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How to Make a Homemade DIY Toilet Cleaner (Quick & Easy)

Toilet cleaning

If you have children or pets, it’s a good idea to avoid harmful chemicals, especially those found in many bathroom cleaners. Many contain bleach, ammonia, and several acid types that can cause severe burns to the eyes, skin, and esophagus.

We’ve listed six different toilet cleaning recipes that use ingredients you may already have around your home. Each is much safer than the ones you purchase and leaves you with a clean, fresh-smelling toilet.

Join us while we look at the ingredients list and steps required to use each one.

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Credit: Karolina Grabowska, Pexels

Our Homemade Cleaners

These are our six homemade toilet cleaning recipes in no particular order. We recommend beginning with the one that requires purchasing the fewest ingredients.

1. DIY Tea Tree Toilet Cleaner

tea tree oil pixabay
Credit: NatureFriend, Pixabay

The Tea Tree Toilet Cleaner uses three powerful ingredients to clean. Tea tree oil and white vinegar are natural disinfectants and eliminate many germs and viruses. Tea tree oil also has antifungal properties, while white vinegar works to break up grime and dissolve hard water deposits. Baking soda helps dirt and grease dissolve in water, and it also works as a mild abrasive to help polish the surface.

The one downside to using tea tree oil or any essential oils is that they can be harmful to your pet. If you have pets, make sure you keep any unused portion well locked away and keep the door closed while you clean it, and you should be fine.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • ½ cup baking soda
  • ½ tsp. tea tree oil

Steps

  1. Mix the vinegar and tea tree oil in a spray bottle.
  2. Spray inside the bowl and on all toilet’s surfaces.
  3. Allow the solution to sit for several minutes.
  4. Sprinkle baking soda inside the bowl and use a brush to scrub clean.
  5. Wipe the toilet clean with a clean, dry cloth.

2. DIY Borax Toilet Cleaner

borax chemical compound or sodium tetraborate_JK Sulit_shutterstock
Credit: JK Sulit, Shutterstock

The Borax Toilet Cleaner is another homemade toilet cleaner that uses white vinegar and essential oil, but it also adds borax’s powerful cleaning ability. Borax is a naturally occurring mineral that’s mined from the earth and turns into hydrogen peroxide when it comes in contact with water. It helps break up crusty stains and removes odors.

The downside to borax is that it can be difficult to find if you live in the European Union, where it is a banned substance over worries concerning reproductive health. The United States also prohibits its use as a food additive, but there should be no danger in using it as a light cleaner.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • ¾ cup borax
  • 10 drops lavender essential oil
  • 10 drops lemon essential oil

Steps

  1. Mix the ingredients and pour into the toilet bowl.
  2. Allow it to sit for several hours.
  3. Use a scrub brush to get under the lip every hour.
  4. Flush and repeat as necessary

3. DIY Castile Toilet Cleaner

castile soap - pixabay
Credit: theresaharris10, Pixabay

The Castile Toilet Cleaner is the first recipe on our list to use Castile soap. Castile soap is a natural, vegetable-based detergent that’s nontoxic, biodegradable, and available and liquid and bar varieties. It’s very effective at removing dirt and stains and also kills and removes bacteria.

We’ll leave the choice of essential oils up to you, but we recommend the lemon because it smells nice, cleans with the power of citrus, and is also anti-bacterial. Remember to keep the animals away from it while you’re cleaning.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of water
  • ½ cup baking soda
  • ½ cup liquid Castile soap
  • ¼ tsp. essential oil

Steps

  1. Combine the water, Castile soap, and essential oils in a squirt bottle.
  2. Spray the bowl and toilet surfaces and allowed it to sit for several minutes.
  3. Use a scrub brush to scrub the toilet clean
  4. Fill another spray bottle with hydrogen peroxide and use it to rinse the cleaner in the toilet bowl.
  5. Wipe down the toilet surfaces with a clean, dry cloth.

4. DIY Extra Strength Castille Cleaner

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Image Credit: Karolina Grabowska, Pexels

The Extra Strength Castille Cleaner is one of the more potent recipes on our list. It features many of the powerful cleaning ingredients from our previous recipes and also includes washing soda. Washing soda is very alkaline like borax, so it’s perfect for breaking up caked-on grime, and it also helps to soften the water, allowing you to pick up more contaminants. We found this recipe you left your bathroom smelling clean for many hours.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup baking soda
  • ½ cup washing soda
  • ½ cup liquid Castile soap
  • ¼ tsp. tea tree oil
  • ¼ tsp, other essential oil
  • 2 tbsp. white vinegar

Steps

  1. Mix the baking soda, washing soda, and Castile soap to make a paste.
  2. Add in essential oils and white vinegar.
  3. Put the paste on a brush or sponge and use it to clean the toilet and other bathroom surfaces.
  4. If the mixture is too runny, add more baking soda. If it’s too powdery, add more liquid Castile soap.

5. DIY Effervescent Toilet Cleaner

Image By: Karolina Grabowska, Pexels

The fizzy reaction of citric acid and baking soda in the Effervescent Toilet Cleaner can do wonders to lift and remove odors from your bathroom toilet. You can add in essential oils when you finish leaving a lingering scent that’s pleasant and rejuvenating. The chemical reaction is also a good way to get youngsters involved in the cleaning process, but you should convince them to wear protective eyewear when doing so. Citric acid is very mild, but it can cause burning and irritation if you get it in the eyes.

Ingredients

  • 1⅓ cups baking soda
  • ½ cup citric acid

Steps

  1. Mix the citric acid and baking soda and a large bowl.
  2. Use a small measuring cup to sprinkle some powder mixed into the toilet water.
  3. As the solution fizzes, use a brush to scrub the sides of the toilet.

6. DIY Industrial Strength Borax Toilet Cleaner

borax cleaner pixabay
Image Credit: SeaReeds, Pixabay

The industrial-strength borax recipe combines many of the most powerful cleaners on this list into a squeezable paste you can apply directly to the sides of the toilet bowl. You can then scrub with the scrubbing brush to clean and polish your toilet better than many other methods.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups distilled water
  • 1 cup baking soda
  • ⅓ cup borax
  • ⅓ cup Castile soap
  • ¼ tsp. essential oil

Steps

  1. Heat the water for easier mixing.
  2. Add baking soda and borax. Stir until dissolved.
  3. Let the solution: place it into a squeeze bottle.
  4. Add the Castile soap and essential oils. Shake well.
  5. Squeeze the bottle to apply it to the toilet bowl’s sides and other surfaces that need cleaning.

Conclusion

It’s not hard to create a homemade toilet cleaner that is safe to use around children and better for the environment. We like the Effervescent Toilet Cleaner and Industrial Strength Borax recipes the best, but the effervescence takes the prize because it’s popular among children, and parents can use all the help they can get.

We hope you have enjoyed reading over these do it yourself cleaning recipes and have found the one you can use in your home. If we have helped sway you from harsh chemicals, please share this guide on making a homemade toilet cleaner on Facebook and Twitter.


Featured Image Credit: Karolina Grabowska, Pexels

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