NEW videos weekly on our YouTube channel | HERE

Toilet Cleaning
Bathroom | YouTube

Clean Your Porcelain Throne

March 16, 2022

It can be hard to find the motivation to tackle arguably the grossest fixture in your house. But I promise regular cleaning will decrease the bacteria build-up and the ‘ick’ factor. There’s a reward in knowing you’re keeping bacteria from spraying around your bathroom with each flush.

Safety pit stop: There are a few rules about bathrooms around here. Always wear gloves, and run your fan or open a window. We don’t mix chemicals in the #cleaningarmy! Read your labels. Wipe with warm water when changing from one chemical to another. 

Disinfect.

Your first go at the toilet exterior will be a disinfecting run. Simply wipe the whole area down with our WBT recipe (1 gallon of water, ⅓ cup of bleach, 1 teaspoon of powdered Tide®). Pay special attention to high-touch areas such as the flushing handle. It is especially important to protect yourself with gloves and glasses while using bleach. We also find that Microban24® and Scrubbing Bubbles® work great for toilets.

Bowl.

Liquid Bar Keepers Friend® is the ultimate toilet bowl cleaner! Use a scrub brush with firm bristles to scrub away at any build-up. The product will need to sit if there are any tough stains. Give it time to work but if it isn’t working, flush the Bar Keepers Friend®, swish around some vinegar,  and allow it to sit for another go. If you have orange rings in your bowl from your water, Iron Out® will take those right off. Pro Tip: Reduce the water level in the toilet bowl by pouring a bucket of water down the toilet, which will prevent the product from being too diluted so it can do its job!

Toilet seat.

Okay, this might be the nastiest part, but it’s totally worth it. If you’re serious about cleaning your toilet, you can’t just clean the parts that show. You also need to cleanse all of the hidden parts (which often contain even more germs, bacteria, and filth than the exposed surfaces).

If possible, remove the toilet seat. Your shower or tub is a great place to clean and rinse the toilet seat. Plop it in there, grab a fresh cloth and a scrub brush, and get to work.. Scrub your toilet seat with WBT. Rinse and dry the seat in the tub.

If your toilet seat is not removable, make sure to lift any covers and scrub thoroughly around the hinges.

Pro Tip: Have an old toothbrush in your toolkit to get into small areas.

Toilet plunger and toilet brush.

Gather the toilet brush and plunger. These things need a proper and strong disinfectant (bleach) and a good rinse. (They’ve seen things…and we want to give them a thorough purge so they’re ready to spring into action the next time duty calls.) 

Again, your shower or tub is the perfect place to rinse these items. Start by wiping the handles with WBT. Pour bleach over the plunger and scrub brush to disinfect (over the toilet or drain.) Rinse well. See if you can take apart these bathroom tools to thoroughly scrub away the germs. If either of these are stainless steel or have rust, use Bar Keepers Friend ® for a cleaner finish. Pro Tip: Line the bottom of your toilet brush holder with a paper towel for easier future clean-up.

Scrub.

Now that everything is disinfected, use a cleaning scrub brush with WBT to reach smaller surfaces and remove any leftover grime on the exterior of the toilet. Try your best to get the backside of the toilet!

Pro Tip: Spray bolt covers with degreaser (yellow Mr. Clean®) and use your scrub brush to get the gunk out from underneath.

Clean your crack.

The seam between the toilet and the floor is often missed. Be sure to scrub well with WBT and absorb the residue with a paper towel. It may take a couple of tries to get it clean! 

If you have a big crack….between your toilet and the floor.…do yourself a favor and apply a mildew-resistant bead of caulk all the way around the perimeter. This will seal the gap, which makes it easier to clean in the future. (It also prevents any odor leakage.) Read the instructions on the caulk tube, but it usually takes 24 hours to cure.

Metal.

If your toilet supply valve and connected parts are metal, they’re prone to rust and other build-up. Liquid Bar Keepers Friend® works like magic when applied with a scrub brush to reach small areas. Allow the product to sit until the stains lift, then wipe away the product with a microfiber cloth to make them look brand new! (Prepare to be AMAZED!)

Surrounding areas.

