I have to say, I am giving you some corkers on this blog! Poo explosions, vomit and now dirty toilets...!! You get all the good stuff don't you?
Seriously though, on my Eco journey, cleaning products have been a tricky path to navigate.
I've always tried to take the most environmentally friendly route. Ever since they were introduced, I've bought either Ecover, Method and other eco-friendly low/non-toxic products, preferring to know that I've had as little impact on the health of the planet as possible whilst cleaning the house.
A couple of months ago, my cleaner pointed out that with our hard water, and possibly our (very much more toilet trained than when we left for the US four years ago, but still not always flushing) two girls, our normal toilet cleaner just wanting hitting the mark.
She asked if I would get some bleach, just this once, just to attack the brown limescale. It was gross - much worse than the pictures below. I did understand. I'd been scrubbing the loo every day, and probably ended up putting gallons of loo cleaner down and round the bowl, in an attempt to get on top of the limescale.
But to no avail.
So I nearly relented. Nearly.
But I just couldn't.
I couldn't sacrifice the planet's water by putting harsh chemicals down the loo in my battle against the limescale.
So I did what every respectable person does, and I googled.
There are lots of different combinations of natural products, including Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate), Lemon Juice and Washing Soda (Sodium Carbonate). But I ended up going for pure White Wine Vinegar - courtesy of Sarson's because that was the only brand I could get on my supermarket app in the 5 litre size.
And do you know what? It really worked!
I am so gutted I didn't get a 'before' picture to have shared, because the result was amazing. Our toilet went from dirty and brown to sparkling white! Just with vinegar. Pretty cool right?
So I did the same as I did before.
First I used the plunger to push as much of the water down and out of the bowl as possible.
I then filled the bowl back up with white vinegar and left it. The first time I left it for about six hours. This time it was for about four.
I then took the loo brush and gave it a good scrub.
I also used one of those kids' chop-sticks to scrape away some of the tougher limescale.
And voila - a nice white bowl!
Not perfect by any means - as you can see, there's still some stubborn bits left. However, if I got my act together and perhaps soaked it for longer and/or added some baking soda, I bet I could get those gone too. (Admission: if you look closely there are actually some dark grey scratches around the bowl from where I was rather over vigorous with scraping off the worst stuff last time...! See video below... Note to self - don't use metal on enamel ;-) )
Anyway.... considering how easy it was to get the loo looking drastically cleaner, and how it was all done without any harsh chemicals, I'm definitely not looking back. White vinegar all the way for me! ;-)
So forgive me for gracing your screens with multiple pictures of our very average toilet and it's bowl ;-)
But I hope it's given you some inspiration on how to continue your own journey towards a more eco-lifestyle.
As ever, with love from our family to yours,
Elena x
