How to Clean a Toilet Tank (2024)

FAQs

How to Clean a Toilet Tank? ›

Add a cup of white distilled vinegar to the tank once a month. Leave it to sit overnight and then flush it in the morning. Check for sediment buildup and staining every month or so. This may be especially important if you have hard water or if you have a toilet that doesn't get used very much.

We recommend using a mixture of ¼ cup of vinegar for every 1 cup of water. This ensures your toilet tank is being disinfected without causing damage, which the use of bleach or chemical cleaners can do.

Simply pour a cup of fabric softener directly into the toilet tank, then each time the toilet is flushed, the movement of the flowing water will cause a pleasant aroma to emanate from the toilet bowl. However, fabric softener is not designed for this purpose.

White vinegar and baking soda in equal parts is a cost-efficient and effective means of getting rid odors in a toilet. Add them to the tank, mix them in and then use the toilet brush to gently scrub the tank. Let it sit for a few hours, scrub the tank again and flush.

Use vinegar or another acidic cleaner to clean calcium buildup from your toilet. 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.

If you notice a slimy layer around the average water level inside your toilet tank, this is likely caused by iron bacteria. Additional brownness or other discoloration to the tank itself isn't caused by the bacteria alone but most likely because of excess iron or manganese in the water.

Avoid using cleaner tabs—they often contain bleach, which is a no-no for cleaning toilet tanks because of bleach's corrosive properties. Add a cup of white distilled vinegar to the tank once a month. Leave it to sit overnight and then flush it in the morning. Check for sediment buildup and staining every month or so.

The idea is that as the toilet tank refills with water after each flush, the Fabuloso solution will mix with the water and slowly release into the toilet bowl, providing a fresh scent and cleaning power.

Bleach tablets can accelerate the corrosion of tank bolts and metal pipes. Flushing a toilet that contains a tablet sends harsh chemicals into the pipe system with every use. These chemicals can cause cracks in already weakened metalwork. The caustic chemicals can also dislodge bolts or cause corroded pipes to burst.

Step 1 Pour Pine-Sol^® directly onto a sponge, rag or scrubbing brush. Step 2 Wipe down the toilet tank, lid, seat cover and outside of the bowl, reapplying more cleaner as needed. Step 3 Rinse each surface with water. Step 4 Splash Pine-Sol^® into the toilet bowl and hit every crevice with your trusty toilet brush.

Can you put a dishwasher tablet in the toilet at night? ›

method 1. let it mellow. If the bowl is not looking too bad, you can simply drop the tablet into the bowl and leave it to work its magic (overnight is best).

Pour vinegar into the tank

Pouring acidic cleaners down the toilet can help you prevent hard water stains and mineral deposits. Some people recommend lemon juice, but the most reliable and affordable product to use is white vinegar. Each month, pour a cup of white vinegar into the toilet tank.

All you have to do is pour a liberal amount of white vinegar inside the tank and use a toilet brush to scrub the walls of the tank with the vinegar. Let the vinegar sit for a few minutes, then flush your toilet several times to clear it out of the toilet tank. The bad smell should go away immediately.

In general, plumbers caution against the use of any chemicals inside a toilet tank and suggest instead using bowl-based toilet cleaners. Adding anything but water to a toilet tank could result in potentially costly repairs, Abrams says.

Tastes and odors produced by iron bacteria are described as swampy, musty, or like oil, petroleum, cucumbers, sewage, or rotten vegetation. Iron bacteria can also cause reddish, yellow, brown, or gray deposits or orange or opaque slimy strands inside toilet tanks or orange-colored water.

Flush the toilet, then drain and sponge out as much of the water as you can find from both the tank and the bowl. Next, remove the tank top and the rubber flapper valve at the bottom of the tank. Start the cleanup by pouring all the CLR into the tank. It will fill the bowl as it enters and starts to clean the jets.

If you find water in the tank that is very dark black color, it's likely to have elevated levels of manganese in your water supply. If there are brown stains, it is probably from iron in your water. If you discover a thick, slimy mess, it is likely from iron bacteria growing in your toilet tank.