One of the easiest ways to enjoy a luxurious experience at home after a long day is by climbing into a sparkly clean bathtub that smells fresh. If you’re aiming to clean your tub and have run out of your standard cleaner, can you use toilet bowl cleaner on a bathtub?
While toilet bowl cleaners can clean your bathtub very well, it’s not recommended that you use toilet bowl cleaner on a bathtub. These cleaners have a lot of chemicals that may not interact well with your skin, which will be exposed to said chemicals through your bath water.
If you need to clean your bathtub, there are several alternative ways to clean it sufficiently without having to resort to using a toilet bowl cleaner.
Should You Use Toilet Bowl Cleaner On A Bathtub?
You shouldn’t use toilet bowl cleaner on a bathtub. There’s no denying that it can be an effective cleaning solution since it’s able to beat through a lot of the stains and grime that can build up throughout your bathtub, especially if it’s been a while since you’ve cleaned it.
However, cleanliness isn’t a good trade-off for the damage these cleaners can cause to your tub.
Is Toilet Bowl Cleaner Bad For A Bathtub?
Even though toilet bowl cleaner can clean a bathtub, it can also cause some degradation with continuous use. The chemicals that are in toilet bowl cleaners are very strong. These chemicals are great for targeted use in your toilet because they help to clean a lot of the bacteria, grime, and germs that are typically found inside a toilet bowl.
Ammonia and bleach are two of the strongest ingredients in these solutions. They are really good at killing harmful germs, but they are hard ingredients to handle. Bleach and ammonia are fantastic options for a toilet bowl since you won’t come into contact with them, but the same can’t be said for a bathtub.
Another chemical that’s often found in toilet bowl cleaners is hydrochloric acid. This acid is used because of the way it’s able to clean up really tough stains and discoloration, helping to restore a toilet back to its shiny white origins. The chemical is able to do this because of its strength, which is just way too strong for a tub.
How Toilet Bowl Cleaner Can Harm Your Bathtub
Bathtubs are built with a protective layer that gives them that glossy finish. It also helps to protect the material underneath that a bathtub is built with. It ensures that water and soaps don’t break down the integrity of your bathtub so it stays intact with continuous use.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Toilet Bowl Cleaner In A Bathtub
Outside of how toilet bowl cleaner can break down the composition of your tub, it can be harmful to you to get inside a bathtub that was cleaned with those harsh chemicals. Those chemicals will leech into your bath water, meaning you’ll be bathing in remnants of those ingredients. Bleach and ammonia, for example, can be very hard on your skin, causing potential reactions, irritation, and dryness.
When you’re using a toilet bowl cleaner, it’s fairly concentrated in a small area. You’re not running the risk of breathing in a high concentration of the chemicals inside, though good ventilation and an open window are recommended when using toilet bowl cleaner.
If you were to pour enough of this cleaner into a bathtub, you’re risking exposure to the toxic fumes these chemicals produce which can be harmful to your health. These chemicals tend to cause dizziness, watery eyes, breathing difficulties, a burning throat, and many more distressing symptoms.
How To Clean A Bathtub
Cleaning a bathtub doesn’t require you to use products with strong chemical makeup. Of course, you want to eliminate any looming germs while also getting rid of stains and grime. But you can accomplish a crystal-clean tub using safer products. You can even clean your bathtub efficiently with items you already have at home.
Baking Soda And Vinegar
The famous combination of baking soda and vinegar can also be used for your bathtub. It can break through stains and get rid of any gunk that has built up in your bathtub while also helping your bathtub look and smell nice and fresh.
To clean your bathtub this way you’ll want to start out by rinsing your bathtub. You’ll then want to sprinkle your baking soda throughout your tub, paying special attention to spots with stains or residue. Giving the baking soda some time to settle into your tub is recommended, especially with old or stubborn stains.
Once your baking soda has set for ten minutes or so, take a scrubbing brush and rub the baking soda into the tub. Afterward, you’ll want to spray vinegar throughout your tub. Go at your tub again with your scrubbing brush to help the vinegar and baking soda combine for a thorough clean. Once you feel confident you’ve scrubbed sufficiently, rinse your tub out with hot water.
Homemade Cleaning Solution
Vinegar and water combined in a spray bottle make for a fantastic, all-over cleaning solution. Not only will it clean your bathtub very well, but you can use it throughout your house. All you have to do is spray the solution over your bathtub after you’ve rinsed it with water and scrub your bathtub very well. Once you’re finished, you can rinse your tub with some hot water.
Some people also like to add some drops of essential oils to this combination to get a nice, fresh scent that won’t be irritating to the skin. You can also add an antimicrobial oil to your mixture in order to kill any of the germs that may be lurking inside your bathtub.
Vinegar is an inexpensive solution for household cleaning because it’s gentle yet tough enough to break through some of the hardest stains to tackle. It’s also very inexpensive and can be bought in large quantities. The acid within vinegar can help to rub away those pesky stains that you would reach for the toilet bowl cleaner to eliminate.