Toilets account for nearly 30% of the water use in a home, and they’re invaluable. We all use them multiple times a day, and we don’t know where we’d be without one.

However, cleaning them can be a pain. Since so much waste goes down there, it’s obvious that they have to be cleaned on a regular basis.

Just how do you do that properly, especially if they’re stained or you haven’t done it in a while?

If you’re wondering how to deep clean a toilet and aren’t really sure of the proper way to do it (or even where to start!), this is all you need to know.

Clear the Area

It can be messy to clean the toilet, so make sure the area around you is clear!

Move any cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and anything else you usually keep at the side of the toilet out of the way. The last thing you want is for those to get splashed with a cleaner that has bleach in it. 

Make Sure You Have Everything You Need

Before you start with your deep clean, make sure you have everything you need for the toilet cleaning!

Have it around you so you don’t have to keep going back and forth.

The supplies you need are:

  • Rubber gloves
  • A scrubbing brush with bristles
  • A scrubbing sponge
  • Disinfecting wipes
  • Paper towels
  • Toilet bowl cleaner of your choice (but check the reviews!)
  • Bathroom cleaner

If you have all of these around you, this should be all you need, and it’s time to get started on the actual cleaning!

Start With the Interior

You want to start with the inside of the toilet, as the toilet bowl cleaner will have to sit for a while. While it’s doing that, you can work on the outside later.

Flush the toilet with the lid down. Then open it and insert your toilet bowl cleaner of choice.

Try to get it as close to the rim as possible without it leaking out onto the floor, as then it won’t be diluted by the water.

If you don’t have toilet bowl cleaner, you can use a little bit of actual bleach.

Use the scrubbing brush with the bristles to work the cleaner into the toilet. Make sure you scrub stains especially hard to ensure they come out, and make sure you’ve scrubbed every inch of the interior surface. 

Once you’ve done that, don’t flush it again — let the solution rest in there while you move onto the next part. 

Then Clean the Outside

People often forget to clean the exterior of the toilet, but this is just as important! Bacteria can build in unexpected places.

Flush handles have 83 bacteria per square foot, which can be far more than even the seat. 

You’ll want to use a bathroom-specific cleaner and scrub it into each part of the toilet using your sponge. Don’t forget to work it into the lid, the underside of the side, and all around until the toilet is completely covered with the cleaner.

Then you’ll want to take your disinfecting wipes and rub them around the toilet just to be sure.

After that, you can pat everything dry with paper towels and the exterior of your toilet should be completely clean. 

The Final Step

Once you’ve done all of this, it’s time to flush the toilet. That should take most of the cleaner on the interior away and leave you with a sparkling fresh toilet!

How Often Should I Do This?

How often you clean your toilet can depend on many factors:

  • How many toilets do you have in the house?
  • Is this the one mainly used?
  • How many people are using the toilet?
  • Is someone in the house sick?

You should clean your toilet as often as possible, since there’s no such thing as cleaning it too much, but a full disinfect should happen at least once a week. The more, the better, but as long as you’re taking the time to do it regularly, this should be enough.

Ultimately, you’ll also be able to see when the toilet is becoming dirty. If you can see it, you need to be doing it more often. 

Help! There are Stains That Won’t Come Off!

It happens even to the best of us — we get behind on cleaning. Stains and marks are left for too long and when it comes time to get them off, no amount of cleaner in the world seems to be able to.

Or perhaps you were dying your hair close by, or using some other substance that’s marked the toilet.

The best thing you can do in this situation is to hire a professional cleaning service. These companies have specialized tools and skills to do a better cleaning job than you could.

You might not need one of these services for everyday cleaning but they can certainly help in a pinch. 

Now You Know How to Deep Clean a Toilet

Now you know how to deep clean a toilet, you can do it with confidence and be sure you’re doing everything right. Make sure to gather your supplies and follow these steps at least once a week to keep your bathroom sparkling and shiny, or even more if you have the time to spare.

There’s no such thing as cleaning too much, after all!

For house-cleaning services that are reliable and efficient in Houston, Texas, contact us today.