Achieving a clean toilet is something many people regularly try to accomplish. While at a first glance your toilet can seem to give off a spotless appearance, it may still in actual fact be one of the dirtiest parts of your bathroom. Studies have shown that 27% of toilet seats and 14% of toilet handles contained large amounts of yeast and mould consequently, implying that many people are not taking enough care of their toilets.
With this in mind, this article is going to detail the necessary tools you need, the cleaning procedure for your toilet, and how many times you should disinfect your bathroom area.
Things to Consider
First things first, it’s important to mention some considerations when aiming to achieve a clean toilet. Although you may feel that you have sufficiently cleaned your toilet, chances are you have not used the correct solutions or equipment to get rid of the harmful germs.
The most effective way to rid viruses and germs in your toilet is by thorough disinfection. This is because a simple flush of the toilet can cause E. coli (a generally harmless bacteria found in intestines but a few strains can cause severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhoea and vomiting) to be launched into the air where it can linger for six hours or more. If inhaled, this can be incredibly dangerous for individuals.
Similarly, viruses can stay on surfaces like the toilet seat from a couple of hours up to a number of days; with flu and cold viruses surviving up to nine days depending on humidity and temperature levels.
With these considerations noted, below we have listed the correct tools and cleaning procedures that are advised when disinfecting your toilet.
Achieving A Clean Toilet – Tools
Before we disclose the top cleaning practices for your toilet, we need to mention the tools that you will need which can be listed below:
- Bristled toilet brush
- Disinfectant solution/bleach
- Disposable gloves
- Antibacterial wipes / toilet cleaning wipes
- Microfibre cloth
- Paper hand towels
What’s useful to note is that these products are generally easy to use and tell you exact time limits for effective disinfection of toilet surfaces. We also recommend that you have a distinct set of cleaning tools, preferably colour coded, when you clean the toilet. This prevents cross contamination of germs into other areas of your home.
Achieving A Clean Toilet – Lid Procedure
To clean the toilet effectively, it is best to start with the toilet bowl.
- The first action you will need to perform is to push all of the water in the bottom of the bowl through the u-bend using a back and forth motion. This can be done with the toilet brush. Make sure to wear some disposable gloves too as this will prevent any bacteria from being transferred to your skin. Eventually, the water level in the toilet will start lower.
- Once this has been accomplished, apply a solution of bleach/disinfectant around the rim as this will ensure it drips down and covers the whole toilet bowl.
- After waiting the suggested time on the product label, use the bristle toilet brush to scrub the inside surfaces from top to bottom making sure that all areas of the toilet bowl is clean.
- Finally, flush the toilet to rinse the disinfectant solution away while holding the toilet brush in the toilet as this will also clean the brush too. Flush again until the product is completely rinsed down and the water is clear.
Achieving A Clean Toilet – Toilet Exterior
Now that your toilet bowl is clean, it is time to consider the state of your exterior sanitary hardware. It is important to understand that lots of microbes can develop behind your toilet if left untreated. As such, we have listed the cleaning procedures you should undertake for your toilet exterior to be rid of harmful bacterias.
- Firstly, you must clean any debris, scum or bodily fluids that are found on the toilet surface. You should use microfibre cloths which, as previously stated, is advised to be colour coded for toilet use and will prevent any risk of cross contamination of germs.
- Next, start applying disinfectant to the lid, sides and front of the cistern. Make sure to lift the seat and squirt the solution which targets the underside of the toilet as sometimes bodily fluids can get trapped under the seat. Make sure to pay special attention to the small area between the tank and toilet seat as this area is easy to miss and is often neglected.
- Leave the spray for the suggested time to disinfect, and start wiping top to bottom with paper towels or microfibre cloths.
- Once this has been achieved, work on tough areas that you know will generate more germs while waiting for the applied disinfectant to dry. Usually, the flush handle of the toilet can accumulate dirt more than the toilet seat so make sure to pay close and thorough attention to these areas.
- Finally, use a paper hand towel/toilet cleaning wipes to clean any remaining disinfectant residue from the toilet, making sure that all surfaces are dry.
How Often Should You Clean Your Toilet?
Now that you know the cleaning procedure for your toilet, you may be wondering how often you should perform this task. Well, disinfecting your toilet helps prevent you and your loved ones from the risk of coming into contact with harmful germs in your home. As such, you should look to perform full disinfection of your toilet two to three times a week, especially if someone is sick in your household.
It is also advised that you create time to disinfect your cleaning supplies anytime you sanitise your toilet as they can hold germs which may even be stored in a different room of the house.
