Creating your own natural cleaners can be fun, and they’re certainly healthier than their toxic counterparts. You can make your own simple and effective non-toxic cleaner for one of the dirtiest places in the house with this DIY toilet bowl cleaner.
I worked in the cleaning business for about 12 years, cleaning everything from high end homes, to college dorm bathrooms. I’ve cleaned more than my fair share of toilets in my lifetime, and I’m very picky about which cleaners I use.
For the longest time I was using a toxic, lung burning product that featured hydrochloric acid to clean toilet bowls. Every time I used it I had to hold my breath and if it accidentally splashed on my skin, I’d get a chemical burn! That toxic cleaner was the only thing I had found that could get rid of the rust and hard water stains.
…until now, that is.
Who knew that such a seemingly complicated problem has such a simple solution? I’ve been using vinegar a lot ever since I switched to making my own non-toxic cleaners, but I was still holding onto my toxic toilet bowl cleaner. I tried using vinegar on the toilet, and what do you know…it works!
Vinegar has at least a hundred different uses and truly works miracles as a cleaner. It not only deodorizes and cleans, but it helps get rid of rust and hard water stains. (However, if you have a whole house filter like this one, then hard water stains won’t be an issue).
As great as that is, I wanted something more from a toilet bowl cleaner. The toilet is exposed to a lot of nastiness and harbors some pretty disgusting things. This study found bacteria like E. coli, salmonella, and staphylococcus hanging around bathrooms. They used Lysol to clean the bacteria and found that some bacteria weren’t reduced at all, while the E. coli actually doubled after cleaning!
Lysol is toxic, but it doesn’t seem to be the most effective choice either. And if the Lysol isn’t killing the bacteria in your bathroom, then how can you be sure your homemade cleaner actually is!??
You’ve heard me rave about essential oils on more than one occasion, and today is no exception. The study I mentioned before highlights 5 of the highest occurring bacterial strains found in a bathroom. This study and this one here show that cinnamon and clove are effective at killing E. coli, staphylococcus, salmonella, and streptococcus. And this study shows that ginger helps reduce that final pesky campylobacter strain.
Fortunately, cinnamon, ginger, and clove smell UhMaaaZing together.
…way better than Lysol or hydrochloric acid!
- 1 cup vinegar (just plain old white vinegar)
- 7 drops each ginger essential oil, cinnamon essential oil, and clove essential oil
- Glass spray bottle (these are lovely glass spray bottles)
- Combine the vinegar and essential oils in the glass spray bottle.
- To use, shake vigorously before spraying on the sides of the toilet bowl and under the rim.
- Take the top off of the spray bottle and dump the rest of the contents into the bowl. Let the vinegar soak in the bowl for an hour before scrubbing thoroughly with a brush and flushing.
Looking for more non-toxic DIY household cleaners? Here you go!
Non-Toxic Spring Cleaning (20+ DIY recipes PLUS a FREE checklist!)
Non-Toxic Citrus Dusting Spray
DIY All-Purpose Cleaner (zap household germs and make the whole house smell UhMaaaZing!)
DIY Multi-Purpose Floor and Glass Cleaner (great for spray mops)
DIY Carpet Powder (freshens, cleans, deodorizes, AND disinfects!)
Top 10 Essential Oils For Cleaning
Vodka Disinfectant Spray Recipe
DIY Mold Removing Spray
Clean up your face with our non-toxic, organic face products from Pronounce Skincare!
The Total Face System – Facial Cleaner, Facial Toner, Facial Moisturizer, & Facial Serum
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Comments 3
Love vinegar for cleaning. Will have to try this method for getting those darn hard water stains out!
Wow, I had no idea how easy this could be!
So easy! Thank you for the recipe!