Green Toilet Bowl Cleaners

Clean your toilet bowl once a week to keep odors and bacteria to a minimum.

Your toilet bowl harbors bacteria and odors that can turn your bathroom into a smelly mess. Cleaning your toilet bowl regularly will keep it looking and smelling its best. There are a variety of green items that successfully clean and deodorize your toilet bowl without using harsh, toxic chemicals that can pollute your home.

Baking Soda

Long used to clean and deodorizer a variety of items, baking soda is an inexpensive, natural product that you can find in your local grocery store baking aisle. Baking soda is safe to use in your home and will not leave behind toxic fumes or residues.

Before beginning the cleaning process, flush your toilet to remove the soiled water from the bowl. Liberally sprinkle the baking soda inside the bowl as well as along the sides. Scrub the toilet bowl vigorously with a toilet scrub brush and the baking soda. If needed, add more baking soda. Leave the baking soda to sit in the toilet for 15 minutes before scrubbing the toilet bowl with the scrubber once again. Flush the toilet to rinse the baking soda off of the inside of the bowl.

Vinegar

Vinegar is a versatile cleaner and deodorizer that kills fungus and eliminates even the toughest odors. Like baking soda, vinegar is 100 percent all natural and is safe to use around people, pets and children. After you have flushed the toilet, pour 2 to 3 cups of white vinegar into the toilet bowl. Dip a toilet scrubber inside the bowl and saturate it with the vinegar. Begin scrubbing the toilet bowl with the scrubber and vinegar. Continue scrubbing until you have thoroughly cleaned the bowl. Let the vinegar soak in the toilet bowl for 10 minutes before flushing the toilet to rinse it clean.

Borax

Consisting of hydrated sodium borate, borax is a common cleaning agent used in a variety of cleaning chemicals. Borax comes in a powdered form, and you can use it to clean windows, floors, walls, bathtubs and showers. Borax cleans your toilet bowl without using chemicals.

Remove the soiled water from the toilet bowl by flushing it. Sprinkle the borax on the sides of the toilet bowl until it is thoroughly coated. Use a toilet bowl scrubber to scrub the toilet vigorously until thoroughly cleaned. Rinse the borax out of the bowl by flushing the toilet. Repeat the process until you have cleaned your toilet.

Lemon Juice

By mixing lemon juice and either borax or baking soda to form a thick paste, you can remove difficult toilet bowl stains without toxic chemicals. After you created the thick paste, cover the toilet bowl stains with the paste and let sit for two hours. After the allotted time, scrub the stain with a toilet scrub brush. Continue scrubbing until the stains are no longer visible. Flush the toilet bowl clean and repeat if needed.

References

• Earth Easy: Non-Toxic Home Cleaning
• Ecolife: Natural Toilet Cleaner; Maryruth Belsey Priebe
• Guide to Less Toxic Products Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia: Household Cleaners
• "Honolulu Weekly"; Clean & Green; Keala Francis; April 2007