• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Frugally Blonde logo
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Contact Me
  • Start Here
  • Store
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Contact Me
  • Start Here
  • Store
×
Home » Hard Water Stains » How To Clean Toilet Stains Like A Pro

How To Clean Toilet Stains Like A Pro

By Julie

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure policy for details.

40.2K shares
  • Share174
  • Tweet
  • Email

Get rid of those awful toilet bowl stains without scrubbing. Check out how to clean toilet stains like a pro and get your toilet clean again. Remove hard water stains from toilet easily with this simple trick!

how-to-clean-toilet-stains

As a teenager, some of my son's responsibilities included cleaning and picking up his room and his bathroom. This works great for me so I have less to clean.

The problem came the other day when I went into his bathroom.

He was keeping the bathroom picked up, but not cleaned. I don't even want to guess the last time the toilet was scrubbed.

The toilet was dirty and had hard water stains in the bowl too.

Luckily, I have an easy way to remove limescale and hard water stains from the toilet bowl without a bunch of scrubbing.

How To Remove Hard Water Stains From Toilet

Want to get rid of those awful stains? Don't scrub all day with a pumice stone. Check out this easy way of how to clean toilet stains like a pro.

dirty-toilet

Why This Works?

  • Hard water stains are the build-up of minerals in your water. When the water sits in your toilet it slowly allows the minerals to form.
  • Vinegar is a natural acid that will break down and dissolve the minerals.
vinegar, paper towels, and gloves to clean toilet stains

Items Needed To Clean The Mineral Build-Up From Toilet Bowls

You will need a few things to clean toilet bowl stains without scrubbing.

  • vinegar (just regular white vinegar works great!)
  • paper towels
  • rubber gloves (I picked mine up on Amazon)
cleaning toilet with brush

Cleaning The Toilet Bowl

I always recommend starting with a clean toilet bowl. It's a gross enough job. At least knowing your bowl is clean helps.

Next, you will need to get the water out of the bowl. The water dilutes any of the chemicals that you put in the toilet.

toilet bowl full of water and plunger
plunging toilet bowl
toilet after being plunged

Step 1: Use a toilet plunger and plunge until all or most of the water has left the bowl.

Note: You will want to make sure the water is below where your hard water stains are.

Step 2: Dry the inside of the toilet bowl where the stains are.

paper towel soaked in vinegar

Step 3: Take a paper towel and get it wet with vinegar. You will want it saturated with the vinegar.

Note: I like to use rubber gloves for this part because it's kind of gross. You can head over here to Amazon to pick up a box of rubber gloves for cheap.

Step 4: Take the vinegar-soaked paper towel and place it up against the stains in the toilet bowl.

paper towel soaked in vinegar on toilet bowl

Step 5: Let the paper towels soak against the stains for at least two hours.

Tip: I have found the worse the stains the longer the paper towels need to be in the bowl. You can let them sit overnight if the stains are really bad.

Free Weekly Cleaning Printable

Clean your home in under 30 minutes a day with this free Weekly Cleaning printable!

Step 6: After at least 2 hours pull up the paper towels and check to see if the stains are gone.

Step 7: When the stains are gone just remove all of the paper towels and throw them away. Then flush the toilet to wash away any remaining vinegar.

how to clean toilet stains

I love this method because not only do I not have to scrub but I also don't risk scratching my toilet bowl. It's a win-win!

You no longer have to wonder how to clean toilet stains! You can easily get rid of those ugly stains in your toilet with just a few minutes of your time.

Love this way of cleaning toilet stains? You can see a similar tip on the no-scrub way to clean your shower door using paper towels and vinegar!

You might also like these other cleaning posts

  • How To Clean A Dryer Vent Like A Pro
  • How To Clean Yellowed Pillowcases
  • DIY Upholstery Cleaner
« The No Scrub Way To Clean Your Shower Door
How To Wash Delicates »
40.2K shares
  • Share174
  • Tweet
  • Email

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carol Higgins says

    December 19, 2024 at 9:17 pm

    I need to know how to clean a very old bathtub ring. It was here when I moved in 24 years ago and I have tried every commercial product and every DIY solution, including straight ammonia and nothing will move this ring. Any suggestions from anyone?

