Consider for a moment what you are putting in your toilet and how it impacts the earth or maybe your pet’s health.

Yes, I did say your pet! It was an article I read somewhere that brought up the dangers of toxic chemicals used in your toilet (especially those blue drop-in cleaners or any other drop-in or hanging toilet cleaners that work for days/weeks.) Do you know for sure that your pet is not drinking from the toilet bowl while you are gone or while you sit in the other room? I didn’t think mine were until I caught one of the cats doing it, and then the other. No more pristine blue water filled with chemicals in this house. We needed to switch.

I prefer to use Seventh Generation. Their toilet bowl cleaner states on the label that it is biodegradable and that there is no chlorine, petroleum based cleaners, harsh chemicals, or phosphates used. What is in it? Organic salt cleansing agent, xanthane gum (thickener), Dye (for visibility; it’s a light milky white color), mint oil and water. That’s it! What’s in yours? What are you flushing in to the sewer system that potentially may not be filtered out and end up in our drinking water.

But you don’t have to buy toilet bowl cleaner! Really all you need is a toilet bowl brush, baking soda and vinegar and you can make your own toilet bowl cleaner.

Another thing I wanted to tell you about it how to get rid of that hard water ring inside your toilet. Don’t reach for the CLR! First of all it’s stinky, filled with chemicals and still will make you have to scrub/scrape. And please, don’t don’t get hydrochloric acid or bleach to attempt to remove it. This is seriously an easy fix that will take 10-15 minutes of scrubbing (time may vary depending upon how bad your stains are) by using a pumice stone and you don’t need to drain your toilet!

If you check out the picture on the left you can see the hard water ring stain around the water line and I am holding my pumice stone.

This pumice stone is similar to the kind that you use to smooth the bottoms of your feet, but I notice that the consistency of the stone (air pockets) is a little different, so you may not want to use the stone that came in your mani/pedi set.

All you do is scrape the pumice stone over the top of the hard water ring while the water is in the bowl. The pumice stone needs water to work effectively, whereas many chemical methods require you to drain the toilet first.

Some pumice stone will break away as you use it, but it took years to use up my first one. You should be able to find one at Lowe’s,  Home Depot, Amazon, or even at your favorite discount store for less than $5.  You can see what a difference it makes in the bottom right photo.

These are simple, afforable and environmentally friendly methods to taking care of an unpleasant task.  Learn how to stop your toilet from leaking, and you’ll be well on your way to saving money, too.

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