Seeing as you’re already on your hands and knees, this is an excellent opportunity to use a rag with WBT to wipe down germy areas surrounding the toilet. This may include baseboards, the wall behind the toilet, and the cupboards facing the toilet.

Make it shine.

We like to make things sparkle and streak-free around here so once everything is clean, polish with Windex® and a microfibre cloth. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the difference this makes in the appearance of clean porcelain.

Keep it clean, queen

The first time you tackle your bathroom for a deep clean, prepare to be disgusted. (Especially if it’s your kids’ bathrooms. Toddlers, teenagers – it doesn’t seem to matter. They’ll destroy a perfectly good bathroom and then look at you like, “What, did I do something wrong?”) But once you get past this initial clean, it’s simply a matter of staying on top of things.

Cleaned weekly (or at least once every couple of weeks), your bathrooms won’t produce nearly the same gunk and grime. The process gets easier over time. Plus, when you have a clean bathroom, you’re more likely to take care when using it.

#CleaningArmy: Report for Basic Training

Want to clean your entire home the GoCleanCo way? Take our 75-minute interactive Basic Training Course. We’ll walk you through a step-by-step plan for tackling the filth and promoting the SHINE! The course comes complete with downloadable checklists for every room in the home!

For a list of our favorite products, click here.

– Katie S @GoCleanCo

Recent Posts

Thank you! A confirmation email will be sent to your email

Clean up your inbox.

News, ideas, and recommendations delivered to your inbox. Absolutely zero trash piling up in the corner.

We're big on Instagram.

Follow @GoCleanCo for seriously satisfying videos and top-secret tips. Don’t be shy, come say hi.

gocleanco
Jun 3
13848

Here’s the new ‘do. 💁🏼‍♀️ Low maintenance, how I prefer everything in life. Go follow my big sis @hairhouseyeg —-they do hair tutorials (for you ladies who aren’t on the 🕰️ app) with simple clear instructions just like I show you how to clean toilets! The plot twist is that she and her business partner are both high school Cosmetology teachers, but they also own a salon together, so they legit know how to teach! #shorthair

gocleanco
Jun 1
12452

Your toilet isn’t wrecked! We gotchu. #cleaning

gocleanco
May 31
2274

I’m in the hot seat answering your burning questions on @downy Rinse & Refresh! I’ve been using the new @downy Rinse & Refresh for a while now, and this stuff is so good at making your fabrics fresh on the daily. Odors get trapped in fabric because we have a residue (like minerals, hard water, or body oils) coating the fabrics. @downy Rinse & Refresh breaks down the residues and helps eliminate the odors. You put it in the fabric softener dispenser cup and wash with your regular detergent (I use Tide in case you are new around here). Plus, it is safe for all washable fabrics. I just used it on my musty towels and it blew my mind! What have you tried Rinse & Refresh on? Tell me in the comments! #ad #downypartner #odorisnttheend

gocleanco
May 23
12038

Petition to have all toilet seats removable from now until the end of time. Sign below ⬇️ #cleaningtips

gocleanco
May 21
4776

Needed this to live on the feed forever cause you folks ask me about it everyday. This is the @malibucpro hard water treatment I use on my hair. If you have super hard water, it sticks to your hair just like your shower doors. It makes your hair coated and feel like straw—your shampoo doesn’t work as well and your hair feels limp and lifeless. It’s super to easy to use, you can do it at home and it’s safe for highlighted/colour treated hair. Linked it up in both our Amazon storefronts and on stories. @hairhouseyeg 💁🏼‍♀️ #hairtutorial

gocleanco
May 12
2010

Dawn Platinum means serious business. Did you know that 3 bottles of the leading non-concentrated dish liquid equals ONE bottle of Dawn Platinum? @dawndishwash has a powerful formula to help you get through more dishes with less product, which will save you some moola plus you can use it outside of the kitchen! Dawn Platinum cleans windows and BBQ grills, tire rims…anywhere you need to fight a greasy mess, you can reach for Dawn Platinum. We love Dawn Ultra around here, but Dawn Platinum is even more concentrated so it’s the best grease-cutting you can get. You know it works on dishes but where else are you using Dawn, outside of the kitchen sink? Share your best stories below so I can test them out! #ad #dawnpartner