    Reply
    • Bev turner says

      January 18, 2025 at 12:30 am

      Kerosene on a soft towel or face washer,does not have to be soaking wet.
      Use each time water mark shows up,so easy!

      Reply
  2. Tony says

    December 04, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    The easy way to empty the bowl is to use about a half a meter of sturdy toilet paper or wipes , hold one end on the water line and flush which sends the product around the s bend then let go the capillary action drains the bowl down to the last drop its best to do it last thing at night .
    I hope this helps all you ladies that don't like the grose job of cleaning toilets.

    Reply
  3. Dee says

    November 26, 2016 at 1:34 am

    I keep a spray bottle with white vinegar and some blue Dawn with water. After the toilet is clean if you use this regularly it keeps it sparkling.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      November 29, 2016 at 7:24 am

      I will have to try that sometime thanks!

      Reply
  4. Jenny says

    November 24, 2016 at 1:13 am

    Do you have any tips for stain removal on the bottom of the toilet seat? Mine are hideous

    Reply
    • Julie says

      November 29, 2016 at 7:30 am

      Have you tried a Clorox bleach pen on them? The gel might cling to the seat better to give the bleach more time to set in. Or you could try a paper towel soaked in bleach. I will see if I can find any stains on my toilet seat to experiment on.

      Reply
      • Bev t says

        January 18, 2025 at 12:33 am

        Buy a new one,that isthe cheapest part to replace!

        Reply
  5. Suzanna says

    November 22, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    Just use good old fashion bleach, it works every time no mess no using your hands

    Reply
  6. Stacy Shipman says

    November 14, 2016 at 10:55 pm

    Crazy question but does it matter what kind of vinegar you use? I have apple cider vinegar and thought I would use it. Just checking and thank you so much for your tips! Love the oven cleaning with baking sofa!

    Thanks,
    Stacy

    Reply
  7. Darlene says

    November 11, 2016 at 1:32 pm

    I clean houses and the product I use which is no fuss no muss is The Works for bath and toilets. It cuts rust and yuck almost instantly. I caution you not to breathe it in tho because it is caustic.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      November 12, 2016 at 12:09 pm

      I will have to try that. Thanks!

      Reply
  8. Julie @ Logger's Wife says

    November 10, 2016 at 12:43 pm

    Another way to empty the toilet: turn off the water to the toilet at the back where the water supply comes to the toilet. Flush then flush again. Then it also empties the water out of the tank so you can clean back there if need be. Our well ran dry this summer then started pulling mud. All that mud going through the line to the toilet settled into the the tank. It was pretty gross. The random things you learn....;) #ThriftyThursday

    Reply
  9. Lindsey Mozgai says

    November 01, 2016 at 11:52 am

    It's funny. My fiance and I ran into this same issue lol. He was responsible for the bathroom, but was not really keeping it "clean", Finally, I told him are you even using cleaners? He admitted that he had ONLY ever used water! WATER! Needless to say after a year of "cleaning" there were many stains to work through.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      November 01, 2016 at 1:04 pm

      Ha ha! My husband recently asked where the cleaning closet was! Good thing they have us, right?

      Reply
      • Lindsey Mozgai says

        November 01, 2016 at 1:56 pm

        Exactly.

        Reply
  10. Jhc says

    October 28, 2016 at 10:43 am

    An easy way to lower the water in toilet before you clean it -- fill the bathroom wastebasket ( use the tub faucet if basket doesn't fit in the sink) and dump it in the toilet. Then wipe the basket with paper towel and cleaner of choice....now it's clean too.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      November 01, 2016 at 1:01 pm

      Thanks for the tip! I will try that next time.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Julie! Welcome to Frugally Blonde! I love sharing my favorite cleaning tips, decluttering tricks, & household hacks. I am a certified organizational specialist with a love for cleaning!

More about me →

Free Weekly Cleaning Printable

Popular

  • decluttering challenge
    7 Day Decluttering Challenge
  • how to deep clean a kitchen
    How To Deep Clean A Kitchen
  • declutter your home checklist sitting on a desk
    Decluttering Checklist
  • homemade multi purpose cleaner
    Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Contact Me
  • Start Here
  • Store

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Store

Copyright © 2021 Julie Sellers LLC