Toilets are of course awesome for keeping our homes clean, but with that being said, they in themselves do also need to be cleaned. One question that many people have is whether or not you can put vinegar in a toilet tank to clean it. The simple answer here is that yes, you can use vinegar to clean your toilet tank, and it actually works quite well too.
Let’s figure out why vinegar makes for a good toilet cleaner, and also what some of the best alternatives to putting it in a toilet tank are.
Why Would You Put Vinegar in a Toilet Tank?
Vinegar does make for a good natural cleaning solution for toilets, but exactly why does it work so well?
Well, right off the bat, one of the biggest reasons why you might want to use vinegar as opposed to other harsh cleaning chemicals is due to the fact that it is of course natural. Due to the fact that it is natural, you can rest assured that you aren’t harming the environment around you. In today’s world, where pollution is such a big issue, this is more important than ever before.
Another reason why you might want to use vinegar instead of other harsh chemicals is due to the fact that vinegar is very cheap to purchase. Vinegar is much more affordable to purchase and to use than any professional toilet cleaning product.
In terms of its cleaning abilities, vinegar has the ability to dissolve a variety of organic compounds, including grime, grease, dirt, and many other things that might be stuck to the inside of your toilet tank. On that same note, vinegar also makes for a great disinfectant, which means that it has the ability to break down various bacteria that cause bad odors to occur.
By all means, vinegar is indeed one of the best things that you can put in your toilet tank for a bit of natural yet effective cleaning.
How to Clean Toilet Tank with Vinegar
Alright, so now that we have established that vinegar does indeed make for a good toilet cleaner for your toilet tank, let’s figure out exactly how to clean your toilet tank with vinegar. In all reality, all that you really need to do here is to pour two cups of vinegar into your toilet tank, and another cup into the bowl of your toilet, and then let it sit for a while.
Remember that natural cleaning solutions like this do require a good bit of time to take effect, so for the best results, you might want to let the vinegar soak overnight. Generally speaking, the longer you let the vinegar soak in the toilet tank, the better the results will be. Once you have let it soak for a while, you can then use a little sponge or a rag to wipe down the inside of the toilet tank. Just don’t use anything overly abrasive that is going to scratch the inside of your toilet tank.
Now, if you think that vinegar alone is not quite enough to get the job done, what you can try doing before you pour the vinegar into the toilet tank, is to first pour a few tablespoons of baking soda into the toilet tank.
Baking soda is also another great natural cleaner, plus when it comes into contact with vinegar, it will create a strong chemical reaction that creates a lot of oxygen, and that oxygen also has the ability to loosen stuck on grime, grease, and more. Just don’t pour the vinegar in too quickly after the baking soda, because their reaction is quite strong, and the foam may overflow over the rim of your toilet tank.
3 Alternatives to Putting Vinegar in a Toilet Tank
Vinegar is of course a good option to go with when it comes to cleaning your toilet tank, but that said, it is a bit smelly, and moreover you might just not have it laying around your house. Let’s take a look at a few good alternatives.
1. Baking Soda
As we already touched on above, one of the best things that you can put in your toilet tank in terms of cleaning is baking soda. Baking soda is of course all natural, so it’s not going to hurt the environment around you, and it also has the ability to dissolve a variety of organic compounds that could be stuck to the inside of your toilet tank.
If you are going to use nothing other than baking soda, just pour a very healthy amount of it into the toilet tank and then let it sit for a few hours. Remember, the longer you let it sit for the better the results will be. You can then use some kind of nonabrasive cleaner to scrub the inside of the toilet tank clean.
2. Hot Water with Soap
Another good alternative to using vinegar is to use hot water with dish soap. Dish soap is strong enough to remove a variety of organic compounds and to dissolve things like grease and dirt, but is also gentle enough to ensure that it will not damage the inside of your toilet tank.
Just get some really hot water and then pour a healthy amount of dish soap into it, and then pour that into the tank of your toilet. Let this sit for a good while, at least until the hot water has cooled down. You can then use some kind of nonabrasive sponge or rag to wipe down the inside of the toilet tank.
If you want to take this one step further, you can also do the same for the toilet bowl.
3. Enzymatic Drain Cleaner
If you do want to use something a bit more powerful, a professional cleaning product, then you can try using an enzymatic drain cleaner. This is a special type of drain cleaner that has the ability to literally eat through various types of bacteria, which therefore helps to control odors, and they also help to loosen stuck on grime, grease, and more.
Just follow the directions as indicated on your product of choice, but remember that you cannot use chemically based drain cleaners on your toilet. Drano is a big no-no for toilets.
Summary
As you can see, vinegar makes for a perfectly natural, safe, and effective product to use to clean your toilet tank, but there are also other effective alternatives.