I know what you’re thinking. Finally, a blog entry about toilets. Dave Barry would be proud.
Here we go with another money-saving, time-saving tip.
I used to buy those Clorox cleaning discs–the ones that slowly degrade the parts inside the tank of your toilet. I recently learned it is possible to buy automatic toilet cleaning gear and modify it (with a dremel or sometimes not at all) so that you can use inexpensive pool-cleaning chemicals. The following combo requires no physical modification, and it bypasses the water in the tank and therefore avoids part damage.
The most inexpensive toilet cleaning setup
- First, buy this Kaboom Scrub Free Toilet Cleaning Kit for ~$12. It comes with 2 tablets that should last ~3 months. You can see how unbelievably easy it is to install.
- Second, about 3-months later, when the initial tablets run out, you can take advantage of the dirt-cheap refills. You get to choose which kind you prefer, chlorine or bromine. First there are the chlorine tablets that smell like chlorine, and then there are the bromine tablets, which–for very scientific reasons–do not smell like chlorine. (Anecdotally, I’ve read that bromine is broken down by sunlight which is why bromine isn’t used in outdoor pools. So unless you have a sun inside your bathroom, which I’ve been assured is neither viable nor plausible, bromine seems to be ideal for an indoor toilet.)
The brands change every so often so here’s several similar products. The key is to find brominating tablets that are 1″ in size which is very standard.
SpaGuard (Bromine)
Spa-Kem (Bromine)
Tropi Clear (Bromine)
Kem-Tek (Chlorine)