Cleaning toilets are easy; you just have to get a toilet brush and a cleanser, pour it, and then brush, right? No, that is not the case if you want a toilet with no germs or bacteria and a clean outlook.
In my experience in this field, it is quite common that people don’t bother learning how to clean a toilet perfectly. You would need the right toilet cleaner, brush, disinfectant, rags, and others.
This ignorance leads to a dirty and disgusting feeling whenever you use the toilet. That’s why to avoid this; I have prepared this guide on how you can keep your toilet neat & tidy.
How to Keep A Toilet Perfectly Clean
Similar to every other cleaning process, to clean your bathroom’s toilet, you will have to follow certain steps, and you need to follow them in chronological order. Otherwise, all your efforts will be for naught.
The steps that you will need to follow to clean your toilet are:
Step –1: Get the Necessary Tools & Materials
The following tools and materials are required to clean a toilet:
1. Toilet Brush
This one is quite obvious; you can’t clean a toilet unless you have a toilet brush around. When picking one up for yourself, make sure that it has all of its parts (especially the bristles) attached and isn’t past its glory days.
There is no need to purchase a new one unless the one you currently have is worn out pretty badly. Generally, a properly maintained toilet brush that has been used regularly should be replaced after six or seven months of usage.
A decent toilet brush is a must because it will be the one that will take on the grime head-on. And if the bristles are damaged or the handle isn’t sturdy, it will take hours to clean the toilet.
So, get a good toilet brush before you start cleaning your bathroom & lavatory.
2. Toilet Cleaner
Apart from the brush, this will do the most work when it comes to cleaning toilets. That’s why you should look into the best toilet cleaners and pick one that will suit your lavatory perfectly.
I say this because these cleansers come with different scents and ingredients. Therefore, you should explore the options and find the one that makes you comfortable.
Generally, most toilet cleaners use different variations of bleach and vinegar. That being said, some cleaners don’t use them as the base.
If you don’t want to pick up a toilet cleaner, then you can also clean your toilet with diluted vinegar as well. Vinegar works exceptionally well to remove rust stains in toilet, but you will need to set it in for at least 12 hours if you want to see good results.
3. Disinfectant Powder Or Spray
Many think that the toilet cleaner is sufficient enough to clean the exterior of the toilet and other parts of the bathroom. This is a very common bathroom cleaning mistake, and even some veterans are oblivious to it.
You do have the option to clean the surface and the rest of the lavatory with the toilet cleaner you have at your disposal. But it won’t be very effective, and I highly recommend you opt for a disinfectant powder or spray.
They will also come in handy when you are done with the cleaning, as they can be used on the toilet brush to keep it clean and germ-free.
Disinfectant is important because it will take care of the exterior of the toilet, starting from the tank to the flushing handle. So, make sure to have them at your disposal before you start cleaning.
4. Paper Towels, Rags, Or Disinfectant Wipes
You will need to apply the disinfectant through something, while you can opt for paper towels, rags, or even a sponge. The best option will be to pick up a few disinfectant wipes from the store.
I have also worked with rubber gloves combined with disinfectant sprays. They offer you good flexibility, but you will need to get very up close and personal with the grime, so it isn’t an option that everyone might be comfortable with.
Step – 2: Preparing Your Toilet for Cleaning
Before you can start the cleaning process, you will need to prepare the toilet for cleaning. By that, I mean you will need to lower the water level inside your toilet bowl.
There are multiple ways to do this, but I’ve always found it easy to downpour a bucket of water directly to the back. This generates a scenario similar to what flushing would do, but this time, there won’t be water that will fill up the tank.
You can also opt for locking the shutoff valve, flushing out the tank, making it empty, and proceeding to cut out the water supply. But this is quite a hassle. So, I recommend the previous option.
Step – 3: Apply the Cleaner Inside The Bowl
Once the water level is lowered, start the application of the cleaner inside the toilet bowl. Go with a slow circular motion around the bowl and squeeze out the fluid as you do so. This will need you to apply a decent amount of pressure.
Most toilet cleaner bottles come with spouts that tend to help in this situation. Be patient and pour the cleaner out slowly. This will let the cleaner drain down on the sides.
Step – 4: Time for Scrubbing
Now that the cleaner is applied, it’s time for you to start scrubbing with the toilet brush. Grab the brush firmly and make sure that the head is inside the bowl during the entire process. This will prevent spatter, which is very common when cleaning toilets.
Make sure you have gotten the brush under the lip and other areas you can’t see through the naked eye. If there is any gunk in a particular area, you will also have to scrub that away.
You can proceed to rinse and flush right now, but I recommend doing that after wiping down the exterior.
Step – 5: Clean The Exterior & Rest of The Bathroom
Apply the disinfectant to rags, paper towels, or disinfectant paper and start cleaning the exterior of the toilet. You shouldn’t skip any part; focus on areas that you come in contact with regularly and clean them thoroughly.
Afterward, pour water and flush the toilet to end the cleaning process.
Conclusion
We tried to make learning how to clean a toilet perfectly easy. Let us know if we were successful. Now, cleaning a toilet may be an unappealing task, but it should be done regularly. So, follow this guide for your next toilet cleaning session and see the difference!
