How to Clean a Toilet Brush After Use

Do you know how to clean a toilet brush after use? It seems a basic concept, but improper cleaning leads to your toilet brush spreading more harmful bacteria and fecal matter than it cleans. Every bathroom needs a toilet brush. Flushing helps carry away solid waste and refresh the water. However, it’s not always reliable for removing stains from the bowl.

Toilet brushes have stiff bristles and a long handle, making it quick and easy to scrub away marks from the porcelain without contacting the toilet. As you clear the bowl, some mess unavoidably transfers onto the toilet brush, so it’s vital to learn how to sanitize a toilet bowl scrubber.

Cleaning a toilet brush after use is advisable, with a deeper clean and complete disinfection at least weekly. Use proven hacks to take care of this bathroom chore. Skip expensive store-bought brush cleaners and maintain your toilet accessories with products from the pantry, kitchen, and first aid kit.

How to Sanitize a Toilet Bowl Scrubber

Understanding how to clean a toilet brush after use is essential for proper hygiene. Nobody wants to use or touch a disgusting toilet brush. Use uncomplicated tricks to make cleaning your brush a breeze.

Discover ideas for cleaning a toilet brush after use with distilled white vinegar, baking soda, bleach, oxygen bleach, hydrogen peroxide, apple cider vinegar, rubbing alcohol, dish soap, essential oils, and ammonia.

Why Use a Toilet Brush?

Toilet brushes are a long-standing tradition in most bathrooms. Once you flush the toilet, stains or little pieces of toilet paper may remain in the toilet bowl. Remove the brush from the toilet brush holder and scrub paper towel bits and marks off the bowl before flushing again.

Water comes down from the toilet tank and washes the debris away. Using the toilet brush to clean up the mess as soon as it happens helps prevent toilet stains from soaking into the porcelain and leaves the bathroom clean for the next person.

Why Clean Your Toilet Bowl Brush?

Even the best toilet brush becomes disgusting after cleaning the toilet bowl. Just like we clean the toilet seat and handle, sanitizing the toilet brush is necessary to keep it stain free and hygienic.

Your toilet brush cleans filth and bacteria from inside the toilet. If it’s not cleaned and disinfected between uses, it can spread these germs around the bathroom when used again for cleaning. Keeping your toilet brush in good order ensures it’s ready when needed and won’t disperse stains or microorganisms.

Some people clean the toilet brush after every use, but the general recommendation is to clean it at least every seven days. Replace a toilet brush every six months to ensure your bathroom stays sanitary.

How to Clean a Toilet Brush After Use With Vinegar

Distilled white vinegar, or cleaning vinegar, is a potent natural disinfectant to eradicate stains and destroy germs. The acetic acid in the cleaning vinegar breaks down messes, killing microorganisms by denaturing them.

Unlike toxic store-bought chemical cleaners, distilled white vinegar is food-grade and won’t harm your skin if it contacts it. To clean your toilet brush between uses, pour undiluted distilled vinegar into a spray bottle and spritz the bristles and any portion of the brush that touches the inside of the toilet.

For deep cleaning, soak your toilet brush in pure white vinegar for up to an hour once a week. Rinse the brush in hot water and return it to the holder. It’s wise to soak and clean the holder while you clean the brush so you don’t return the clean brush to a dirty holder and reinfect it.

Cleaning a Toilet Brush After Use – Baking Soda

Baking soda is economical for erasing stains and deodorizing your toilet brush. Pick up a box of baking soda powder from the baking aisle to take care of your stained or smelly toilet accessories. Add one cup of baking soda powder to the water in your clean toilet bowl and submerge your brush head for at least one hour.

The baking soda breaks down marks and removes odorous particles from your brush and toilet. Use the brush to scrub around your toilet bowl to abrasively clean the bristles and the porcelain before lifting it and rinsing it well. Wedge your toilet brush under the toilet seat of the bowl while it dries, and return it to the holder.

Bleach for Sanitizing a White Toilet Brush

Bleach is famous for its industrial strength cleaning capability, making it a fantastic choice to have total peace of mind about your toilet brush. Create a traditional chlorine bleach soak to remove discoloration from the bristles and sanitize.

Stir the bleach and water in the bucket to craft the soak, and submerge the brush and holder for up to two hours. Use a pair of grips to remove and rinse them, leaving them dry naturally. Wear rubber gloves and open the window as you work with chlorine bleach.

Oxygen Bleach Will Disinfect a Toilet Scrubber

Oxygen bleach is an environmentally conscious and safe alternative to traditional chlorine bleach. Chlorine bleach emits toxic fumes; oxygen bleach’s only byproducts are water and oxygen. The oxygen bubbles move through the toilet brush, dispersing organic matter and eliminating bacteria.

Make an oxygen bleach spray or soak per the directions on the package, and use it as a daily spray or deep cleaning soak. Choose a color-safe oxygen bleach to avoid altering the shade of your toilet brush.

Hydrogen Peroxide Cleans the Toilet Brush Head

Use undiluted hydrogen peroxide to spray your toilet brush daily to keep it free of pathogens. Peroxide is an oxidizing agent that uses oxygen to eradicate microbes and remove organic matter. Hydrogen peroxide is associated with first aid, but its antiseptic and brightening properties are well-suited for cleaning a toilet brush.

