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Making your own DIY Toilet Bowl Cleaner is a great option for busy families who are short on time. Best of all, you only need 3 natural ingredients for this quick and easy cleaning recipe.
Commercial toilet bowl cleaners usually contain harsh chemicals like hydrochloric acid that the Environmental Working Group rates an “F” for safety. Making your own homemade toilet cleaner is a great alternative to the chemical cleaners you can find at the grocery store.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to make a natural toilet cleaner that takes mere minutes to put together. If you have distilled white vinegar, baking soda and some essential oils on hand, you’re in business.
One good thing about this recipe is how cheap it is to make. If you’re trying to stick to a tight budget, natural alternatives like homemade cleaners can really help you reach your goal.
Supplies and Tools
- 1 cup of white vinegar
- ¼ cup of baking soda
- 5 drops of lemon essential oil
- 5 drops of lavender essential oil
- 2 glass measuring cups
- Silicone spatula
- Toilet scrub brush
By the Numbers: How to Make Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Follow these simple step by step instructions to learn how to make your own toilet bowl cleaner with natural ingredients.
Step 1: Combine Liquid Ingredients.
The first thing you want to do is to measure out 1 cup of white vinegar in a glass measuring cup.
Step 2: Add Essential Oils.
Add 5 drops of lemon essential oil and 5 drops of lavender essential oil to your vinegar and stir or whisk until well combined.
Step 3: Measure Out Baking Soda.
Add ¼ cup of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to a second large measuring cup for your dry mixture.
Step 4: Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients.
Slowly pour the essential oil and vinegar mixture into the measuring cup with your baking soda and gently stir to combine.
Step 5: Pour Cleaning Mixture Into Toilet Bowl.
Lift the toilet seat, then immediately pour this natural toilet bowl cleaner into your toilet bowl, then allow it to set for at least 10 minutes before you scrub the inside of the bowl using a toilet brush.
Use on a daily basis, or as often as desired, for a naturally clean toilet bowl.
Tips for the Best Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Answers to all of your questions about getting a clean toilet with this easy DIY Toilet Bowl Cleaner, including tips, directions for use and substitution ideas.
Tips for using toilet bowl cleaner
This is a cleaner you need to use right away. I like to mix it up in my bathroom so I can immediately pour it into the toilet bowl.
After it bubbles up in the toilet, give it a good scrub with your toilet brush. Once it looks clean, you can flush the toilet and go about your day.
Extra tips for a clean toilet:
- For extra sanitizing, squirt hydrogen peroxide into the bowl after it’s finished refilling with water.
- If you’ve been skipping on deep cleanings for a while and there is a large buildup of hard water stains or mineral deposits, it may take more than one use to clean them away.
- Do not pour this natural solution into the toilet tank.
- Never combine bleach with vinegar or it will create harmful fumes.
Best essential oils
My favorite brand of essential oils is Rocky Mountain Oils. They sell pure essential oils that hold their scent really well compared to less expensive brands. If you’re curious about why I use this brand, check out my Rocky Mountain Essential Oils Review.
No matter the brand you use, you can choose whatever combination of essential oil scents you want… it’s best to stick with about 10 drops of essential oil in total. Citrus fruits are a popular scent for cleaning products, but there are many options.
If you’re looking for a new clean scent for your cleaning products, try one of these:
- Lemon and Thyme
- Lemon, Lavender and Peppermint
- Tea Tree and Peppermint
- Lemon and Tea Tree
- Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit and Orange
- Clove and Lemon
- Eucalyptus and Lavender
- Rosemary, Orange and Clove
- Lemongrass, Eucalyptus and Lavender
- Lemongrass, Lemon and Lime
If you’d rather go with an essential oil blend, try their Purify blend. While I like to buy direct from RMO because they have a great loyalty rewards program, you can also buy their popular essential oils on Amazon.
Other Toilet Cleaners
If you want a DIY toilet cleaner that can be stored, try my DIY Toilet Bombs. My toilet bomb recipe also uses natural ingredients like citric acid and baking soda, but toilet cleaning bombs can made ahead of time and do a really great job at cleaning toilets.
More Bathroom Cleaners
Making your own cleaning products is a great way to help eliminate more toxic chemicals from your home’s environment. After making this super simple recipe, you’ll likely want to continue making the switch to more homemade cleaners.
I love making my own homemade cleaning products because you only need to keep a handful of natural ingredients on hand. You can make just about any homemade cleaner once you have basic supplies.
Here are some of my more popular recipes for DIY cleaners:
Buy instead of DIY
If you want to have a good natural toilet bowl cleaner on hand, this Seventh Generation Toilet Bowl Cleaner is a great option as it’s rated an “A” by the Environmental Working Group.
DIY Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Supplies
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 5 drops lemon essential oil
- 5 drops lavender essential oil
Tools
- Measuring cups
- Silicone spatula
- Toilet scrub brush
Instructions
- Add distilled vinegar to a large glass measuring cup.
- Whisk lemon and lavender essential oils into the vinegar.
- Add baking soda to another large measuring cup.
- Slowly pour the liquid mixture into the measuring cup with the baking soda and stir very gently to combine.
- Immediately pour the mixture into your toilet bowl then allow it to set for at least 10 minutes before scrubbing the toilet out.
Love this! Thank you for sharing.
I will have to try this! Thanks!