If you’re looking for a natural toilet bowl cleaner for (deep) cleaning your toilet you have two options: buy an existing natural toilet bowl cleaner or make your own natural toilet bowl cleaner recipe.
The advantage of making your own homemade natural toilet bowl cleaner is that the recipe only takes a few basic ingredients, which you can customize to your preference. For example, you can experiment with different kinds of disinfecting essential oils.
Keep reading to find out which toilet bowl cleaners are best and how to DIY your own toilet bowl cleaner!
What can I use to clean my toilet naturally?
To clean your toilet naturally, you can choose to use natural and thus environmentally friendly ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, and essential oils. The ingredients you need to naturally clean your toilet are:
- Distilled white vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Lemon Juice or citric acid
- Disinfecting Essential oil
- Tea tree oil
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Peppermint
- Lemongrass
- Eucalyptus
Distilled white vinegar
Distilled white vinegar is very different from white vinegar: distilled white vinegar contains 5% acetic acid while white vinegar contains up to 25% acetic acid.
According to our toilet designer, who actually worked with the material toilets are made out of, distilled white vinegar is better because of its lower acetic acid. Too high an amount of acetic acid may affect the glaze of your toilet bowl and therefore shorten the lifespan of a toilet.
However, the acetic acid in distilled white vinegar is still strong enough enough to kill and dissolve dirt, brown rings, and bacteria.
Baking Soda
The many benefits of baking soda include the following:
- Dissolving dirt and grease
- It neutralizes odors
- Is mildly abrasive when sprinkled on a sponge and can thus be used to lift dirt when gently scouring
Baking soda is easy to get which makes it a great ingredient to use in your homemade toilet cleaner.
Lemon juice or citric acid
Lemon juice, which contains citric acid, is great for cleaning because of its natural antibacterial qualities. It also gives you a lovely lemony scent.
You can also swap lemon juice for citric acid and yield the same results, except that citric acid is odorless. Meaning you can add essential oil to add a nice smell.
Essential oils
Essential oils are a great addition to your toilet cleaner recipe. They provide a lovely scent and effectively destroy several bacteria,l fungal, and viral pathogens according to NCBI.
There are a few essential oils that have disinfecting properties, like:
- Tea tree oil
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Peppermint
- Lemongrass
- Eucalyptus
Natural toilet bowl cleaner DIY recipe
To create a natural toilet bowl cleaner you can use the following recipe:
2 cups of distilled white vinegar + 1 cup of baking soda + 1 teaspoon of essential oil + 1/2 cup of powdered citric acid
This organic toilet cleaner formula yields 30 uses.
You’ll need:
- Glass Spray bottle to hold the liquid solution
- The essential oil may alter the color of plastic (that’s why they come in glass bottles)
- Glass airtight jar to hold the powdered mix
- Using an airtight jar will make the product last a lot longer
How to make:
- Grab a spray bottle and add 2 cups of distilled white vinegar
- Add 1 teaspoon of essential oil to the spray bottle and mix
- Grab a jar and add two cups of baking soda together with 1/2 cup of citric acid and mix
- Done!
How to use:
- Flush your toilet
- Spray the solution inside the toilet bowl and on the surface of the toilet and let it sit for a few minutes
- Sprinkle about a tablespoon of the powdered mixture inside the toilet bowl (in the water and on the walls of the bowl)
- Careful because it will fizz
- Scrub with a toilet brush and let it sit for a few minutes
- In the meantime wipe the outside of the bowl clean
- Flush
How to store:
- Store away from the bathroom to avoid moisture coming into your cleaner
- Store out of reach of children and pets
Natural toilet bowl cleaner tablets
What if you don’t want to make your own recipe but want to try store-bought? Here are 3 natural cleaner tablets with tons of amazing reviews:
- Toilet bowl Cleaner Starter set by Blueland
- Zero Plastic toilet bowl cleaning powder by Seventh Generation
- Eco-Strips Toilet Cleaner by TruEarth
It’s cheaper to make your own natural toilet bowl cleaner but buying from an environmentally conscious shop is just as good.
How to naturally disinfect a toilet brush
To naturally disinfect a toilet brush you can use the same cleaner you use to clean your toilet bowl. Make sure that the brush is dunked into the cleaner and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, you can rinse the brush in the toilet by flushing it.
To naturally disinfect a toilet brush you:
- Grab a small bucket and add 4 cups of distilled vinegar and 2 cups of baking soda and 1 cup of citric acid
- Dunk the toilet brush in the solution. Make sure it’s completely covered and let it sit for a few minutes
- Rinse the brush in the toilet with water by flushing
Clean your toilet brush after each use and replace it once to twice a year (depending on how dirty you think it is).
If you want to dry the brush before putting it back into its holder you can sandwich the brush in between the bowl and the toilet seat and leave it for a few minutes!
Frequently asked questions
These are the most asked questions regarding natural toilet bowl cleaners:
What natural product can I use to clean my toilet?
To clean your toilet with natural products you can use baking soda, distilled white vinegar, essential oil, and citric acid which is found in lemon juice (and can be bought separately). Using these ingredients will ensure you can clean your toilet with environmentally safe products.
And yes, these ingredients will take care of bacteria and stains.
What is the best homemade toilet bowl cleaner?
The best homemade toilet bowl cleaner is when you add 1 teaspoon of disinfecting essential oil to 2 cups of distilled white vinegar. Then, in a different jar, you add 1 cup of baking soda to 1/2 cup of powdered citric acid.
Do vinegar and baking soda remove toilet bowl stains?
The combination of vinegar and baking soda does remove toilet bowl stains. When you put a little bit of baking soda on a sponge you can use the sponge to gently scour the toilet bowl to lift any stains. The acetic acid in vinegar is high enough to kill bacteria and remove stains as well.
Disclaimer: TheToiletSpecialist.com is not responsible for any damage caused to your toilet by (wrongly) interpreting information found on this site. Please seek custom advice from a professional to evaluate your current situation.
