Here’s How to Clean Your Toilet Tank

When was the last time you cleaned your toilet, including the tank? Never? Welcome to the club.

“Most people forget about the toilet tank until the stains, or smells show up to the party,” says Ryan Knoll, owner of Tidy Casa. “By then, it’s already a mess.”

That’s because over time, germs, mold, and minerals from hard water build up in there. Those can also corrode the metal parts and muck up the flaps, causing a weak flush, broken parts, leaks and bad odors.

“Also, let’s say you clean your toilet bowl today but haven’t cleaned your tank in a while, all that bacteria built up in the tank will also go down into the toilet bowl causing stains and smells,” says Constantin Geambasu, owner of Water Rehab.

Luckily it only takes a couple of minutes to get the job done, especially if you do it regularly. Here’s how to clean your toilet tank.

How Often Should You Clean Your Toilet Tank?

The bowl itself requires a pretty regular, thorough cleaning, for obvious reasons. But you don’t need to clean the tank quite as often. It’s best to clean the tank twice a year. Add it to your spring cleaning checklist, and do it again in the fall. Cleaning the tank regularly is just one more step for maintaining your toilet; it will help keep rust and corrosion from building up on the internal parts, extending the life of your toilet.

It’ll also mean one less odor you have to worry about in your bathroom.

What Do You Need to Clean a Toilet Tank?

• Rubber gloves;
• A scrub brush with a long handle;
• A sponge;
• Disinfectant;
• White vinegar (optional).

How to Clean Your Toilet Tank

1. Empty the tank by locating the water valve, usually on the wall behind or near the toilet’s base. Shut it off, lift the lid from the tank and flush until it drains completely.
2. If there’s just grime and dirt, start cleaning. If there’s discoloration from residue, fill the tank with cleaning vinegar to the overflow valve (about three gallons in a standard toilet) and let it sit for 12 hours. Then flush. You can also use dish soap to help clean. “But do not use more than a couple of drops of dish soap on the sponge or it will create a flood of bubbles,” says Geambasu. “Just a couple of drops will do and scrub the scum and mildew away and you will be fine.”
3. Put on rubber gloves and spray the inside of the tank with disinfectant. Let the disinfectant set for 15 minutes.
4. It might be tempting to clean it with bleach, but don’t do that because it’s corrosive.
5. Scrub the inside of the tank thoroughly with your scrub brush.
6. If your toilet’s internal parts need maintenance or replacement, now is the time to do it. Here is how to stop a running toilet and fix flush problems.
7. Wipe off the internal parts to remove any slime or dirt.
8. Turn the water back on and allow the tank to fill. Go ahead and flush it a couple of times. If it’s working, you’re done!

How to Maintain Your Toilet Tank

There are drop-in tablets you can add to a toilet tank that help keep it clean. However, you have to be careful with those because they contain bleach. The problem is that, over time, the bleach will eat away at the parts inside your toilet tank, and then you’ll have a different problem to deal with, replacing the toilet’s parts in the tank like the flush and fill valves.

You can put vinegar in the tank, let it sit overnight, and flush it. That will help, but the reality is that there’s just no easy substitute for cleaning your toilet tank. But at least you only have to do it twice a year.

FAQs

What happens if you don’t clean your toilet tank?

One common problem, especially if you have hard water, is mineral buildup that leads to scaling. If left for too long, scaling can be difficult to clean and even block the flushing mechanisms.

Mold, mildew, and rust can also buildup on the flushing components, creating bad odors and causing the toilet to malfunction. “For example, if the seal has mold on it it might not seal right after flushing, causing your toilet to run, which means you are wasting money on your water bill,” says Geambasu.

What should I do if rust or corrosion build up in my toilet tank?

No worries, just clean it, says Knoll.

• Turn off the water and flush to empty the tank.
• Scrub rust spots with vinegar and a sponge.
• If the rust is really bad, use a rust remover that’s safe for plumbing.
• Check the parts inside. If they’re broken, replace them.
• Got hard water? A water softener can help!

Geambasu also recommends using vinegar and baking soda to clean away rust. “And commercial rust removers work, too, but be aware industrial cleaners may cause even more corrosion if not used properly,” he says.

About the Experts

• Ryan Knoll is owner of Tidy Casa, which he founded in 2015. The company cleans more than 600 homes a month in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.
• Constantin Geambasu is the owner of Water Rehab in Gilbert, Arizona and has been in the plumbing industry for more than 25 years.