Hydrogen peroxide is best used on light-colored plastic or silicone toilet brushes. Do not use hydrogen peroxide on your toilet brush if it has a wooden handle, as it may damage the natural fibers of the wood.

Apple Cider Vinegar Is a Toilet Cleaner

Like cleaning vinegar, apple cider vinegar contains acid but in slightly lower quantities. Apple cider vinegar has a less offensive smell than distilled white vinegar, making it a more acceptable cleaner for those sensitive to the pungent odor.

Use undiluted apple cider vinegar to spray your toilet brush between uses to keep bacteria at bay. For a more fragrant scent, add a few drops of essential oil to the vinegar to give your bathroom a pleasant aroma every time you use it.

Rubbing Alcohol Kills Toilet Brush Germs

Rubbing alcohol is commonly associated with injuries, but this first-aid cabinet staple has numerous roles in cleaning. In addition to being an antiseptic for wounds, rubbing alcohol has strong solvent properties. These properties allow it to break down odor-causing particles and microbes on your toilet brush, so it stays hygienic.

Mix equal parts water and rubbing alcohol to make a convenient toilet brush spray, or use two cups of alcohol with four cups of warm water to make a solution to soak your toilet brush for a deep clean.

Dish Soap Brush Cleaner

Dish soap has several purposes in house cleaning, from washing your shower curtain, dishes, or silicone toilet brush. If you’re low on ingredients, head to the kitchen and grab your liquid dish soap for a convenient cleaner for your toilet brush and holder.

A few tablespoons of dish soap in hot water makes a soapy-water liquid to keep your toilet brush clean between uses. Dish detergent is appropriate for cleaning your toilet brush as it’s designed to break down organic matter.

The soap breaks down food and grease stuck to cookware; however, it works equally well to break down feces on your toilet brush. Use soapy water to clean your brush bristles. Dip a microfiber cloth into the solution to wipe down the handle.

Essential Oils Deodorize a Smelly Toilet Bowl Brush

If you’re struggling with unwanted odor from your toilet bowl brush or holder, essential oil helps. Essential oils are naturally fragranced and diffuse around the room to give your bathroom a pleasant scent. Some oil varieties, such as tea tree oil, have antibacterial properties, which help fight microorganisms as they deodorize your toilet brush.

Add half a cup of cold water and 20 drops of your preferred essential oil into the basin on your toilet brush holder. After you place your toilet brush back into the stand, the oil gently fragrances it. Replenish the essential oil every week when deep cleaning the brush and holder.

Ammonia Disinfects Toilet Brush Bristles

Ammonia is a typical household cleaner perfect for cleaning your toilet brush. If you already have ammonia for cleaning your toilet bowl and bathtub, use this multipurpose disinfectant to mix a spray cleaner or soak to sterilize toilet accessories. Ammonia is sold with cleaning supplies at most stores.

Spritz the toilet brush with the ammonia solution, coating all the bristles, or place the ammonia and water to a cleaning basin and let the brush and holder soak for up to one hour before rinsing.

Commercial Brush and Toilet Bowl Cleaner

If you don’t have time to craft your own toilet brush cleaner or are short on supplies, pick up a commercial product from your local cleaning store. There’s a massive selection of brush cleaners to choose from, depending on your personal preferences.

Look for a product safe for your brush and with ingredients you feel comfortable handling. Use the toilet brush cleaner following the directions for the best results.

Precautions for Toilet Cleaning

Cleaning the toilet or toilet brush is not a chore to take lightly. Many illnesses transfer through fecal matter, and you could become seriously ill if the proper precautions are not in place. Always wear water-tight rubber gloves to protect your skin from urine, feces, and caustic cleaners.

Keep children and pets out of the room as you sanitize the toilet brush, and wear old clothes, which are easily disinfected if a spill or splash occurs. Never mix cleaning products to prevent unexpected chemical reactions.

Certain combinations, such as bleach and vinegar or bleach and ammonia, are deadly if combined. Always read the directions on any store-bought cleaners, and ensure you’re working in a well-ventilated space.

Notes on Cleaning Your Toilet Plunger

In addition to cleaning your toilet brush regularly, cleaning your toilet plunger each time you use it is crucial. Like a toilet brush, your plunger collects bacteria and fecal matter from the toilet and spreads this around your home and where it’s stored if it’s not adequately sterilized.

Use a white vinegar or bleach solution to sanitize the plunger and handle, rinse it thoroughly with hot water, and wait for it to dry to store it.

Did this article help you understand how to sanitize a toilet bowl scrubber? Cleaning the toilet brush is not a pleasant job, yet it’s necessary for your bathroom and personal hygiene. A dirty toilet brush transfers urine, feces, and the associated bacteria to bathroom surfaces and skin.

Learning appropriate techniques ensures your toilet brush cleaning is efficient and manageable. Save money using everyday products to keep your toilet brush clean and sterilized, and rest assured your bathroom is safe and ready for visitors.

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