a white toilet brush, I strongly suggest your next brush be black. A black brush looks better and lasts longer because it hides that ugly rust color that appears so often on white brushes.
Monthly Maintenance:
Monthly maintenance requires one extra step – cleaning solution. Chances are, you’ll opt for bleach or another chemical. You might be surprised that all you need is vinegar and/or baking soda (check out my article on natural toilet cleaners).
If you choose to use vinegar or baking soda there will be no strong chemical smell and it won’t make your nostrils burn. I pour a few cups of inexpensive vinegar in the toilet, give it a few scrubs around the bowl, then I allow it to sit in the bowl overnight.
In the morning I use the brush to scrub once more and then flush. The vinegar or baking soda eats away at tough stains and your bowl will be looking shiny and new.
Outside The Bowl – How Often Should You Clean Your Toilet
Cleaning the outside of the bowl should be done as well. Urine and hair tend to settle under the toilet seat, around the rim of the bowl.
For some reason, the back of the toilet seat, near the hinges, are particularly bad. Use the mummy hands cleaning technique to clean around the edge of the bowl and drop the dirty toilet paper in the bowl.
Dusting should be done on the lid of the tank and around the base of the toilet. On white toilets, which most people have, the dust is visible and sticks to porcelain. Once per month should do the trick to keep your toilet looking good.
Make Cleaning Easier – Bowl Cleaners, Wall Hung, and Full Skirt Toilets
Want to make cleaning your toilet even easier?
- Use a hanging toilet bowl cleaner. A hanging cleaner fits on the side of the bowl and slowly exudes cleaning solution each time the bowl is flushed. These cleaners will last a month or two depending on the use of toilet, but they aren’t a good option for families with young children as kids might find them and carry them around.
- Install a wall hung toilet. Wall hung toilets are awesome. They cost a little more to install because they don’t use the standard plumbing features, but once installed they don’t touch the floor. This makes cleaning under the toilet easy and dust won’t settle on the base (since there isn’t a base).
- Install a full skirt toilet. The skirt of a toilet is the base of the toilet. A full skirt will not have crevices where dust and debris can settle. Instead, the sides of the toilet will go straight down to the floor. This makes cleaning a breeze and it looks good too!
Conclusion
Cleaning your toilet is a continual process. It can feel like an inconvenience but a little cleaning here and there is much better than the alternative (a long time spent cleaning every month).
Keeping your toilet clean is more important if you have guests. Nobody likes to use a dirty toilet and a toilet ring or skid mark could leave a lasting impression on those that visit your house.
In this article, we looked at strategies to clean your toilet and how often you should do it. Daily maintenance is important after heavy deposits. Unfortunately, our toilets aren’t self-cleaning so it requires a little muscle from us.
The brush is your friend and something that should be considered after your daily number 2. Vinegar or baking soda also helps and can be left in the bowl overnight without the risk of strong chemical fumes.
Don’t forget about the outside of the toilet. Urine always seems to find it’s way on the rim of the toilet and near the hinges of the toilet seat. Use some toilet paper to wipe it away.
Dust finds it’s way on the lid of the tank and near the base of the toilet. Monthly dusting can keep the toilet looking white and clean!
If you’re trying to minimize cleaning, a wall hung toilet makes it easy to clean underneath while a full skirt toilet removes the hard-to-clean crevices near the base that you’ll find on traditional toilets.
I hope these tips help with scheduling your daily, weekly, and monthly toilet cleaning. It’s a dirty job but a good looking toilet will keep your family and friends happy! Thanks for reading.