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Whether you clean the toilet yourself or you add the task to your kids’ chore list, it’s one of those household jobs that must be done regularly. It’s important to clean the toilet to sanitize it, remove stains and odors, and keep it looking new, but it isn’t a job anyone enjoys doing. The right toilet bowl cleaner can make the job easier and more efficient if not always more pleasant.
Cleaning the toilet can require you to work on your hands and knees, close to the smells and stains that a toilet tends to collect. Toilet bowl cleaners contain chemicals that help remove stains and odors, but some of these chemicals can be harmful if touched or inhaled. There are safer alternatives that use eco-friendly formulas or dispense automatically so you don’t have to come in contact with them.
Cleaners for toilet bowls are available in a few different types including gels and liquids. Figuring out your toilet-cleaning needs is the first step to finding the product that’s right for your sparkling clean bathroom.
When looking for a toilet bowl cleaner, start by deciding what type of cleaner you want to use: liquid, gel, or automatic.
These familiar toilet bowl cleaners contain chemicals that both deodorize and sanitize. It’s usually a thick liquid that clings to the interior of the bowl so you can use a toilet brush to scrub it. The bottles usually have an angled neck that simplifies squirting the liquid beneath the lip of the bowl.
Toilet bowl cleaner gel is another popular option. It also comes in a bottle with an angled neck. Gel’s primary advantage over liquid is its even thicker consistency, which enables it to cling to the bowl longer. Letting the gel sit for a few minutes before scrubbing it away helps remove stubborn stains.
This type of toilet bowl cleaner sits inside a plastic container that hangs inside the bowl and dispenses cleaner each time the toilet is flushed. You don’t need to use a brush with this cleaner. When the container is empty, you simply replace it.
Automatic toilet bowl cleaners are less effective at cleaning the bowl and better for keeping the bowl fresh between thorough scrubbings with another type of cleaner.
Once you decide on the type of toilet bowl cleaner, you can then focus on things like ingredients, scent, and cleaning power.
Some toilet bowl cleaners contain harsh chemicals. These formulas can clean the toilet effectively, but the ingredients are not friendly to the environment.
If you’re looking for a more eco-friendly option, consider a plant-based toilet bowl cleaner. These formulas may not handle tough stains as well as harsh chemicals, so you might have to clean the bowl more often to reduce the formation of stains.
Toilet bowl cleaners are designed to deodorize the bowl as they clean it. Some cleaners smell like bleach or other chemicals, but others have a scent, such as lavender, lemon, or sandalwood for a more pleasing odor.
If you have hard water or a lot of iron in your water supply, your toilet bowl can develop scale or rust stains over time, which can be very difficult to remove with a typical toilet bowl cleaner. Look for a cleaner that specifically targets these types of stains. You can use that product on the stains and your favorite toilet bowl cleaner product separately.
Costing less than $20, most toilet bowl cleaners are relatively inexpensive.
You can expect to pay $1.50 to $3 for a 16- to 24-ounce bottle of toilet bowl cleaner.
For a product that contains extra-strength cleaners or environmentally safe ingredients, you’ll pay $3 to $6 per bottle. Some automatic toilet bowl cleaners that hang inside the bowl are also in this range.
You can find some automatic toilet bowl cleaners in the $6 to $20 range. These usually contain several refills.
A. For the most effective cleaning, you should use a toilet brush. Add the cleaning solution and then scrub the bowl with the brush. The toilet brush is designed to effectively clean beneath the lip of the bowl. The solution alone can’t clean this area.
A. Removing the water first can be helpful for thoroughly cleaning all areas of the bowl. The best way to do this is to pour about half a gallon of water into the bowl. This extra water causes the toilet to flush automatically. By not pressing the handle, the water from the fill tank won’t refill the bowl.
A. You can, but it can get a little messy. Consider putting a bit of the cleaning solution on a paper towel and wiping the other parts of the toilet. You don’t want to spill the cleaner on the floor because, depending on the ingredients, it could damage or discolor the flooring. Also, disinfecting wipes and sprays work well for cleaning the outside of the toilet.
