Maintaining your toilet can prolong its service life and keep it cleaner. You can do many things to keep your toilet in good condition and sparkling like the day it was installed. Below, we’ve listed six ways to keep your toilet clean and free of defects.
1. Vacuum Before Cleaning
Toilets tend to gather gunk along the rim and around the outside of the bowl. Hairs, fibers, and dust bunnies can make cleaning the toilet a challenge. Those hairs and fibers stick to the sponge, only to get spread around later. Avoid this problem by vacuuming the dirty parts of your toilet with a hand-held vacuum. Do this first, before cleaning the toilet with an antibacterial multipurpose cleaner.
2. Freshen the Toilet Brush with Pine-Scented Cleaner
Your toilet brush can easily get mildewy while it’s sitting in its holder. Keep your toilet brush smelling fresh and looking fresh by placing a dollop of pine-scented cleaner in the bottom of the toilet brush holder.
3. Use Food Coloring to Check for Water Leaks
Is your toilet leaking? Would you know? Sometimes leaks develop between the tank and the bowl, but these leaks can be very difficult to detect. To find out whether your toilet tank is leaking into the bowl, put a few drops of food coloring in the tank, then wait 15 minutes before checking the bowl. If the tank is leaking, the bowl will fill with colored water.
4. Know Where the Shut-Off Valve Is
Every toilet should have a shut-off valve. It’s important to know where the valve is, should you ever want to make a toilet repair. Look for the valve behind or to the side of the toilet. Once you’ve found the valve, turn it to be sure you can. If the valve is stuck and won’t turn off, it’s time to get a plumber out to your house to make a repair.
5. Don’t Use a Brick to Save Water
Older toilets come with a large tank that flushes excessive amounts of water. The old advice for homeowners who want to save water is to place a brick in the tank.
While a brick can be useful for displacing water, bricks can start to degrade over time, causing sediment to build up in the tank. A better method for saving water in an old toilet is to fill a bag with sand and place it in the tank – or replace your toilet with a new low-flow unit.
6. Use the Right Kind of Toilet Paper
Thick quilted toilet paper can clog pipes and septic tanks. If you’re having problems with toilet clogs, switch to thinner toilet paper. Newer toilet models are equipped to handle great flushing capacity, so an upgrade is always another option if clogs occur frequently.
Need a New Toilet?
ToiletKing services homeowners in Northern Virginia. If your toilet is in need of replacement, we can sell and install quality toilets. Call today to learn more about installing a new toilet from ToiletKing.