One of the most satisfying feelings in the world is to sit on your spotless clean toilet to handle your nature calls. The next obvious thing is to clean your toilet occasionally, so it remains in pristine condition.
Ooh, but there one problem; not everybody remembers to scrub the inside of the rim because of its hidden position. And like all other warm, damp, and dark places, your toilet rim will start to collect dust, muck, and mold. This is going to be both uncomfortable and unsightly.
Because the dirt below the rim varies from bacteria, mold, and mildew to minerals, you might need to resort to different methods of toilet bowl cleaning. But since it’s not possible to know what exactly is under the rim, a combination of several methods becomes mandatory.
Disinfect and Scrub
The first approach that should definitely pop into your mind is to squirt some disinfectant like bleach or vinegar on the dirty zones and let them work up the stains for a few minutes. Now, armed with a sturdy toilet brush, scrub those hidden zones a couple of times until no stain is visible.
Using Vinegar and Duct Tape to Remove Limescale and other minerals
What you need
- Vinegar
- Bucket
- Rags
- Mirror
- Brush
- Gloves
- Duct tape
Steps
- Before everything else, disconnect the water flow to the toilet tank
- Second, you need to flush the water in the tank so it’s completely empty
- While wearing gloves, wipe the upper part of the bowl (including the rim) until it’s all dry
- Now, seal off the rim including the jets with the duct tape so nothing can pass through
- Pour vinegar into the tank and flush so it comes down into the bowl and gets trapped by the duct tape
- Now, let it sit there for at least an hour and at most a couple of hours to soak mineral deposits
- Now, get rid of the tape so the vinegar flows into the bowl for flushing
- At this point, all the minerals should come off and any remaining can easily be scrubbed with a brush. Switch water back to the tank and flush once it fills up. Your bowl should be looking good now.
Vinegar and Baking Soda
You have probably seen a hack where coke is recommended for toilet cleaning, right? Well, it is because it contains carbonic acid- a chemical that can be produced when you mix vinegar and baking soda. This technique gets rid of stubborn minerals and stains.
What you need
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Brush
- Gloves
Steps
- Pour a cup of vinegar into the toilet bowl and swish it some spread under the rim and into the jets
- Let the solution rest in the bowl for about an hour
- Sprinkle baking soda all over the bowl
- Now add a few more vinegars since the first one must have lost some of its potency. This new addition will spike a fizzing reaction
- As the fizzing continues, swish the mixture so some spread into the hidden rim sections
- Let the mixture rest for 15 minutes before scrubbing and flushing once or twice. Your bowl should be sparkling by now.
Borax and Vinegar
Another quick way to deal with tough stains is to combine borax and vinegar. Just drop a cup of borax into the bowl, add in a cup of vinegar, and swish to mix the solutions. Make sure to spread it all the way under the rims. Grub the brush and start scrubbing all areas with dirt.
Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes before you can try another round of scrubbing. Once you can’t see stains, flush the toilet a couple of times and you are done.
Borax Paste
Borax paste is another easier road to pick if you don’t want to mix stuff like it’s a chemistry class. Simply pour a packet of borax into a dish and make it into a paste by adding some water. The cake should be thick enough to glue on the toilet bowl easily.
All you need to do now is scout the areas with mold, mildew, or stain and slap a paste onto them. Let rest on those imperfect areas for almost half an hour before scrubbing them off. Now flush the toilet, and your job should be done.
Alternative Cleaners
It’s possible some stains will prove resilient after attempting to wash them away with the above DIY approaches. In this case, your last resort is commercial toilet bowl cleaners. The problem is, some of them are too aggressive and can damage your porcelain toilet. So before opting for any cleaning agent, make sure to pass through all the manufacturers’ instructions.
So, the alternative solutions for cleaning under the toilet rim include pumice (pumice cleaning stone), Lysol Power Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Clorox ToiletWand Cleaning System, Hard Water Stain Remover, and many other commercial cleaners.
Wrap Up
Toilets must be cleaned often in order to look good and be sanitary for those using them. While at this, you must learn how to clean under the toilet rim to avoid a buildup of mold, muck, and dust that will compromise their beauty and functionality.
If you start brushing the inside of the rims as early as possible, you will not need an extensive cleaning procedure that takes more of your time. There are many perfect toilet bowl cleaners out here to help you keep your toilet sparkling.
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