The best way to keep your toilet hygienic is to do a routine deep clean at least once a week. Scrubbing the bowl and wiping down the lid with disinfectant can keep your toilet fresh and clean. A pro tip is to leave the toilet brush soaking in some cleaning product in order to kill off germs.
Using either disinfecting wipes or a combination of disinfecting spray and a rag, paper towels, or a sponge (that you reserve just for this task), wipe down all of the external surfaces of the toilet, paying special attention to any areas you touch regularly such as the seat and the flushing handle.
Professional cleaners often use the same household supplies as you would: toilet-bowl cleaner (or bleach), disinfectant wipes, rubber gloves, as well as a nonscratch scrub sponge, a microfiber cloth, or paper towels. A handheld scrub brush or a pumice stone can get to especially tough stains.
Daily: Flush your toilet every day (even if it's not in use) to discourage the growth of bacteria. Weekly: Deep-clean your toilet once a week or biweekly—this includes the toilet bowl, exterior and toilet seat. Yearly: Clean your toilet tank twice a year.
To protect yourself from these harmful germs, it's important to always shut the lid before flushing. This simple step can significantly lower your risk of exposure to dangerous microbes. After flushing, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, as germs are still on and around the toilet lid.
Tips For Keeping Bathroom Bacteria At Bay
In order to wipe away germs, disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily and give the bathroom a thorough cleaning at least once a week. That should include scrubbing the tub and toilet bowl as well as handles and other surfaces.
Not flushing after using the toilet bowl/urinal.
Open sewage smells bad and attracts pests such as flies which can carry disease-causing germs. On the other hand, when the toilet is flushed, tiny water droplets containing airborne micro-organisms associated with urine and faecal matter are dispersed into the air.
Once a week at least.
Tetro says your bathroom is the ultimate bacteria host; E. coli can be found within six feet of the toilet and in the sink. To keep it at bay, disinfect the toilet and sink at least once weekly, and the bathtub every two weeks — more if you shower often.
The most commonly recommended natural and non-toxic way to clean a toilet is with vinegar and baking soda. Simply poor two cups of vinegar into a toilet bowl, and pour one cup of baking soda. When the solution stops fizzing, spread it over the bowl with a toilet cleaner brush. Leave for 10-15 minutes and rinse.
Scrub showers, bathtubs, and countertops.
These should be cleaned to help reduce the spread of viruses, fungi, and bacteria. "Do it at least twice a week with a disinfectant that contains bleach," Horowitz says.
Most bathroom germs predictably start in the toilet, but they can easily spread to other parts of the room (like a toothbrush holder). “Over the course of a day, the first thing that shows up is fecal bacteria—microbes from your gut—transmitted to the toilet seat and things like that.
It's pretty simple — just like they do on food particles that are stuck to your dishes in the sink, the combination of hot water and dish soap help to dissolve and break up whatever it may be that is lodged in the toilet, causing a clog. This handy tip is great should you find yourself in a pinch.
The main thing you can do for your plumbing system is to clean drains once a week. This can be done easily with a little baking soda and apple cider vinegar. Simply pour the two substances down the drain and let it foam up before flushing the toilet. This will clear out any small clogs forming in your system.
Bacteria generally do not survive well under conditions of desiccation; however, Newsom (1972) demonstrated the survival of Salmonella on surfaces for up to 9 days, Escherichia coli for up to 8 days, and Shigella for up to 5 days in faeces dried onto toilet seats.
How long can these pesky germs survive? Hours. Germs aren't afraid to hang around, significant amounts of these bathroom bacteria survive for hours after each flush of a toilet and hours after a shower too. If your household bathroom is being used every few hours, the breeding ground is continually reset.
Vinegar will not damage your toilet in any way if it's left in your toilet overnight. Regardless of your toilet's material, the vinegar is not strong enough to damage the toilet or the toilet's plumbing. So, you can leave the vinegar in your toilets overnight without worry.
You can use straight or a diluted vinegar cleaning solution for the bathroom to clean bacteria, especially around the toilet. Cleaning with a mixture of baking soda and vinegar in the bathroom can work really well. To clean your toilet with vinegar, pour a cup of vinegar in the toilet bowl and let sit overnight.
"The baking soda removes any gunky build-up, the salt is a natural abrasive for scrubbing, and the oxygen bleach cleans and disinfects," she says. Smallin Kuper prefers to pour one cup of baking soda and one cup of distilled white vinegar directly into the toilet bowl for similar sanitized-and-sparkling results.
People should still flush their toilets at least once a day. "Things like to grow in urine and after a while the chlorine will inactivate in the toilet bowl water. It will being to bubble away and things will begin to grow. The odor will increase so it can get disgusting, smell bad and stain your toilet," he said.