How to Clean the Toilet with Two Green Ingredients

Go Green in 2014: Week 34

Cleaning the toilet - or toilets if you have more than one - is not exactly a fun job. Throw in store-bought cleaning products with bleach and other nasty chemicals, and it can be downright horrifying.

I'll admit that until recently we have always used commercial toilet cleaning products, simply because we had a few bottles on hand that I wanted to use up before looking into greener options. Finally, just a couple weeks ago, I finished up the last bottle and looked up ideas for green toilet cleaners.

Here's how I have cleaned ours the last couple times.

Green Toilet Cleaner Recipe

Ingredients:

• Baking soda
• Distilled white vinegar

Directions:

1. Flush the toilet before starting.
2. Once the water has drained, sprinkle baking soda into the toilet bowl, adding a little more to areas that need extra work.
3. Carefully pour vinegar over the baking soda. Alternatively, you can pour your vinegar into a spray bottle and spray it into the bowl. When they mix, the two ingredients will create a foam-like reaction.
4. Allow the solution to soak for ten minutes or so. Scrub with a brush, then flush the toilet.

Does it actually work? To be honest, it doesn't seem to be as strong as most store-bought products, so you may need to repeat these steps and let the solution soak a little longer if it doesn't work well enough the first time. It seemed to get our toilet bowls mostly clean, although some of the more stubborn stains left by standing water took a little extra scrubbing power.

That's all there is to it. Easy enough, right?!

Have you made your own homemade toilet cleaner? Does it seem to work for you?

~ ~ ~

Your challenge: This week, think about cleaning your bathroom's toilet with these two ingredients you likely have on hand already.

______________________________________________________

**This post is part of a weekly challenge {Go Green in 2014}, during which the author has challenged herself - and you - to find 52 ways to lead a greener life in 2014. You can follow the weekly posts on this page.**