The spring purge: Toilet bowl cleaner
Cleaning the toilet ranks high on the tedious list, but somebody's got to do it. Just make sure it's not done with a product that puts you and the planet at risk.
Thu, May 13 2010 at 9:17 AM EST
KEEP IT SHINY: Toilet bowl cleaning is a reality of modern life. (Photo: maodan122/Flickr) Welcome to the seventh installment of a series of special “spring purge” posts. The topic? Environmentally dubious household items that you might want to take a second look at while tackling spring cleaning duties. And when I say “take a second look at,” I mean you should reconsider using and/or replace with a more eco-sensible alternative.
Thus far, I‘ve recommended a household purge of antibacterial cleaning products containing the chemical triclosan, aerosol air fresheners that can compromise your health through lowered air quality, toxic oven cleaners, caustic drain openers, chemical roach killers, and a partial purge of the common paper towel roll. Today I'm taking a look at a purge-worthy item associated with a particularly unpopular spring cleaning task: cleaning the toilet bowl.
Even I, someone who enjoys cleaning, can’t stand to clean toilet bowls. Allow me to make the bathtub nice n’ shiny, mop the floors, clean out the fridge, and wash the windows but spend five minutes scrubbing the toilet? No thank you. Once upon a time, I tossed bleach tablets (no, not those “Smurf Pee” things) in the toilet tank so I wouldn’t have to do the deed. I’m not sure exactly what it is about the act that I find so painfully degrading. I guess it’s just the fact that it involves cleaning a toilet.
Corrosive, petrochemical-filled toilet bowl cleaners rank with oven cleaners and drain openers as the most hazardous household cleaning solutions. Ingredients in commercial toilet bowl cleaners can include chlorine bleach, ammonia, hydrochloric and sulfuric acids, the potent antibacterial agent triclosan, and even formaldehyde, all health-compromising substances that must be handled with utmost care. That is unless you’re a big fan of painful chemical burns and lung-irritating chemical fumes.
Additionally, many of these ingredients don’t break down easily in the environment, so when they enter water supplies after you clean and flush there’s the potential for some real eco-damage. Ammonia, in particular, is harmful to aquatic life. Long, not-so-pleasant story short, if you have to pick only a couple of cleaning products to purge, make toilet bowl cleaners one of ‘em. But not so fast ... this doesn't mean that just because you purged your home of chemical toilet cleaners you can neglect cleaning the toilet altogether. That bowl still needs some lovin'. Luckily, there are plenty of safe, nontoxic toilet bowl cleaners on the market from brands such as Seventh Generation, Method, Ecover and Clorox Greenworks. These products can effectively remove rust, hard water stains, and other gunk while leaving your bowl smelling non-artificially fresh.
DIY toilet cleaning solutions are also an option and normally include three inexpensive key ingredients found in your pantry: baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice.
Do you have a favorite nontoxic toilet bowl cleaner? Or how about a homemade solution?
Cleaning product image: Krikketgirl; MNN homepage photo: belknap/iStockphoto
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Comments
Phil
06/22/2010 14:52 PM
I love the concept of Ecover cleaning products. It's good to see European businesses driving concientious causes forward.
Ecover Blog
05/18/2010 15:33 PM
Thank you for sharing this information! We are pleased you included Ecover's toilet cleaner in your post as an alternative to traditional toilet cleaners. While cleaning the toilet may not be fun, we can feel better about it when we're using an ecological cleaner!
-Deb for Ecover
