Today’s toilet cleaning tips are important because they are going to show you how to
disinfect the toilet against things like E. Coli and Human Coronavirus.
On top of that, we’re going to show you how to properly clean the tile and grout around
the toilet bowl.
And we’ve got a maintenance cleaning tip that cleans your toilet bowl every time you
flush it, and I bet you it’s not what you think.
Before we start, many thanks to Fluidmaster for sponsoring this tutorial.
Fluidmaster makes replacement parts for toilets, things like flush valves, fill valves, and
flappers.
So if your toilet is constantly running, for example, check out fluidmaster.com.
It’s really important to have the proper gloves when cleaning, especially toilets.
I like these gloves from Venom Steel.
They’re heavy-duty, rip resistant, and pretty much one-size-fits-all.
Plus, you can use them for other projects like tile setting and painting.
When you’re cleaning, never mix chemicals together.
For example, don’t mix bleach with vinegar.
The reason why is it creates a toxic gas, and that can be very dangerous.
So just try to stick with one disinfectant.
Over the last several years, I’ve been using Lysol disinfectant wipes.
The reason why is two-fold.
Number one, they kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria.
Number two, you’re not spraying the disinfectant in the air.
You’re wiping down the surface with the wipe, which I personally like.
The nice thing about these disinfectant wipes is they kill a bunch of really gad stuff like
H1N1, RSV, and even Human Coronavirus.
So if somebody is sick, and they’ve used the bathroom, these are a great choice.
We’re going to use one wipe for the top of the toilet tank, the toilet tank, the handle,
and the seat cover.
The big tip is to wipe down these surfaces and just let the disinfectant sit on there
for a good 5 to 10 minutes.
It’s super important to wipe down the handle because this is the last thing that is touched
after the toilet is used, which is pretty disgusting when you think about it.
I want to use the second wipe for the toilet seat and the inside because after all, when
you shut the toilet, the seat cover gets a lot of spray from inside the toilet.
Use a new wipe for the bottom of the toilet seat, and then wipe down the top rim of the
toilet bowl and the inside as well.
And don’t forget this section of the toilet as it can get pretty grimy.
The reason we worked from the top down is as you get closer to the base of the toilet
bowl, your face gets closer to it, which isn’t a pleasant thing.
But at least you have this section of the toilet clean.
So then you can use the last wipe to wipe down the base of the toilet bowl.
And it’s never a bad idea to wipe down in front of the toilet and definitely on the
sides.
Once again, let the Lysol sit for a good 5 to 10 minutes so that it can properly disinfect.
If you have spots that are hard to reach with the wipes, use a toothbrush.
For example, where the toilet seat meets the toilet bowl, you can scrub around that.
Then you can put your toothbrush into a container and disinfect it before you use it again.
The next step is to clean inside the toilet bowl, but we’re going to do one additional
thing, and that is to plunge out most of the water.
The reason why is this is going to give us more surface area for our disinfectant to
clean.
And we’re just going to be using a normal toilet cleaning brush to do that.
You really want to try to get down as far as in the bowl as possible and clean the surface
for at least a minute or two.
One of the areas in a toilet bowl that can get absolutely disgusting are the rim holes
underneath the rim of the toilet bowl.
There are two ways to clean those.
One solution is to try to get your brush as horizontal as possible inside the toilet bowl.
As you can see, that cleaning method was not exactly successful.
If you run into a similar problem, you may want to try these Doodlebug White 3M Scrubbie
Pads; they’re awesome.
Place the pad underneath the rim and just start cleaning.
These little Doodle Pads are awesome, and they ‘re very affordable as well.
And as you can see, they do a great job of cleaning these little holes in the toilet
bowl.
It is a good idea to double-check and make sure that this won’t scratch your porcelain
finish.
Here’s a quick pro tip: I would never use a pumice scouring stick to clean a toilet.
The reason is this is abrasive, and it could permanently damage the porcelain finish on
your toilet.
So instead, opt for one of these White Doodlebugs.
The disinfectant has done its job after about 5 to 10 minutes.
Take a microfiber cloth and, again, start from the top down and clean off the surface
of the toilet.
And at this point, you can flush the toilet to clean off any of the debris that’s inside
the toilet bowl.
Just make sure that your head is not close to the toilet when you do that.
If your tiling grout is still discolored after disinfecting it, you can use MAPEI Ultra Care
Stone, Tile & Grout Cleaner.
You can dilute this in water.
Apply it to your tile and your grout.
Use a White Doodlebug to clean the tile and the grout.
Allow that to sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
And then clean it off with a damp sponge.
And you can repeat as necessary to get your tile and your grout looking much, much better.
Many homeowners make a big mistake when trying to keep those rim holes clean inside the toilet
bowl.
They try to use these chlorine tablets; they think they’re safe.
They drop them down into the toilet tank.
And what happens next is this breaks down the seals between your flush valve and your
fill valve and the toilet tank.
It can also ruin your flapper and lead to costly running toilets.
So don’t use these; there’s a better option.
Instead, you can use Fluidmaster Flush ‘n Sparkle.
There are two versions.
This is the bleach version which you can use if you don’t have a septic system.
And this is the blue version which is safe for septic systems.
So just know you have two options.
Flush ‘n Sparkle works differently than those chlorine tabs in one really important
way.
It works with your flush valve to clean the toilet bowl only when the toilet is flushed.
Installation is very easy.
It involves removing the hose both from your flush valve and your fill valve.
You want to hang the cartridge holder inside the tank.
The cartridge holder has an “IN” port.
Take the tube connected to that port and connect it to the port that’s on your fill valve.
Just make sure this connection is nice and snug.
In some toilets there is an overflow pipe instead of this configuration.
You would want to connect this clip to the overflow pipe.
But in this case, we’re just going to remove the clip.
And we’re going to connect this tube to our flush valve.
Now if you have too much tube, again, you can just cut this to size.
There’s a cartridge that comes with the Flush ‘n Sparkle.
This is the chlorine cartridge because we don’t have a septic system.
Just make sure that the O-ring is properly seated at the top.
The cartridge goes down into the holder, and you just want to turn it a quarter turn.
What’s nice is that the cartridge is only activated when you flush the toilet.
So no chlorine is going into the tank and damaging your toilet parts.
And by the way, these cartridges are replaceable, so you can find replacements for them over
on Amazon.
If you do have a septic system, you can use the blue version of Flush ‘n Sparkle.
And the chlorine version is kid-safe.
After the first 10 to 15 minutes of the chlorine being in the bowl, it dissipates to a level
that’s not going to be harmful to children or pets.
Both versions of Flush ‘n Sparkle and their refill are available over on Amazon.com.
Let us know, what did you think?
What’s the best toilet cleaning tip in today’s tutorial?
We’d love to know down in the comments.
Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you in the next video.