Hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and baking soda are green cleaning solutions to wipe out the most common toilet bowl stains. We suggest you start with the safest, most natural stain removers and move on to more drastic measures as needed.
If your toilet bowl is really stained—think that gross ring or icky marks—it needs a deep clean. In this case, a basic toilet cleaning product may not be enough, and you will need to use undiluted bleach. As a one-stop cleaning solution, pour one cup of bleach around the bowl.
Simply pour a kettle of almost boiling water into the bowl, follow up with 250ml of citric acid, and leave it for some hours – preferably overnight. The next day, scrub and flush. What's good for those caked-on pots and pans after cooking dinner is also good for removing a brown stain on the bottom of the toilet bowl.
The most effective way to clean your toilet is by using Borax, which is a multi-purpose cleaning product that effectively cleans hard water stains in the toilet and other plumbing fixtures. Paired with vinegar and other common cleaning products, you'll have sparkling toilets in no time.
Try this: Swish a cup of vinegar around in the toilet bowl using a toilet brush, then add a cup of baking soda, followed by an additional cup of vinegar. Let the fizzing solution sit for 10 minutes. Use a toilet brush to scrub stains. Let mixture sit for a few more minutes and then flush.
For extra-stubborn clogs, you can let the fizz mixture sit overnight or combine this method with plunging. If your toilet remains clogged or continues to get clogged, this may be an indication of plumbing problems such as mineral buildup or pressure issues.
The contaminants notorious for causing brown stains in toilet bowls are iron, manganese and sulfur. These pollutants can also produce iron bacteria, manganese bacteria and sulfur bacteria, which also can produce brown stains.
To clean calcium buildup out of your toilet, use vinegar or another acidic cleaner. The acid will break down the mineral deposits so you can brush them away. Be sure to take the necessary safety precautions when working with cleaners. Wear gloves and eyewear and open windows for ventilation.
When cleaning a toilet bowl, WD-40 works by softening the rust and lime deposits, so they can be easily wiped away. You don't need to use much of it. Simply spray on the affected area, wait a minute or two and brush it away with a regular toilet brush.
Simply measure out half a cup's worth of bleach and pour it into your toilet bowl, using your toilet brush to scrub it into the bowl and beneath the bowl's rim, also allowing five minutes to pass before you flush it all away.
Add 1/2 cup vinegar to the toilet bowl, let stand a few minutes, brush, and flush. If you have hard water, let the vinegar sit for an hour, and you may have to do some light scrubbing. To remove stains, add 1/2 cup borax to the water, swish it around, and let it soak overnight.
So does coke remove limescale? Yes. The acid in coke will help to dissolve limescale and there are several examples of it being used to clean toilets, descale kettles and in other circumstances.
Apply vinegar or lemon juice directly onto a cloth and scrub the limescale until it comes away. Alternatively, mix one part lemon juice or vinegar to four parts water. Put the solution in a spray bottle and spritz it onto tiles and plugholes. Leave this to soak for up to an hour for stubborn scale deposits.
Deep clean toilets
Hydrogen peroxide can zap germs in your toilet bowl too. Try pouring 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide in the toilet followed by 1 cup baking soda. Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes, give it a good scrub, and flush. You can also spray down the seat and lid to be extra thorough.
White vinegar, baking soda and even a lemon can be used to get rid of pesky calcium stains. Many homemakers already use vinegar to help clean difficult areas. It's also helpful when addressing hard water stains or calcium buildup. Use a spray bottle or cloth damp with vinegar to wet the area.
Minerals in the water supply and even the chemicals used to clean can lead to toilet bowl rings and the staining and discoloration on other faucets, fixtures and surfaces.
The stains that you see at the bottom of a toilet are usually limescale, or calcium carbonate to use the scientific name. Limescale arrives as a result of water travelling through specific rocks, such as chalk and limestone, on the way to reservoirs and then to our water filtration systems.
You can clean toilet stains with a toilet brush, baking soda, and white vinegar. Household cleaning ingredients like Borax or a wet pumice stone can also scrub away tough mineral stains.
Although mixing vinegar and baking soda is not considered dangerous, you should still avoid mixing these in a container. Vinegar is acidic and basic soda is basic, so the by-products are sodium acetate, carbon dioxide, and water that are not toxic.
For a more heavy-duty approach, you can pour an entire bottle of white vinegar over and around the bowl, remembering to cover all of it. Then, leave the vinegar to work for a few hours or overnight. Use your toilet brush to scrub any leftover limescale deposits away the next day.