We all have our least favorite chores, which we often go to outrageous lengths to avoid. (Did anyone else barter their unwanted chores with their siblings when they were younger? My siblings were shrewd traders, but they were usually willing to swap for a price.)
In my case, the one chore that I have always opted out of if given the chance is cleaning the toilet. While I appreciate our toilets very much, I just prefer to keep my interactions with them to a minimum.
With all that being said, I have still managed to collect quite a few toilet-related tips and tricks over the years. Because as much as I try to avoid dealing with the toilet, I’ll do it if it means being able to share a helpful tip with you guys. (That’s how much you all mean to me!)
During my experiments and research, I’ve ended up putting a lot of weird stuff in, on, and around my toilets—all in the name of finding the best toilet hacks! Today I’ll be sharing some of those strange-but-true toilet hacks that I’ve come across over the years. I think you’ll be surprised at how many totally weird ways there are to clean, fix, and maintain your toilet! :-)
Related: The One Thing Your Toilet Needs If You Have Hard Water
9 Weird Toilet Hacks That Actually Work
1. Coca-Cola
While it isn’t great for your teeth, a can of cola can be great for cleaning your toilet! The carbonation and acids in the soda can dissolve rings, buildup, and stains in your toilet bowl. Just pour a can of cola around the rim of your toilet so that it soaks the whole bowl. Let it sit for a few hours to work its magic, then scrub with a toilet brush to scrub away the stains!
2. Pumice Stone
If you’ve never used a pumice stone in your toilet, give it a try! The abrasive stone makes a great tool for scrubbing away rings and stains. Make sure to dampen both the pumice stone and toilet bowl itself before scrubbing to help prevent scratches. Scrub stains gently with the wet pumice stone, then flush to rinse.
3. White Vinegar
Many people reach for bleach to clean their toilets and eliminate germs. But you can use plain old white vinegar to clean toilets and more, and you won’t have to worry about harsh fumes! To eliminate stains, soak a paper towel with vinegar and place it on the stained area, then allow the vinegar-soaked towel to remain there overnight.
In the morning, remove the towel and give the area a quick scrub to remove the mess. This also works great when used on the gunk that builds up under the rim of your toilet bowl!
4. Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is a safe and effective germ fighter you can easily use to keep your toilet clean. Pour about half a cup of hydrogen peroxide around your toilet bowl and let it sit for 40 minutes. Flush to rinse.
Related: The One Recipe You Need To Keep Your Toilet Clean
5. Hot Water
Did you know you can use hot water to unclog a toilet? Heat a pot of water on your stove until just before it starts to boil. Remove the pot from heat and let cool for a minute or two. Pour the hot water from the pot directly into your toilet bowl to help dissolve the clog.
(This trick works well, but it has the potential to crack a toilet bowl if the temperature difference is too great. Save this trick for warmer months, and avoid it during the winter if your toilet bowl tends to get cold!)
6. Clog-Busting Toilet “Bombs”
Another one of my favorite clog-clearing toilet hacks are these inexpensive DIY fizzy toilet tablets! Keep them in a container in your bathroom and they’ll always be there at the ready should you (or a mortified guest) have need of them.
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To get the full instructions for making your own fizzy toilet tabs that can conquer clogs, check out this list of clogged toilet fixes! (It’s #2 in the list—pun not intended!) I also have a great post on how to prevent clogs.
7. Baby Oil
Use baby oil to help your freshly cleaned toilet really SHINE! Apply a few drops of baby oil to a clean, soft cloth. (I always opt for microfiber when shining things up!)
Buff your toilet handle and the outside of the seat and tank to make them really sparkle! This also works well on other bathroom fixtures, like faucets, shower heads, and more.
8. Plastic Bottle
You can use a plastic bottle or jug to save water in an older toilet that doesn’t have any water-saving features. Start by filling a narrow plastic bottle or jug with water, then replace the cap.
Place the bottle into your toilet tank, well away from any of the other mechanisms. The bottle will displace the water in the tank, meaning less water will enter and exit the tank every time you flush.
Related: This Is The Best Way To Get Rid Of Toilet Marks For Good
9. Nail Polish
A lot of toilet seat hardware is pretty cheap, and it tends to get rusty over time. But you can use a bit of clear nail polish to keep your hardware rust-free!
Just brush a coat of clear nail polish onto the screws and bolts and allow it to dry. The nail polish coating will prevent rust from forming, and it should also help keep your screws tighter, longer.
What are your best tried-and-true toilet hacks?
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I scrub my toilets every morning with blue Dawn and I’ll throw in a couple denture tabs before bed. We have terribly hard water. Our plumber told us not to put anything the toilet tank, however, I don’t see how it could hurt anything.
What a very helpful article. It’s a keeper! Thank you, Jillee!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I know this comment is late (but Jillee updated this article, so I guess it’s okay).
Back during the Carter Administration (1977-1981),when we had “odd-even” gas lines and other methods to save the environment, trees, electricity, natural gas, water, and so on, we would take a brick and put it inside the toilet tank to displace water.
It was safer for the mechanisms in the toilet than most other things. They told us not to use plastic bottles because they can get corroded with bacteria, algae and other forms of slime that you don’t want in your tank.
Here we are, almost 50 years later and still doing things to save what we can.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.To me, it’s not so much the environment as it is conservation.
