Cleaning the toilet probably isn't your favorite chore, but our resident cleaning expert has some tips that can make it easier. Carolyn Forté, the executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care & Cleaning Lab, shared her guide to cleaning a toilet properly, including product recommendations and effective methods.
The mistake most people make when they're cleaning the toilet is doing it too quickly. According to Forté, many surface-disinfectant products need to be left on surfaces for several minutes to kill germs. Plus, letting the products sit can reduce the scrubbing you need to remove stains.
Here's everything to know about the right way to clean your toilet, according to a cleaning expert.
What You'll Need to Clean Your Toilet
Before you get started, you need to be well-equipped for the job. Forté recommends keeping a separate set of cleaning supplies in your bathroom for the job (that aren't used on other surfaces across your house).
- A toilet brush
- Rubber gloves
- Scrub sponge
- Clorox bleach
- Toilet bowl cleaner
- Disinfecting wipes
- Bathroom cleaner
How to Clean Your Toilet the Right Way
Clean the Toilet Bowl:
When you clean your toilet, start with the bowl first so you can give the cleaner time to work while you tackle the remaining surfaces.
- Put on your rubber gloves.
- Coat the toilet bowl's entire interior, starting underneath the bowl's rim, with a product formulated to clean and disinfect, like Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Bleach.
- Use your toilet brush to scrub away stains and deposits. "Be sure to scrub well, with the cleaner, around the inside of your bowl, the toilet bend if possible and underneath the rim of the bowl," Forté explains.
- Let everything sit for five minutes, then flush it away.
If you run out of toilet bowl cleaner, the next best thing to use is actual bleach, Forté says. Simply measure out half a cup's worth of bleach and pour it into your toilet bowl. Use your brush to scrub the sides and beneath the bowl's rim, also allowing five minutes to pass before you flush it all away.
Clean the Outside of the Toilet:
To clean the outside of the toilet, Forté recommends using an all-purpose bathroom disinfecting spray, like Lysol Power Bathroom Foamer, which sanitizes hard surfaces in 30 seconds and disinfects them in 10 minutes.
- Tackling one area at a time, spray the cleaner on the tank, outside of the bowl and the sides, and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Wipe each area thoroughly with a sponge or cloth, then rinse well before moving on to the next area, Forté says.
- Don’t forget to clean the small area between the toilet seat and the tank.
Remember, surfaces need pre-cleaning before they can be disinfected and need to stay wet for the recommended time on the label to effectively kill germs. If you don’t want to leave the cleaner on for as long as recommended to disinfect — 10 minutes in some cases — after the toilet is clean and dry, go over all the surfaces again with a disinfecting wipe or apply a disinfecting spray, like GH Seal star Microban 24 Hour Sanitizing Spray, making sure they stay wet for the required time to kill bacteria and viruses.
Clean the Toilet Seat:
Finally, don't forget to clean the seat, then give your toilet one final flush.
- Use the bathroom cleaner to clean both sides of the lid and toilet seat thoroughly, as you did with the tank and outer surfaces. Remember: the surfaces need to remain wet for the time recommended on the product label to be properly disinfected.
- Lower the seat back on top of the bowl once you've finished.
- Give the toilet flush handle — a high-touch spot — an extra pass with a disinfecting wipe and allow it to air dry.
In between cleaning sessions, it’s also a good idea to use a disinfectant wipe to rub the handle down.
How Do I Clean My Toilet With Vinegar and Baking Soda?
Give your toilet a simple yet effective refresh using a white vinegar and baking soda mixture. According to Forté, vinegar is best for removing hard water stains.
- First, drain the water out of your toilet bowl.
- Pour enough cups of white vinegar into the bowl to cover the water line, "so the vinegar dissolves the minerals that build up there," Forté notes.
- Close the seat and let the vinegar sit overnight.
- Then, pour one cup of baking soda into the bowl and add more vinegar, if needed, to create a fizzier solution.
- Throw on a pair of gloves, then start scrubbing inside the bowl.
- When done, flush and repeat the process, if needed, until the stains are gone.
You can also quicklyclean the toilet bowl without scrubbing by simply stirring the vinegar and baking soda solution with your toilet brush. Flush to rinse everything out.
How Often Should I Clean My Toilet?
Forté says you should try to clean your toilet as often as possible, but fully disinfect it every 2 to 3 days if someone in your home is sick. Outside of flu season,once a week—or biweekly, depending on how often the toilet is used—should suffice.
Charles Gerba, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona, explains that, in general, viruses can live on your toilet's surface for a few hours to a few days. "Most cold and flu viruses survive from a few hours to up to nine days, [depending] on temperature and relative humidity," he says.
Forté also recommends factoring in time to actually disinfect your cleaning supplies. A toilet scrubbing brush can grow mold on its own if it's left in a watery holder. Forté says you should clean the brush periodically after you finish scrubbing the toilet bowl and surfaces. To do so, spray it thoroughly with a disinfectant spray, and let it air dry by placing it between your toilet seat and the bowl itself (allowing the scrubbing head to hang above the water in the bowl).
For gloves, sponges, or any other plastic cleaning supplies, make sure they're germ-free by soaking them for 5 minutes in a solution of 3 tablespoons of bleach mixed with 1 quart of water. Air-dry afterward.
Zee Krstic is a content strategy manager for Hearst Magazines, leading audience acquisition and affiliate revenue growth for Country Living, House Beautiful, ELLE Decor and VERANDA. He previously served as Health Editor for Good Housekeeping between 2019 and 2023, covering news, wellness trends and executing product reviews in conjunction with the Good Housekeeping Institute. Prior to joining Hearst, Zee fostered a background in women's lifestyle media with seven-plus years of digital editorial experience, including as a site-wide editor at Martha Stewart Living. Zee currently produces design and lifestyle service content as a contributor; he has written about food and dining for Time, among other publications.
Mariah Thomas (she/her) is an assistant editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers home and lifestyle content. Mariah has more than four years of editorial experience, having written for TLC, Apartment Therapy, Women's Health and Avocado Magazine. She received her master's degree in journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and published her first book, Heart and Soul: Poems of Thoughts and Emotions, in 2019. She's also the founder of RTF Community, a platform for creatives of color to connect, learn and showcase their work.
