This Is How Often You Should Clean Your Toilet
Jasmine Purdie, HelloGiggles
Welcome to #Adulting, the ultimate breakdown of all your grown-up needs. These articles are here to help you feel less alone and answer all your personal, financial, and career questions that weren't answered in school (no judgment, we get it!). Whether you're looking to find out how to tackle laundry or you want a deep breakdown on how to make a savings plan—we've got you covered. Come back every month to find out what life skills we're upgrading next and how.
Whether you're obsessed with cleaning TikToks, going about your weekend chores, or simply walking into your bathroom one day and thinking "ew…" — there will come a time when you wonder how often you should clean your toilet.
It's obviously important to do so for your health, since—no surprise here—"your bathroom is one of the most germ-ridden places in your home," Ana Andres, co-founder of the cleaning service Tidy Choice, tells HelloGiggles.
"Every time you flush your toilet, particles are projected into the air and spread around the room," Andres says. "When a bathroom has been neglected, it can lead to a build-up of harmful bacteria, mold, and mildew, which can cause skin, eye, and throat irritation. Keeping your bathroom clean can lead to better hygiene and a range of health benefits."
Not to mention, there's a mental side to it, too, which you'll totally understand if you've ever witnessed gross yellow rings in your toilet, or other forms of build-up. "Spending time in a clean and tidy space is relaxing and reduces stress," Andres says. "Furthermore, you will also feel less anxious if you have guests over who may pay your bathroom a visit!"
Below Andres explains how often you should clean your toilet and how you can make your toilet bowl as clean as possible.
How often to clean your toilet:
According to Andres, doing a deep-clean once a week is ideal, though the frequency depends on the number of people who use that bathroom and how messy they are. If you're sharing a space with a partner, or a bunch of roommates who constantly forget to flush, agreeing to clean it more often than that will be a good idea.
That said, it never hurts to tidy the area in-between cleanings. Consider giving the toilet a once over at the end of the day with an antibacterial wipe, Andres says, just to get the germs off the seat and handle.
This is also a good idea if you or anyone you live with happens to be sick. Simply set the wipes on the back of your toilet, and give everything a quick wipe after each use. This habit will also help prevent grime from building up, which will make the weekly deep cleans 100 times easier—and faster.
How to clean a toilet:
Cleaning a toilet might sound daunting, but once you get the hang of it, it'll become second nature. To start, pour hot water into the toilet bowl as a quick pre-clean rinse, Andres says. Then choose a toilet bowl cleaner that has some sort of bleach—or for a less intense option, pour in vinegar then baking soda.
Make sure the cleaner gets up under the rim of the seat and around the entire bowl, then let it sit for about an hour so it has time to remove limescale and stains, Andres says. While that's doing its thing, use the aforementioned disinfectant wipes to clean the outside of the toilet, making sure you clean the seat, the tank, the base of the toilet, and the surrounding floor tiles.
"After you've waited an hour for your cleaner to work its magic," Andres says, "it is time to start the scrubbing process." Grab a toilet brush and work your way around the inside of the bowl, spending extra time on set-in stains. You could also use an old toothbrush to get into the smaller areas, like the hinges of the toilet seat.
To finish up, pour another dose of hot water into the bowl, Andres says, and then give it a flush. As a finishing touch—and if you want to be extra—put a few drops of essential oil inside your toilet paper roll, so that the bathroom smells fresh whenever you enter. And just like that, you'll have a clean, sparkling, nice-smelling bathroom to enjoy all week long.
