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A good toilet cleaner is essential for keeping your bathroom looking and smelling fresh. With options ranging from traditional brushes to gels and sprays, it can be tough to know which product works best for your toilet. To make your decision easier, our team researched the top toilet bowl cleaners on Amazon and selected our top five recommendations.
Top 5 Toilet Bowl Cleaners
- Best Kit: Clorox ToiletWand Disposable Toilet Cleaning System
- Best Flushable Pads: Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Brush Toilet Bowl Cleaning System
- Largest Liquid Cleaner Pack: Lysol Bleach-Free Hydrogen Peroxide Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- Best Natural Cleaner: Better Life Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- Best For Rust: Iron OUT Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Compare Top Toilet Bowl Cleaner
| Product | Type | Quantity | Scent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clorox ToiletWand Disposable Toilet Cleaning System | Wand | 16 single-use, presoaked pads | Rainforest rush |
| Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Brush Toilet Bowl Cleaning System | Wand | Four single-use presoaked pads | Citrus action |
| Lysol Bleach-Free Hydrogen Peroxide Toilet Bowl Cleaner | Liquid | 24 ounces | Ocean fresh |
| Better Life Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner | Liquid | 24 ounces | Tea tree and peppermint |
| Iron OUT Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner | Tablets | Six tablets | None |
| Product | Type | Quantity | Scent |
Best Kit
Clorox ToiletWand Disposable Toilet Cleaning System
- $20.86
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Pros and Cons
✔ Can remove rust, calcium, and lime stains
✔ Has no-touch disposal in trash cans
✔ Kills 99.9% of germs
✘ Cleaning heads are not flushable
✘ Is more expensive than some other similar cleaners
What Customers Are Saying
Those who liked this cleaner said that it was easy to use, had an effective brush, and left a pleasant scent. However, some who didn’t like this cleaner said that the pads sometimes disintegrated during use from the toilet bowl water. Others felt that the wand was difficult to maneuver.
Best Flushable Pads
Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Brush Toilet Bowl Cleaning System
- $8.49
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Pros and Cons
✔ Features stain-removing technology to leave lasting cleans
✔ Included wand has a long 19-inch handle
✔ Pads have biodegradable, septic-safe construction and can be flushed
✘ Shape of the brush can make cleaning deep into the toilet hole difficult
✘ Some customers found the pads to be flimsy
What Customers Are Saying
Customers said that this product was simple to use and worked quickly. They also mentioned that it didn’t leave behind bad odors because the dirty pads were disposed of, which was a welcome change from traditional toilet brushes. However, some customers said that the pads broke apart while cleaning and that they were ineffective at removing tough stains.
Largest Liquid Cleaner Pack
Lysol Bleach-Free Hydrogen Peroxide Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- $19.09
- $23.1
- 17% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Pros and Cons
✔ Can be used without safety masks or glasses since it’s bleach free
✔ Has an angled head to help get hard-to-reach areas
✔ Uses hydrogen peroxide to create deep cleaning
✘ Can cause mild skin irritation if it gets on your skin because of the hydrogen peroxide
✘ Some claim it has a strong, medicinal scent
What Customers Are Saying
Customers liked that this cleaner was safe for septic and hard water systems. They also said that it worked as well if not more effectively than bleach-based cleaners. However, those who were unhappy with this product said that it sometimes required an excess amount of scrubbing to remove stains and that it had a strong, unpleasant smell.
Best Natural Cleaner
Better Life Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- $12.1
- $15.99
- 24% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Pros and Cons
✔ Doesn’t contain synthetic fragrances, dyes, alcohol, bleach, or sulfates
✔ Has a naturally clean fresh scent
✔ Uses a formula that’s safe for septic systems
✘ Is more expensive than many chemically based liquid cleaners
✘ Needs frequent application to work most effectively
What Customers Are Saying
Customers liked this product’s environmentally friendly ingredients, pleasant scent, and septic-safe formula. Some customers claimed that it wasn’t able to remove hard water stains and that it sometimes required intense scrubbing to work effectively.
Best For Rust
Iron OUT Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- $7.98
- $10.39
- 23% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Pros and Cons
✔ Has a long-lasting formula that prevents rust stains from forming for up to 45 days
✔ Is ideal for areas with hard water or high iron levels
✔ Requires minimal effort since tablets can simply be dropped into the toilet
✘ Can sometimes take a long time to produce results
✘ May need to be used alongside another cleaner to produce the best results
What Customers Are Saying
Those who were happy with this product said that it was simple to use, worked on hard water systems, and prevented new rust stains from forming. On the other hand, some customers claimed that the tablets didn’t fully dissolve and that they had an unpleasant smell.
Buyer’s Guide
When deciding which toilet bowl cleaner is best for sanitizing and deodorizing your toilet, consider the following factors.
Cleaner Type
Toilet bowl cleaners come in many types, with the main ones being wands, liquids, and capsules. Wands often come with single-use heads that are presoaked in a cleaning solution. As the heads come into contact with the toilet water, the solution is released. Liquid cleaners come in a bottle and are directly applied to your toilet. Tablets require little effort on the user’s part because they’re placed in and then flushed down the toilet. While wands and liquids typically require more elbow grease, they tend to be more effective for bathroom cleaning and are affordable than tablets.
Ingredients
Some toilet bowl cleaners include bleach or other harsh chemicals. While more effective at removing stains and killing bacteria, these ingredients aren’t safe for pets or children. They may not be compatible with certain systems, such as septic tanks, either. Natural cleaners are also available, but they’re usually pricier and less effective.
Stain Type
Certain types of stains may require special care that you won’t get from traditional cleaners. For example, while most cleaners are able to tackle basic limescale buildup, they may not work as a stain remover for rust. To ensure your cleaner works on the specific stains you’re seeing, read the product description.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should my toilet be cleaned?
Toilets collect germs frequently and in large quantities. To ensure you’re minimizing the germs in and around your toilet, clean the bowl around once a week. Meanwhile, toilet tanks should be cleaned twice a year to avoid the buildup of mildew, rust, and grime.
Can toilet bowl cleaners be used for other types of cleaning?
No. They may contain bleach or other chemicals that could damage the finish on surfaces and appliances.
Are toilet bowl cleaners safe for septic systems?
Toilet bowl cleaners that don’t contain bleach or chlorine are usually safe to use with septic systems. However, check the label to make sure.
Why Trust The This Old House Team
This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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