How To Clean Toilets the EASY Way (DIY Toilet Cleaning Pods)

I can’t believe I’m talkin’ toilets on the blog today, but it’s March and that means spring cleaning hacks and I love you guys so here you go– my favorite tip for cleaning toilets the easy and toxin-free way! In fact, this cleaning hack is so simple not only can my kids do it, but they ENJOY doing it. These DIY toilet cleaning fizzies are like bath bombs for your toilet… and are chemical-free and safe to use. So pull out your essential oils, whip up a batch, and give a big ‘BYE FELICIA’ to your old bathroom cleaning routine.

A HUGE plus is that these toilet cleaning pods follow the same recipe as the homemade shower steamer disks with one small exception. So you can make a batch and split it in half if you want to make both! I make sure to keep them in separate containers of course, but hey, even if you did mix them up it’s no biggie. These would pep up your shower for sure.

While I dream of posting about home design, I know what it is that Pinterest really wants– and so without further ado, I present– a photo of our dirty toilet. Sigh. 😉

I snapped this photo with my cell phone before the first time using the pods. I typically clean my toilets weekly, so this is one week’s worth of ick. As you can see, most of the yuckiness is from our water– those red streaks indicate a high level of iron.

They are SO EASY to use. Simply pop one into your toilet bowl, let it fizz until it’s gone, then wipe with a toilet brush– no scrubbing needed! My only tip is to make sure you don’t FLUSH the pod down the toilet while it’s still fizzing ’cause I’m not sure what that will do to your pipes. But once it stops fizzing, it’s perfectly fine to wipe with the brush and flush.

Here’s the after, I literally swiped the bowl with the brush for 5 seconds to achieve this.

PS- do you know this cleaning tip? Place the toilet brush balanced under the lid to drip dry so you don’t get toilet water in the brush container.

Research is continuing to show the dangers of traditional cleaning products, and we’ve been breathing SO much easier after ditching the chemicals and making over our cleaning cabinet one product at a time. Time to toss the traditional toilet bowl cleaner and use these instead– it’s so much better for your health and indoor air quality. AND WAY PRETTIER TOO.

As with the shower steamer disks and bath bombs, when you make these the amount of moisture DOES matter. Make sure not to use too much water! And if you’re making them in a humid environment or rainy day, you might need to adjust the amount of moisture.

There’s tons more troubleshooting tips in this post, I suggest you give it a quick read before making these so your hard work doesn’t get mushy. 🙂

Truly, the only deviation from the shower steamer disk recipe is that I put the essential oils into the spray bottle with the water so they’re infused with it. However, you can always just drop the oils onto the pods before using if you’d prefer to use that method.

Speaking of oils, PLEASE only use pure, therapeutic grade oils. Other brands are often cut with chemicals or carrier oils which defeat the purpose here. I personally love Lemon because it’s a disinfectant, cleanser, and smells amazing. Thieves blend is another good one with the power of cinnamon and clove. Purification oil powers away odors if that’s an issue as well. You can’t go wrong with any of them, but those are my favorites.

How to Make DIY Toilet Cleaning Pods

Ingredients:

2 c. baking soda

1 c. citric acid

1 c. arrowroot powder or cornstarch

about 3 or 4 TB filtered water in a spray bottle- only use as much as needed! (see below)

pure essential oils such as Thieves or Lemon

silicone mold

small spray bottle

Step One: Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Add 3 TB of water and 20-30 drops of your chosen essential oil to the spray bottle and shake vigorously.

Step Two: Gently mist the dry ingredients with water from the spray bottle a little at a time. If it starts fizzing, you are using too much. Be sure to mix frequently so the water doesn’t react with the mixture. When it starts to form a loose ‘snowball’ type consistency, you’re ready for Step Three. DO NOT OVER WATER!

Step Three: Pack the mixture into the silicone mold and place in a dry area for 12-24 hours. Once dry, pop them out of the mold.

Step Four: Store in a dry place or closed container.

Step Five: To use, drop one in the toilet bowl and let it fizz until completely gone. Give a swipe inside the bowl with the toilet brush to loosen any grime and flush. Enjoy a sparkling clean bowl.

There you have it– easy, non-toxic toilet cleaning fizzies to make cleaning a cinch. We’ve added it to the kids’ chore rotation because they actually enjoy it!