Toilet Cleaning In 5 Easy Steps

Flush with reasons not to tackle the requisite weekly toilet cleaning? Have a seat and relax. If you haven't tackled a toilet in a while, you'll find it isn't quite so tedious these days, thanks to a new generation of disinfecting cleaners that do much of the scrubbing for you. 

I'm not saying it's a breeze (or a breath of fresh air), but it's not the monster of a chore it once was, with all that heavy scrubbing. But it can be done - thoroughly and quickly - in five easy steps. Here's how.

1   Sanitize the Toilet Bowl

Grab your disinfecting toilet bowl cleaner. It's a hard worker that does two jobs - cleans and disinfects. Squeeze or spray it around the bowl's interior. The bowl cleaner needs 10 minutes to do its dirty work, which is good because you have a few more surfaces to hit here. 

2   Clean the Seat

While the disinfectant is doing its job in the bowl, clean the seat and lid (both sides) and the rest of the toilet exterior, including around the hinges and base. Spray on a nonabrasive disinfectant. This one needs 10 minutes, too.

3  Return to the Bowl

Going back to bowl duty, grab a long-handled toilet bowl brush, open the lid, and swish the bowl cleaner around inside and as far into the trap as you can. Flush to rinse. 

4   Back to the  Seat

Time for another pass at the seat. Using paper towels, wipe the toilet seat clean. Then do the same to the bowl's exterior. Be sure to hit the bumpers and hinge areas in the back.

5.  Daily, Weekly and Monthly Toilet Cleaning

For daily toilet cleaning, pour a half-cup or so of bleach into the potty each morning or evening and let it sit. This will help keep harmful germs in check.  Each day, wipe the toilet seat and rim with a disposable disinfecting wipe or a spray disinfectant cleaner.

Each week, pour 1 cup of baking soda into the bowl to keep it fresh. And once a month, pour a half-gallon of white vinegar into the bowl to keep it ring-free. Let it soak overnight before flushing.

Teach your kids to flush. Period. This is one rule you'll want your kids to follow, especially when they're visiting at friends' homes. This rule can be broken only during seven-year droughts.

A well-mannered boy always puts the seat down after using the toilet. And a clean-minded child, regardless of gender, always puts down the toilet lid before flushing.

Besides being much more pleasant to look at, a closed potty when flushed doesn't send stirred-up, ahem, unpleasantries spiraling into the air where they can land on your sink, counter, or toothbrush. Ugh.