How Often Should You Bleach Your Toilet?

A toilet is a haven for germs and this is why it needs to be cleaned regularly. One of the easiest ways to eradicate bacteria from a toilet is to bleach the microorganisms away.

But how often should you put bleach down the loo? And is going overboard on the bleach going to damage the toilet?

Find out how often you should bleach your toilet by reading on!

 

How Often Should You Put Bleach Down the Toilet?

Interestingly, several off-the-shelf toilet cleaners contain a form of bleach, most commonly known as sodium hypochlorite (chlorine-based bleach).

So, whether you realise it or not, every time you squirt some toilet cleaner down the pan, you could potentially be putting bleach down there.

Given the fact that toilets should be maintained and kept clean on a daily basis, you could put some toilet cleaner, that contains bleach down the toilet, every single day.

This would keep the bacteria at bay and your loo would be a safer space.

On the flip side, it is also possible to use chlorine bleach in its purest form to clean a loo. And although you can leave this type of bleach to rest in the toilet bowl for a few minutes at a time, it would be better to only use this type of bleach once a week.

Cleaning your toilet with chlorine bleach on a weekly basis limits how much damage this chemical can do to the intricate parts in your loo, namely to the rubber seals.

Such damage would be costly to repair. And in the time between you noticing the problem and you getting the issue fixed, your toilet could start leaking and this could give rise to further issues.

Of course, you can mitigate such risks by diluting the bleach in water before using it to clean the toilet, and not leaving the bleach to rest in the toilet bowl for hours on end.

 

Does Bleach Damage Toilets?

Bleach can potentially damage a toilet bowl if you use it haphazardly.

However, you can use toilet cleaners that contain bleach daily without issues, provided you use them wisely.

Similarly, if you dilute chlorine bleach and use it to clean a toilet once a week, your toilet should not sustain much damage either.

Significant damage to the toilet usually only occurs if you go overboard with bleach regularly, and if you constantly leave bleach resting in the toilet bowl for long periods of time.

If you put some bleach down the toilet, then a few minutes later flush the loo, the bleach will be diluted and it’ll lose a lot of its strength.

The watered-down bleach will then be carried away from the toilet, and it should’ve taken most of the toilet’s germs with it too.

 

How to Clean a Toilet with Bleach

To clean a toilet with bleach, simply flush the toilet, then pour half a cup of chlorine bleach into the toilet bowl.

Next, grab your toilet brush, dip it in the water and start scrubbing the walls of the toilet bowl. Start from under the rim of the toilet and work down towards the u-bend.

Then wait about five minutes and finally flush the toilet.

Hold the toilet brush near the rim of the toilet and flush the loo again, this second flush will remove any bleach from the brush head.

Alternatively, you could buy a specialised toilet cleaner that contains bleach. Simply squirt the solution around the toilet bowl, starting from under the rim, wait a few minutes, and then clean the product away by pressing the flush button.

Never mix bleach with other toilet cleaners and chemicals—you could end up with a really bad chemical reaction and poisonous gas could be released into the air.

 

What Can Be Used Instead of Bleach?

If you don’t fancy using bleach to clean your toilet, you should stick to using specialised toilet cleaning products that are bleach-free, or try more natural remedies to keep the germs away from your loo.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• White vinegar
• Bicarbonate of soda
• Specialised toilet cleaners that are free from bleach, like Ecover Toilet Cleaner
• Disinfectant sprays

 

How Often Should You Use Toilet Bowl Cleaner?

Specialised toilet bowl cleaners can be used daily because they’re a really quick, and effective way of killing off the germs that have started to fester in the loo.

Ideally, you should use the toilet cleaner in the morning, so the toilet is fresh and ready for the day ahead.

On the other hand, if someone is unwell in your home, it might be better to use a toilet bowl cleaner multiple times throughout the day to limit the spread of germs between people.

It would also be handy to have a disinfectant spray at the ready, so you can clean the seat and handle after every use as well.

 

How Often Should You Clean a Toilet?

A toilet needs to be thoroughly cleaned on a weekly basis and maintained every day, or at an absolute minimum every two days.

Every day you should clean the toilet seat, the flush button, clean the toilet bowl (you can use a toilet cleaner to do this), and brush off any marks you see. This is a very basic clean and it ensures that the loo is hygienic!

On a weekly basis, you should thoroughly clean your toilet.

When cleaning, you should ensure that the loo is clean from top to bottom. So, wash the toilet bowl out (use a toilet clean or bleach), wipe and disinfect the seat, lid, and flush, and remove dirt from the floor around the toilet.

If someone is unwell in the home, you should clean the toilet and disinfect it after each use.

In this case, you should pay particular attention to the seat and the flush handle, as these areas will be riddled with bacteria.