Another good thing to shine up handles with is wax paper. It’s amazing!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.A caution regarding pumice stones. Don’t use them (even sopping wet) on any toilets with specialty finishes (some colored toilets, those with special glossy or slick glazing). My Toto has their Sanigloss finish, manufacturer warns to never use anything abrasive on this finish or it will be damaged and lose its easy clean and non-stick qualities. If you aren’t sure what the finish is, skip the abrasives.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi Jillee! I want to share a trick my parents used to save water. They filled a quart size empty bleach bottle with spare change! I assume they didn’t reach in there often to rob that piggy bank!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a brown ring at the top of the water line since I have hard water. Toilet cleans don’t remove it. I wanted to try a pumice stone but how do you clean it after using it in the toilet?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If you are worried about this, there are some very inexpensive ones that you could use and then throw out. My other suggestion would be to keep it for only cleaning the toilet (similar to a toilet brush) and not for other uses.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My first suggestion is this, get a padded toilet seat!! Unfortunately, as I write this, I am in a MAJOR plumbing issue!! YUCK! I cannot use the toilet, shower and basically cannot run any water. The night before last, I noticed my drain behind my washer had a little stagnate water around it. (about 8 pm) At 2:30 am, I heard a loud gurgle, got up to look and there was water in my tub, about 3″ deep, and the toilet water was about to overflow. The plumber came out at 3 pm, and his line got stuck and broke while it was 45′ into my line. The tiles are broken and collapsed! Help arrived for him but not for me! On Monday, they will come to look at my “emergency” (do ya’ think?) situation and ASAP bring out the dirt movers and get started in my front yard. Before he left, he and I were talking about plumbing stuff. This maybe should know this…I had been using Angel Soft for the last several years and had NO trouble. Then when toilet paper became scarce, I had to get 12 rolls of Cottonelle, thought nothing of it. Well, turns out, it doesn’t break down at ALL! I had one more roll, way back in my linen closet and he showed me with water, and he is right. It stays just like that all through your system. Not that this caused my tiles to break, but much of the Cottonelle got hung up in there. Therefore, if you have a septic tank, it is just sitting there filling it up. Sorry to go on, but “one good thing” (!), Before all of this happened (2 years ago), I had used the baking soda/vinegar/hot water hack to keep all my drains clean. And I had done this down in that main drain but used my plunger along with it. I had that drain so clean that when my washer would spin, the water would just be literally sucked down the drain!! It worked better than it had in all my 15 years here! So…as I said, sorry but I hope somebody could learn from my story. But, PLEASE wish me well, say a prayer for me…ANYTHING because this is no way to start a new year and this ain’t no fun at all!!! God bless!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Ah, yes. I’ve know about ways to use Coka-Cola to clean. Laughing at myself right now because I still drink one once in awhile. Did not know about some of thesetips. I find that it’s good to change up methods of ways to clean things. That way it does not seem monotonous. So thank you. ~Amber
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Amber, I hear you! I think we all have a coke once in a while! I just try not to think about. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I got a new toilet seat by Bemis. It is upswept in the rear, preventing any matter from reaching behind the seat, and the tabs cover the hardware, so no rust. The seat is made out of a material that is easy to clean and shiny. It only cost about $23 on Amazon, is soft-close and no-slam. It has made keeping the toilet area clean much easier! I do have a pumice stone, just in case I need it for the toilet bowl, but I mostly use the brush and vinegar. I will use your great baby oil tip for metal parts.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Mary, the toilet seat sounds great! Thanks for sharing. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Denture tablets work wonders to clean coffee pots, glass vases and hummingbird feeders. I use them also to clean reusable water bottles and our thermos .
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Lots of good suggestions. Here’s another that I’ve been using: Use a long handle drill brush to scrub your toilet instead of a regular toilet brush. Cleans much better and toilet stays clean longer. Also, much better for cleaning under the rim. Also great for scrubbing the toilet tank interior. The one I use is the RotoScrub Bottle Brush from Amazon.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The pumice stone was the only thing that worked for me. It looked terribly dirty and disgusting and I tried all natural ways first for example baking soda, vinegar, borax. etc. Nothing worked until the pumice stone. Thanks for the heads up though!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I just trireme number 3. How do you get the paper towels to stick under the rim?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I just pushed them in there really hard! As long as they are wet enough, they should stick. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi Jillian! A wet pumice stone actually won’t damage your toilet at all. :-) A dry one can absolutely scratch the toilet, though – thanks for the warning!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks – I did not know that :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Warming it up gradually with warm water is a great idea!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Denture tablets are gentle enough that I wouldn’t worry about it! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The key is to keep the pumice stone wet when you use it. The scratching happens when the pumice is dry.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use the soft brush attachment on my vacuum cleaner hose. It does a good job for me.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have been using a pumice stone for about 40 yrs on my toilet and have not had that problem. Current I have lived in the same house for 34 yrs, no problem.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Here is another good Idea! I dump some fresh ice cubes (about the size of 2 cereal bowl fulls) down the toilet as it’s being flushed. The ice cubes scrape the sides of the toilet pipes as they going down the drain clearing away all sorts of stuck debris. Do NOT let the ice sit in the toilet!!! It will melt the nice sharp edges of the ice.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.That’s a brilliant idea Therese!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m going to try this right now :)
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