Green your clean: toilet bowl cleaners

Post 2 in my series on getting toxic chemicals out of your home! Scouring powders and toilet bowl cleaners are laden with chemicals and bleach....find something more natural, and get the same results!

Toilet bowl cleaners are potentially hazardous!

They may contain hydrochloric acid or hypochlorite bleach. They vary in their danger level, read labels carefully - remember to look for words like: DANGER and POISON.

Alternate solutions:
- Baking soda
- Baking soda and vinegar
- Oxygen cleaner

My personal preference:
My new routine is to grab my baking powder and vinegar and head to each bathroom - I pour a scoop of baking powder, and a dollop of vinegar to the toilet bowl and the sink, then head to the next bathroom. While I'm gone, it makes a fizzy solution that's great for cleaning! Then I return to the first to do the scrubbing.

I use a rag to swish around the mixture in the sink, wipe down the counters and sink handles, and then scrub the sink. Then rinse with clean water. I use the same rag to wipe down the outside of the toilet. I use a toilet brush for the mixture in the toilet bowl itself, and then I'm done! I use a different rag for each bathroom. You can also add a few drops of essential oil if you like a different scent. (The vinegar smell dissipates very quickly though).

Do you have any other alternative cleaning methods for the toilet bowl and surrounding areas? One of my followers has a toilet bowl cleaner listed on her blog - check it out!