How to Clean a Toilet Brush

Ciaran asked, “How do you clean a toilet brush?”

You Will Need:

• A plastic milk jug or juice bottle
• A small bucket
• White vinegar
• Castile soap
• Powdered oxygen bleach
• Water
• Chlorine bleach

Steps to Clean the Toilet Brush:

1. Cut off the top of a plastic milk jug or juice bottle. If needed, set the brush in the bottle so you can carry it to the cleaning area without it dripping along the way.¹
2. Read the label on the bottle of your toilet bowl cleaner. If your cleaner contains chlorine bleach, skip to step four. If not, use step three.
3. Pour 3 and ½ cups of water into the milk jug, juice bottle or a small bucket. Add ½ cup white vinegar, 2 tablespoons castile soap and ¼ cup powdered oxygen bleach to the water. Don’t be alarmed when the mixture starts to fizz. Place the toilet brush in the solution and allow it to soak for about 30 minutes to an hour.² Make sure that you use oxygen bleach, not chlorine bleach, as chlorine bleach will create a toxic gas if mixed with vinegar.³
4. To use a chlorine bleach solution instead, combine equal parts of chlorine bleach and water in the bottle or bucket. Swirl the brush in the solution, then rinse it well with both soap and water. Regardless of how well you rinse the brush though, keep in mind that it will likely still have some chlorine residue on it and should not be used with an ammonia cleaner or vinegar.⁴
5. Rinse the brush thoroughly.²
6. Wipe the brush handle with a sanitizing wipe or a paper towel moistened with an all purpose cleaner.

• As an alternative to cleaning the toilet brush, you can fill the brush holder with an all purpose cleaner and store the brush in the solution.⁵

1. Handy Household Hints from Heloise
2. Easy Green Living by Renee Loux
3. Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook
4. Haley’s Cleaning Hints by Graham and Rosemary Haley
5. Cleaning Plain & Simple by Donna Smallin