The toilet is the element of the bathroom that needs cleaning the most, because if it is not treated frequently and with the right products, bacteria and bad odours can proliferate quickly, causing a general lack of hygiene. When people clean the toilet, they focus on the bowl and the lid, but there is one part that no one cleans (some people don’t even know it can be cleaned), but which is essential, as it is where bad odours and limescale can emanate from.
1. The toilet: a source of dirt
The toilet can become a real breeding ground for germs if proper hygiene is not maintained, as it is located in a humid environment (the bathroom), which promotes their proliferation. It is therefore essential to clean it very frequently and with disinfectant products in order to remove any residues that may have remained in it. However, there is one specific area that people don’t usually clean, nor do they know how to clean it, but which can make all the difference: the inside of the cistern.
2. The importance of the cistern in the toilet
The cistern is the part that stores the water and, when the flush is pulled, releases it into the toilet. In other words, the cistern is the “heart” of the toilet, because if it does not work properly, nothing else will work in it. Everyone cleans the outside of the cistern with a cloth or sponge, but the inside is the most important part, as large amounts of limescale and residue can accumulate there, causing a bad smell when you flush and the typical yellow stains at the bottom of the toilet. In short, all the dirt inside the cistern (dirt that, in most cases, has been there for years) spreads throughout the toilet with each flush, so if this part is not cleaned, the cleaning is incomplete. For this, all you need is one product, capable of removing limescale and bad odours.
3. A product that solves the problem
To do this, all we need is eco-friendly citric acid, which can be found in all types of cleaning and household product shops, as it has the ability to clean and remove limescale from this part of the toilet. In a container, mix 1 litre of water with 3 tablespoons of citric acid. Once it is well mixed, remove the cistern lid and pour the mixture over the water already in the cistern.
Leave it for several hours without flushing, so that the citric acid cleans the inside walls of the cistern and the water inside it (you can apply it at night and leave it until the next morning). After several hours, it will be time to flush the toilet, emptying the contents containing the citric acid and allowing it to pass through all areas of the toilet bowl. This product, which eliminates limescale and bad odours, can be applied once a week to prevent build-up. In addition, if we notice that the inside walls of the cistern are very dirty, we can proceed with a more thorough cleaning.
4. For a thorough cleaning
To do this, we must turn off the water tap and flush the toilet, completely emptying the cistern reservoir. Then, we can clean with bleach and a brush, removing all the encrusted dirt. When the deep cleaning is complete, we can reopen the water tap, allowing the cistern to refill, and apply citric acid for complete disinfection.
