How to Keep Your Toilet Bowl Clean and Fresh

Learn how to deep clean a toilet, then help it stay clean without making more work. Automatic toilet cleaning tablets from Clorox® help keep your toilet bowl clean and fresh between cleanings.

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Use as directed.

Deep cleaning a toilet starts with great products. Whether you choose Clorox® Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Bleach or Clorox® Toilet Bowl Cleaner-Clinging Bleach Gel, you can get your toilet bowl sparkling clean. 

Once you’ve deep cleaned your toilet, you’ll want it to stay clean and deodorized before you have to clean it again. That’s easy—just drop a Clorox® Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner tablet into the tank as directed on the label. When used correctly, these bleach containing tablets keep the water in the toilet bowl crystal clear, prevent stains, destroy odors, and sanitize toilet bowl water by killing 99.9% of household bacteria within 5 minutes of each flush. 

Prefer a little color in the water? Clorox® Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner-Bleach & Blue tablets fill your toilet bowl with sparkling blue water after every flush.  They continuously clean and deodorize the toilet bowl, and last up to 4 months.

What you need to manually clean a toilet

Steps to manually clean a toilet

  1. Open the cap

    Squeeze sides of the child-proof cap where symbols indicate and twist counterclockwise ¼ turn. Cap does not come off.

  2. Flush toilet

    Flush the toilet so that only water remains in the bowl before cleaning.

  3. Apply cleaner

    Squirt 6 oz. of the product under and around the rim to coat the inside of the bowl; close the cap.

    Tip

    Surfaces must be pre-cleaned before sanitizing or disinfecting.

  4. Brush bowl surfaces

    Brush the cleaner around the bowl with a stiff brush, including under the rim, and then wait 5 minutes for sanitizing or 10 minutes for disinfecting before flushing the toilet.

    Tip

    Do not let children or pets access the toilet during this time.

  5. Flush the toilet

    When the sanitizing or disinfecting time is complete, flush the toilet.

    Tip

    When you flush the toilet, rinse the toilet brush in the toilet bowl at the same time before storing it.

Once you’ve deep cleaned the toilet, you’ll want to keep it clean and fresh in between scrubbings. Adding a Clorox® Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner tablet to the tank makes this job easier. And of course if you prefer a little color in the water, try Clorox® Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner-Bleach & Blue for sparkling blue water in your toilet bowl.  

Adding the tablets to your toilet tank is easy, but it’s important that the toilet tank is emptied of water before you drop in the tablet. This helps ensure that it is placed in the correct part of the toilet tank: in the rear on the right hand side. When you drop the tablet into a tank full of water, you can’t control where you place the tablet. Step by step instructions here make it easy to do this correctly.

What you need to automatically clean your toilet

Steps to use automatic toilet cleaning tablets

  1. Preclean the toilet

    Use either Clorox® Toilet Bowl Cleaner-with Bleach or Clorox® Toilet Bowl Cleaner-Clinging Bleach Gel to clean the toilet before adding a bleach-based automatic cleaning tablet to the tank.

  2. Cut open the package

    Without removing the tablet from the pouch, cut the pouch open and set it aside.

    Tip

    Do not touch the tablet with your hands.

  3. Remove tank lid

    Put the seat cover down before taking the lid off the tank and setting it on top of the seat cover.

  4. Flush the toilet

    Flush the toilet to completely drain the water out of the tank.

  5. Drop the tablet into the tank

    Holding the pouch and not the tablet, drop the tablet into the tank when the water level in the tank is low, before it refills with water.

    Tip

    Do not drop the tablet into a full tank of water; the tank should be emptied first.

  6. Replace tank lid

    Put the lid back on the toilet and you’re ready to use the toilet.

    Tip

    Toilets with automatic cleaning tablets must be flushed at least once daily.

    Do not mix bleach or bleach containing products with acids or ammonia as hazardous gases may be released.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a regular toilet bowl cleaner to clean the toilet when there’s a tablet in the tank?

We recommend only Clorox® Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Bleach or Clorox® Toilet Bowl Cleaner-Clinging Bleach Gel to clean a toilet with a bleach-based tablet in the tank. Do not use Clorox® Toilet Bowl Cleaner-Lime & Rust Destroyer because it is an acid.