As far as men are concerned, urinals are probably some of the best inventions out there. After all, what could be better than standing up and relieving oneself? This miracle of modern plumbing does of course have many advantages, with that being said, men aren’t always the cleanest of beings, and they are known to make quite a mess.
When it comes to urinals, this mess can be quite severe. You guys all know what we’re talking about right? Yeah, it’s an issue of not being able to aim properly. Anyway, what we are here to do today is to provide you with the best possible instructions on how to clean a urinal.
How Often Should You Clean a Urinal?
How often you clean your urinal really depends on two things. The first factor is of course how messy the people are that use it in the first place. The second factor is how many people use the urinal.
If you are a single person who happens to have a urinal at home, and you’re the only one who uses it, then cleaning it every few days or even just once a week should be fine.
However, if there are several people using the urinal, then cleaning it three to four times a week is necessary. If you own a commercial establishment where hundreds of people use the same unit per day, then it might actually have to be cleaned several times per day.
How to Clean a Urinal
Although cleaning urinals might sound like a very simple task, the fact of the matter is that there are actually quite a few steps involved in order to clean them properly. Let’s get to it and provide you with a step-by-step instructional on exactly how to it.
1. Flush It and Remove the Urinal Cake
First things first, to help make your life a little easier, just give the urinal two or three flushes to flush down as much dirt and debris as humanly possible. Anything that can make your life easier should be done. This is also the point where you want to remove the urinal cake.
2. Apply a Cleaning Product of Choice
This is perhaps one of the most important steps in this tutorial. What you need to do now is to get yourself a urinal cleaner. Now, this could be a basic toilet cleaning product, or it could be something as simple as vinegar.
Remember that vinegar does have great germ-killing abilities, it will break down uric acid crystal buildups, and it will also help kill smells. That being said vinegar is of course not quite as good as a professional urinal cleaning product. Another effective product to use is bleach. Do, however, keep in mind that bleach is not very good for the environment, so this is something that we personally would use as a last resort.
Whatever the case may be, what you want to do now is to apply said cleaning product to the interior of the urinal, to the exterior of the urinal, all of the fixtures, the wall behind the urinal, and even the floor underneath the urinal. Yes, men are dirty, and that wall behind the urinal and the floor underneath it are going to be dirty. Let the cleaning product soak for a few minutes.
3. Start Cleaning from the Top
Now you want to start cleaning the urinal from the top and work your way down. Remember, whenever you clean anything, there is no point in starting from the bottom. Always start from the top. So, use a rag or a sponge to wipe down the metal fixtures and the top of the urinal.
Remember to not use anything abrasive on the metal or porcelain, as it will scratch the urinal. A scratched urinal is susceptible to large bacteria buildup, and therefore staining and odors, so don’t scratch it, period.
Once you have cleaned the top of the urinal, it’s time to clean the interior. Once again, use something soft to remove any and all stains. Don’t use anything abrasive! If you find the holes that let water into the urinal are clogged, use a toothpick to dig out any debris from those holes. Then, once the top and the interior of the urinal are clean, use a new and clean rag to wipe down the exterior of the urinal.
4. Insert a Urinal Cake
If the urinal cake you removed in the first step is still good, then simply put it back in, but if it needs replacing, then put in a new urinal cake.
5. Clean the Walls and the Floor
The final thing left to do here is to clean the wall behind the urinal and the floor underneath. Of course, you can do this any way you see fit, although we recommend some basic cleaning product with a rag for the wall, preferably something for tile (that wall will usually be a tile wall).
You can then use a mop to clean the floor underneath.
Mistakes to Avoid, Tips & Tricks
Something that you really want to avoid doing when cleaning a urinal is to use water, especially large quantities of it. Water will cause those uric acid crystals to stick together and form obstructions in the pipes. Pouring a gallon of water into a urinal will actually risk clogging it, particularly over the long run.
Once again, it is also important to stress that you do not use anything abrasive to scrub the urinal, particularly the porcelain. Use a urinal-safe cleaning product of choice along with a soft sponge or a very soft brush, or better yet, a rag. If you find that stains are stuck on, you just need to let your cleaning product soak for a bit longer.
Summary
With the detailed instructions that we have provided you with here today, you should be able to keep your urinal fresh and spotless without much issue.
Remember that prevention is always best, or in other words, cleaning your urinal regularly is much easier than having to do a massive cleaning job every few weeks.