It’s a chore that many people dread.
But just how often should you be throwing on the marigolds and giving your toilet a good old scrub?
Online, users are divided, with answers ranging from ‘once a day’ to ‘when it’s visibility dirty’.
Now, Delia Cannings, a cleaning expert from the British Cleaning Council, has settled the debate once and for all.
She claims that once a week is sufficient but that your toilet should get a more in-depth clean ‘periodically’.
‘In a family home of about five people, it’s sufficient to give it a wipe over when needed and a thorough clean once a week,’ she explained to Which?.
It’s a chore that many people dread. But just how often should you be throwing on the marigolds and giving your toilet a good old scrub?
The toilet cleaning debate has been hashed out dozens of times on Reddit, where the once-a-week method has proved popular.
‘Once a week and then a quick clean before I have guests over (toilet, spot clean sink, disinfect where hands will touch),’ one user said.
Another added: ‘A good, overall deep cleaning 1/week, then a wipe down clean & presentable for folks coming over.’
However, others have admitted to leaving more time before cleans.
One said: ‘I don’t clean my toilet unless i start to see discoloration forming in the bowl, which could be 3 weeks.’
And one quipped: ‘If it’s not visibly dirty, I don’t worry about it.’
Ms Cannings agrees with the once-a-week method, and says that if this is done properly, it should only take ten minutes or so.
However, she also recommends giving your toilet a more in-depth clean every so often.
She advised: ‘This involves using a screwdriver to unscrew the bolts, before gently removing and dismantling the seat and cleaning the brackets, hinges and the small connection holes on your toilet where you attach the seat.
‘A periodic clean of your toilet should take around 15 minutes.’
Primrose Freestone, a microbiologist at Leicester University, points out that you need to be particularly on top of your toilet cleaning if anyone in your home is unwell.
‘For normal use a deep clean once a week would be enough, with seat, pot, toilet handles all getting a disinfection and the pot a toilet brush scrub,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘If someone is ill and infectious, then you clean the toilet and surrounding bathroom (because of the spray area of a flushed toilet is over a metre) after every use.’
In terms of the clean itself, Ms Cannings recommends having six products at hand – a toilet brush, a toilet cleaner, rubber gloves, a cloth or two, an old toothbrush and a bucket.
‘It’s useful to have a colour–coded system for your toilet cleaning kit,’ she said.
‘For example, you could use red cloths and red gloves to reduce the risk of transferring bacteria to other areas of the house.
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‘The products you use are really important. You need to make sure you use a cleaning product that cleans and disinfects and note the recommended dilution guidance.’
Once you’ve got your products ready to go, Ms Cannings recommends a three-step process – Flush, Push and Brush.
Start by flushing the toilet to ensure any debris left in the bowl is removed – giving you a clearer view of the cleaning area.
‘Make sure the lid is down when you flush to avoid a “toilet plume”. This is the spray of particles that occurs when you flush the toilet, which can coat other surfaces in your bathroom,’ she said.
Next, use your toilet brush to push the water right back into the bowl and down the channel, so you can see the tide mark.
Apply the toilet cleaner around this point and leave it for a few minutes to work its magic.
Finally, scrub and rinse the inside of the toilet with the brush, before flushing the toilet again.
