Are You Cleaning Your Toilet the Right Way?

When it comes to keeping your toilet free of grime and yuck, there are a lot of products available on the market. This can make it a real challenge to know which toilet bowl cleaners are the best balance of clean and gentle on your plumbing system. While some Calgarians likely assume that any product readily available at the store must be both an effective cleaner and not be destructive to plumbing, that’s really not the case. Many of the toilet bowl cleaners marketed towards consumers actually damage your plumbing.

Corrosive Toilet Cleaners are everywhere, but do they actually clean better than their non-corrosive counterparts? Not really — and that’s a good thing! It means Calgarians can get rid of these nasty, dangerous chemicals and choose safer options that are just as effective. 

In fact, good old dish soap works great for giving your toilet a scrub. You can also use plain, white vinegar or rubbing alcohol (about a cup or two of EITHER but NOT both) if you need a bit more sanitizing power. If your toilet has stains, pour a cup of baking soda into the toilet along where it’s stained and mix with water to make a paste. Leave the paste there for while you head out for an hour or two, and when you come back the stain should lift free.  

We DO NOT recommend using bleach on stains. If you use bleach against our recommendation, never mix it with any other cleaning product, including vinegar, rubbing alcohol, etc.

Safely dispose of your corrosive toilet cleaners (as well as any other hazardous waste) by dropping it off with the city.

Convenience Cleaners.

While we completely understand why Calgarians may be drawn to drop-in cleaners and bleach tablets thanks to the convenience factor, these cleaners fall under corrosive toilet bowl cleaners and are extremely hard on your plumbing. These products eat away at the rubber components of your toilet, like the flapper and the valves. Given enough time, drop-in cleaners can stop your toilet from flushing correctly, and bleach tablets will eat years off of your toilet’s lifespan as water begins to leak and run.

With all the commercial options available on the market, it may seem strange that best toilet cleaners are probably things you already have in your pantry or home first aid kit. The plus side is that these natural cleaners aren’t just effective and plumbing-safe, they’re also safer for your family’s health and extremely inexpensive. That’s money in your pocket! Remember if you’re making the switch to all-natural cleaning, you will need to responsibly dispose of any old corrosive toilet cleaners by dropping it off with the City of Calgary. 

Have corrosive toilet cleaners damaged your toilet or plumbing? Did you turn to these damaging cleaners because of clogs? The Plumbing Paramedics can help! Our team of friendly, experienced Calgary plumbers work every day to help homeowners with problems just like these. Give us a call!