According to the Centers for Disease Control, soapy water is actually quite effective at removing mold from hard surfaces, like the inside of your toilet tank. This hack might make sense from a cleaning standpoint; however, it overlooks some important things.
According to Abrams, an ordinary bar of soap placed inside a mask, a net, or any other porous material should be a perfectly safe way to keep a toilet bowl clean when you flush it.
Just as natural dish soap helps break down dirt, grease, and food that may be stuck on dishes and utensils, it can help break down what's in your toilet bowl. The important thing is to reach for a non toxic dish soap that, once it's flushed and enters the water supply, will be safe for animals and the planet.
Depending on the size of soap, there is a chance it will clog your toilet, and may make things messier. Using your rubber gloves, retrieve the soap and throw it straight into your trash bin (together with the gloves if you want to). This way, you are sure your drain pipes will not be congested.
Clean, but in different concentrations. In general, plumbers caution against the use of any chemicals inside a toilet tank and suggest instead using bowl-based toilet cleaners. Adding anything but water to a toilet tank could result in potentially costly repairs, Abrams says.
Solid soaps like the classic, old-fashioned bar soap tend to cause clogs faster than liquid soaps. All soap can accumulate on the walls of pipes over time (especially if you don't have a water softener).
Bar soap can resolidify in the drain, causing clumps of soap to form a large, sticky mass that will eventually lead to a blockage. While bar soap may leave you clean and smelling fresh, it leaves behind a layer of film in your pipes and on your shower walls.
Yes, Bar Soap Is Sanitary
In fact, studies going back to 1965 have shown that the level of bacteria that occurs on bar soap is nothing to lose sleep over. In that particular study, scientists concluded that “bacteria are not transferred by this means from person to person, nor does the soap support bacterial growth.”
Dishwasher tablets are meant to dissolve hard water stains, so they're the perfect solution for cleaning toilets. Besides cleaning dishes and toilet bowls, you can use dishwasher tablets for a few more cleaning projects around the house.
It makes sense when you think about it. Because dish soap is meant to break up oils and lift grease and grime from your flatware and utensils, there's no reason why it shouldn't work on the oily soap and human grease build-up accumulating in your tub or shower!
Germs in feces (poop) can make you sick. These germs can get on your hands after you use the toilet or change a diaper. If you don't wash them off, you can pass them from person to person and make people sick.
Bar Soap. You wouldn't think soap is capable of clogging your drains, but it definitely will. Bar soap has a habit of re-solidifying in your drains, leading to clumps of it forming into a large, goopy mass over time that will eventually cause a blockage.
Other Ways to Keep Your Drains Clean
Here are two simple, cheap, and effective ways to keep your pipes cleaner: Use a mesh trap: If you're not using a mesh trap, purchase one for each bath or shower drain. Mesh is the best type of trap for catching soap scum, hair, dead skin, and other things that contribute to clogs.
Greasy clogs can be cleared with dish soap and hot water.
For this method to work, the drain needs to be cleared of water. Squirt dish soap down the clogged drain and then pour boiling water down the drain. Grease is eliminated! 3.
Let's take the pressure off first: There is no right or wrong selection in using a bar soap, shower gel, or body wash. It comes down to personal preference and understanding which form is suitable for your skin type, says Sabrina Henry, principal scientist at Aveeno, which makes skin care products.
Keep it dry
Don't keep it on a ledge in your shower where it's exposed to a stream of water or excessive steam. Instead put it in a soap dish that drains water and put the dish on a ledge away from water.
A bar of soap can also help absorb musty odors in your drawers and closets! Just wrap a bar of soap in a cloth bag or a piece of fabric, and store it with your clothes. This should also help repel insects!
White vinegar and baking soda in equal parts is a cost-efficient and effective means of getting rid odors in a toilet. Add them to the tank, mix them in and then use the toilet brush to gently scrub the tank. Let it sit for a few hours, scrub the tank again and flush.
Vinegar will not damage your toilet in any way if it's left in your toilet overnight. In some cases, leaving the vinegar in your toilet overnight is recommended to get the best cleaning results. No matter what material your toilet is made from, the vinegar will not damage your toilet.
If the clog still seems to be intact, start over at step 1 and repeat the process a couple of times. For extra-stubborn clogs, you can let the fizz mixture sit overnight or combine this method with plunging.
If you don't, you can transfer any germs or parasites, either in your system or left in the bathroom by someone else, to other people you encounter. If you do wash your hands with soap and water after using the bathroom, you greatly reduce your chances of spreading or contracting an illness that was left behind.
There's a good reason why you should wash your hands after urination. And no, it doesn't matter if you have the cleanest, straightest, most precise pee aim known to man. “The rationale is that when toileting, it's possible to have fecal material and fecal bacteria get onto your hands,” says Richard T.