How to Clean Behind Your Toilet

Few things are grosser than a dirty bathroom. While you might give the sink, shower, tub, floor and even toilet bowl your full attention on cleaning day, there’s one area that you might be overlooking. The area behind your toilet may be out-of-sight, out-of-mind, but it can get just as dirty as the other areas.

Given how cramped this space is, however, you may be wondering if there’s an easy way to remove the dust, mildew and other grime lurking there. Let’s look at how to clean behind your toilet the easy way.

Why Cleaning Behind the Toilet is Often Overlooked

As you work your way around your bathroom on cleaning day and reach the toilet, your primary focus is on cleaning what you perceive to be the dirtiest area – the toilet bowl. Other visible areas of the toilet, such as the lid, seat and handle also get your attention.

However, you typically don’t have a good view of the space behind the toilet, so it might not cross your mind to clean this area. Nonetheless, it needs to be done on a regular basis.

Importance of Keeping this Hidden Spot Clean

While you might not always think about cleaning the area behind your toilet, it’s important to clean it just as frequently as you clean the toilet bowl. The filth here can attract pests and impact the cleanliness of the entire room.

In addition, it could make your otherwise clean bathroom smell dirty. If mold develops behind your toilet, you might even develop health problems.

Step-by-Step Guide to Cleaning Behind Your Toilet

While cleaning behind your toilet isn’t fun, it’s not as hard to do as you might think. Here’s what to do:

• Put on rubber cleaning gloves.
• Clear items off of the toilet lid and away from the base.
• Use the handheld attachment on your vacuum to remove loose debris behind the toilet.
• Spritz an all-purpose spray behind the toilet.
• Wipe the area clean. If you are working in a very tight space, wrap a cloth around a yardstick or other long, flat item to reach the area more easily.
• If you’re dealing with stains, make a thick paste using baking soda and water. Put the paste on the stain for 10 minutes before wiping the paste and stain away.
• Clean the floor behind the tank using the same mopping method used on the rest of the floor.
• Wipe off the wall behind the tank and toilet using the cleaning spray and a microfiber cloth.
• When cleaning the toilet base, use an old toothbrush to scrub crevices and the areas around the bolts.

Tips for Tight or Hard-to-Reach Spaces

When cleaning tight or hard-to-reach spaces, having the right tools for the job makes a world of difference.

Consider using some of these tools:

• Use a slim or flat vacuum cleaner attachment to remove loose material.
• Use a duster with an extending arm to reach high areas and areas that are difficult to reach by hand.
• Moisten a pipe cleaner with cleaning spray to easily reach and clean those tight, narrow spaces.
• Wrap a microfiber cloth saturated with cleaning spray around a broom handle or yardstick to reach into tight spaces.

How Often Should You Clean Behind Your Toilet?

The space behind your toilet will grow increasingly disgusting over time. The longer you wait to clean behind the toilet, the more dirt, mildew, and grime build up—making the job much tougher later on.

In addition, stains are more likely. Ideally, you should clean all areas of the toilet on a weekly basis.

Preventing Future Buildup

When dust, dirt and other messes build up in your bathroom, it compacts into a hard mess. This is particularly problematic because the area often has high humidity.

Buildup is much harder to clean, and the best way to prevent it is to stay on top of cleaning. Clean all areas of the toilet, including the space behind it, on a weekly basis.

Between hard-to-reach places and truly grimy spots that you’d rather not mess with, there are some cleaning chores that you understandably put off doing. You can’t have a truly clean home unless you cover all of the important areas regularly. The good news is that you don’t have to do the unpleasant and challenging chores yourself. At Cleanzen, we have a hardworking team of cleaning professionals who have the know-how, tools and motivation to give you a truly clean home at every visit. Book your next Cleanzen cleaning service with us today.