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…
How to Deep Clean the Bathroom {with free printable}
Drop a Cheerio into the toilet for ‘target practice’ 🙂
Great tips, thanks for sharing!
Jennifer, I wonder if that would work on older men too. My older brother is terribly messy in the bathroom. I can’t help but wonder if they ever grow out of it, lol.
lol! I don’t think they ever get any better!
Great tips. However, I’m not using a tooth brush in my toilets. Lysol with bleach and a few s wishes of a brush works fine for me.
I definitely don’t use the toothbrush along the rim on a regular basis but there are always a few spots that a toilet brush just can’t reach! 😉
I have used an old toothbrush too and then I just throw it away!
Yes, you definitely don’t want to be using that for a toothbrush again!!! 😉
Great tips! Love the borax idea. i haven’t done that before. Thanks for sharing at Snickerdoodle!
I love these deep cleaning tips! I have four little boys who share a bathroom and I just can’t seem to keep it clean and smelling fresh.
Yes, I can definitely see how four little boys would be difficult to keep up with! 😉
I love this article. It is a great “How to” guide you wouldn’t normally think to look up.
Ugh! have the worst mineral stains on my toilets. I have to try this method!
saw this on You’re Gonna Love It
The Borax worked for ours – we get nice pink mineral stains. 😉
I’ll come back later for those printables. I freak out about bathroom (and restroom). One day at a time and I’ll get there.
Thanks for sharing!
Great tips, I’ll try a few of these as we’ve just moved house and whoever lived here before was not especially bothered about mineral deposits!
I’ve always kept a cheap tooth brush for cleaning – I think it was one from a aeroplane toiletry bag – I did write CLEANING on it with a sharpie when the kids were small as I was completely paranoid that somehow they would find it and use it for their teeth!
I keep my cleaning toothbrush in my cleaning kit – it’s the LAST place the kids would ever go! 😉
Getting under the rim of the toilet can be a chore, and so can getting our boys to aim correctly. Thanks for sharing your tips on Sundays’ Best and showing us how to get a deep cleaned toilet.
Ahem, my tip is sitting! no aiming whatsoever! They can pee standing when in the woods 🙂
Now if only I could convince my kids of this.
iT DOESN’T HELP! EVEN MEN GET PEE ON THE FLOOR WHEN SITTING DOWN!!!
lol!! Darn men! 😉
I agree. There’s no reason for males to stand to urinate at home, unless they wish to clean the spray! Even a proper aim must surely create splash-out, as a strong stream of water into a washing up bowl does. Boys and men should sit, even guests.
Antonella, yes! I was raised to sit and shown the effects of all the spray. Toilet bowls are for sitting…urinals for standing and the woods, too.
So, I have this saying: “Your house is only as clean as the area BEHIND your toilet.” That is, a clean toilet is a huge indicator of a clean house. So I loved this post.
The printable, btw, is being emailed to the daughter away at college, living in her own apartment for the first time ever.
Thank you!
These are great tips to keep in ind while spring cleaning! Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty 🙂
I have my little boys lean forward to hold the top of the lid. This isn’t fool proof, but it helps when they actually do it. It helps with the “looking around the room” problem too. Where their eyes go, the potty follows!
Nice tip! Thanks!
Hi.
I grew up with 3 younger brothers and now have a son of my own, so I totally know what you’re going through 😉.
My dad used to put table tennis (ping pong) balls in the toilet to help my brothers learn to aim. They float and, hence, don’t go down when you flush.
They always got a good clean when the loo was cleaned and when they got to grimy he’d just replace them. Cheap and easy!
Wow! It’s a great guide,indeed. I’m expecting many guests for the holidays and need to deep clean the whole house. It is very important for me bathrooms to be cleaned properly and your guide gave me great ideas. Thank you for sharing all this great information!
Thanks! Enjoy all of your holiday guests!
I was wondering about our hard water stains! Thanks!
To make little boys aim better in the toilet place a table tennis(ping pong) ball in the toilet and get them to pee on it. When the toilet flushes it will not flush.
Thank you for your guidance. These are really very nice ideas to clean the toilets very clean. Also Toilet brushes with plastic bristles or non-scratch scourers are better than ones made of metal as these can damage the toilet surface. Some people have reusable cloths for the toilet exterior, but it’s more hygienic and convenient to use disposable wipes or paper towels with a cleaning spray, so you can throw them away afterwards.
Cleaning method under rim and siphon is very helpful.
I want to try it.
Another good way to remove built-up mineral stains, like that stubborn water line, is to use a pumice stone. Works great without chemicals, especially for those in rural areas with a septic tank.
I’ve heard that a few times, but it didn’t really work for me when I tried it. Did you use a particular type?
I have used Ladies Aide Pumice Stone successfully. Don’t use one made for grills.
Soak the pumice stone first. Always keeping the toilet porcelain surface your working on wet. Keep dipping and rinsing the stone. It starts to disintegrate into a grey gritty paste. It rinses away with flushing. I haven’t noticed a pattern that works better than another. Sometimes I use a circular motion,other times straight back and forth on the mineral line. You’ll get a good arm work out. Once you clean it you can maintain it.
Note it does make minute (tiny) scratches that are not visible or for that matter can be felt. That’s the only way to remove it. I’ve never seen it do any damage to porcelain bowls.
You can use a professional grade chemical cleaner for that very purpose of removing this buildup . Your choice. Replacing with a new toilet is not an option for most.
Pumie Pumice Scouring Stick is one I have found in most stores.
I guess I’m going back a few decades with the other name.
Thanks for the tips!
Can anyone recommend a cleaning product to clean brick like corse Tuscan style shower tile (not ceramic). I’ve tried Scubbing Bubbles and it does not clean the soap scum off. Can’t use acid product it will leave the tile pitted and will begin to dull the tile.
I’m not sure about this one but maybe someone else has suggestions?
Use a sharpie pen to draw a smiley face on a table tennis ball. Get the kids to aim at the ball, it will spin. It will survive the flush, I only lost a couple in 5 years of flushing by my two boys.