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Your Toilet Tank: Learn How to Clean It

3 minutes
A clean toilet tank is essential. Often overlooked, yet very simple to do, we'll explain how to do this to keep your toilet in good condition.
Your Toilet Tank: Learn How to Clean It
Last update: 24 September, 2022

Although people often clean their toilets regularly, they often neglect the toilet tank. It’s important to do this every six months and we’ll explain how to do it in a very simple way.

Keep reading to learn how to clean this essential element of your toilet so you can ensure that it works as it should and that your bathroom doesn’t harbor an excess of bacteria.

Learn how to clean your toilet tank

The bathroom is one of the rooms that’s the most susceptible to accumulating bacteria and dirt. In turn, out of all the facilities and furniture that you have in your bathroom, it’s the toilet that accumulates the most germs. This includes the toilet tank.

Typically, the bathroom is one of the rooms that we clean the most and pay the most attention to, in terms of hygiene. We also do this to avoid, eliminate and prevent any bad odors that may appear.

However, despite our bathroom cleaning rituals, we often overlook the toilet tank. As such, it’s valid to question whether or not this part of the toilet should be cleaned and if so, how?

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You will need a few items and products to clean your toilet tank.

Why do you need to clean the toilet tank?

The cistern or toilet tank in your bathroom can become home to fungus and mold, depending on the quality of the water you have.

The most common bacteria is Serratia marcescens, which is visible to the naked eye and creates red rings around the water. It’s the cause of pneumonia, urinary infections, and wound infections. So it’s vital to prevent and eliminate.

As such, you should clean your toilet tank at least twice a year, more if you live in a hard water area. Even if you trust the water quality, you should still include and incorporate toilet tank cleaning on a regular basis.

You’ll notice that in addition to the toilet being cleaner, it’ll also function better. This is because regular cleaning will free up and loosen and remove the build-up of grime and mildew from the valves.

Tips for successful cleaning

You may not believe it, but the best product to clean your toilet tank is white vinegar. In other articles, we’ve talked about its efficiency and explained how it’s a cheap and natural cleaner that allows you to easily fight bacteria.

Read on to find out how to leave your entire toilet sparkling clean and free from germs.

The cleaning products you’ll need:

  • White vinegar
  • Gloves
  • long-handle brush
  • Spray bottle
  • Sponge
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The toilet tank can harbor bacteria, mold, and grime.

Step-by-step cleaning instructions:

  • To begin with, close off the stopcock. When you’ve done this, empty the toilet tank by flushing.
  • Take care of the internal parts of the tank, by using cleaning products that aren’t abrasive and don’t encourage or produce rust. It’s for this reason that we recommend using white vinegar.
  • Put your gloves on and apply the white vinegar by spraying it onto the sides of the toilet tank. Let it act for five minutes.
  • Then, take the long-handled brush, wet it, and start scrubbing. Place emphasis on the corners, because the dirt, mold, and bacteria accumulate there.
  • Use the sponge to clean the smaller parts, such as the chain and the filler tube.
  • You can also use a bucket of water to fill the toilet tank and flush the toilet when you’ve finished cleaning. By doing this, you’ll load water into a clean tank when you turn the stopcock back on.

As you’ve read, cleaning your toilet tank is easy to do. It takes little time and will have a significant impact on your family’s health. You’ll also notice that the water will look cleaner and it won’t have a musty smell.

Now that you know how simple it is, you can perform this task on a regular basis. Keep in mind that if you live in a hot climate or an area with poor water quality, do this every two or three months.