Cleaning your toilet and seeing stains you can never seem to get rid of is frustrating. Here are some ways to remove any stain and leave your toilet bowl shiny and clean.
Types Of Toilet Stains
Toilet stains are not usually caused by the stuff you put into your toilet. They build up because of the type of water used to flush. Here are the most common culprits.
- Mineral Stains. Water full of calcium, magnesium, and undissolved solids leaves gray-white rings of hard deposits on toilet bowl sides.
- Rust Stains. Water containing iron leaves toilet bowls looking reddish-brown because the water sits for long periods. You may also see streaks of rust on the sides of the bowl where water comes out of the holes under the rim.
- Mold Stains. Mold grows on moist organic material. Wet warm humid bathrooms provide the perfect environment for ugly dark mold to grow under the toilet rim and down the sides of toilet bowls.
- Copper Stains. Some water corrodes the insides of copper pipes and fittings. The corrosion flows to the toilet tank and bowl–leaving greenish-blue streaks.
Best Cleaner For Mineral Stains
Combine baking soda and vinegar in the toilet bowl to dissolve minerals stuck to the bowl. Pour one cup of baking soda and one cup of vinegar into the toilet bowl of clean water. Let sit for about 15 minutes–then scrub clean with your toilet brush.
Best Cleaner For Rust Stains
Hydrogen peroxide oxidizes rust. Pour at least ½ cup into the toilet. Make sure the mixture is spread to the sides of the bowl and under the rim. Let sit for 30 minutes and scrub away the rust stains.
Rust-filled toilet tanks can be cleaned by pouring ½ cup of hydrogen peroxide into them and letting it sit overnight. Flush the toilet a couple of times in the morning to clear out the tank of most of the rust. Repeat as necessary.
Best Cleaner For Mold Stains
Borax kills mold and mold spores. Pour a significant amount of borax powder into the toilet bowl. Spread it all over the inside of the bow–especially under the rim. Let sit overnight and scrub away the borax and mold in the morning.
Best Cleaner For Copper Stains
Most acid-based cleaners–like lemon juice–dissolve copper stains. Pour about ½ cup of concentrated lemon juice–or juice from one whole lemon–into the toilet bowl. Let sit for an hour. Scrub out the stains.
Reduce future copper stains by pouring ½ cup of lemon juice into the toilet tank and leaving it sit overnight. Flush a couple of times in the morning to clean out the tank. Repeat as necessary.
Toilet Pumice Stone
Use a toilet pumice stone when cleaning any deposits off the bowl. Once the cleaning solution loosens any type of stain, the abrasive stone removes residual deposits. Pumice stone is not a cleaner or disinfectant. You still have to clean the toilet.
Other abrasive cleaners include fine grit sandpaper and 0000-grade steel wool. Keep the tool and the bowl wet while cleaning to avoid scratching the porcelain.