gocleanco
May 9
23666

If you give a Mom a coffee…😵‍💫 ☕️ Don’t overdo it this week leading up to your big “day off”. #happymothersday

gocleanco
May 3
5548

April in nutshell. #springcleaning

gocleanco
Apr 28
6069

dump scare > jump scare 🫣

gocleanco
Apr 27
5291

DING 🛎️ DING 🛎️ DING 🛎️ If you guessed: Spray Tan Residue, you win 5 gold ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and bragging rights to your friends. #dontdothisathome

gocleanco
Apr 26
19473

You each get one guess: GO! #springcleaning

gocleanco
Apr 17
1680

Check out my IG Live on Wednesday—I'll be chatting with P&G dishwashing scientist, Morgan Eberhard, to answer all your burning questions about the new Cascade Platinum Plus. Remember…the dishwasher pod that blew all your minds a couple weeks ago?! It’s the solution we have all been waiting for; cabinet-ready dishes without pre-rinsing or the need to dry them out of the dishwasher. My DM’s were DEEP when I showed you Cascade Platinum Plus in action and tbh, I didn’t think loading the dishwasher could get so many people steamed up! Drop your questions below so we can answer them on the live with Morgan. She knows her stuff —she’s a legit 👩🏼‍🔬 folks. #sponsored #cascadeplatinumplus #cascadepartner

gocleanco
Apr 15
4522

Happy National Laundry Day! Not sure why we need a national day for laundry since we do it everyday but hey hey I’m always in the mood to hug a box of tide so here we are! Anyways, in celebration of Laundry Day, we have a blog post all about my new washer and dryer to answer your pressing questions. It will live on the blog so you can go back and check when (touch wood) your machine kicks the bucket. Link is in our bio to read! #laundryday

gocleanco
Apr 12
5576

Vacuum round up and break down of how they made it into our Amazon Storefront in stories today! We are also planning a Vacuum Fight Club…so drop your favs or the ones you want to see us test in the comments and I’ll hook us up.

gocleanco
Apr 2
33004

#sponsored Did you know that household bleach is derived from sodium chloride - common table salt? During household use, it breaks down to mostly salt and water. Did you also know that you can use Clorox® Disinfecting Concentrated Bleach to keep your flowers beautiful longer? Wearing gloves, add ¼ tsp. of Clorox® Disinfecting Concentrated Bleach to every 1.27 L of water you use in the flower vase and stir well to mix. Make sure to trim off the end of each flower stem before arranging it, to increase absorption. Check your flowers weekly and refresh the water as needed. Just mix up a fresh batch of Clorox® Disinfecting Concentrated Bleach and water solution. #yeahbleachdoesthat @clorox_canada

gocleanco
Apr 1
12195

Wanted to catch y’all before you had breakfast. #cleaningmotivation

gocleanco
Mar 30
3400

Some products you just have to see to believe. 🤯 Cascade Platinum Plus is a brand new product (you might have seen it on the shelves already) that is changing the GAME for your dishwashing routine. For years we’ve been doing work that really should be our dishwasher’s job! Spoiler alert: it’s not your dishwasher, it’s your dish detergent. TBH I was skeptical when @mycascade told me not to rinse and to let the dishes SIT OVERNIGHT BEFORE WASHING THEM but here we are. #sponsored #cascadepartner

gocleanco
Mar 29
3599

It’s the final week of the Spring Cleaning Challenge! How y’all doing? Thrown in the towel yet?! 🫣 This round was fast and dirty (in the best way possible) and I’m telling ya—it feels like a fever dream 😮‍💨 😵‍💫 I’ll be recovering on my heating pad come Monday. #springcleaning

gocleanco
Mar 25
18279

Spring cleaning isn’t over until we clean the windows. Sparkling windows make all the difference, you can actually see outside and let the sunshine in! I have a Spring Cleaning offer with @oceansalesltd up in my stories, it is a package deal with the AquaBLADE and the Carbon Tuff Cloths. Check it out! #sponsored

©2023 Bleach Pray Love | Designed by Canned Spinach | Built by Oracast