10 Toilet Bowl Cleaners Sure to Freshen Up Your Bathroom

Lysol is a mainstay in the home cleaner market for a reason, and their toilet bowl cleaner gel passes the quality check with flying colors. With a germ-killing formula that kills 99.9% of bathroom viruses and bacteria, it removes tough stains and keeps your toilet bowl super sanitary. The powerful gel formula also means you can also forgo the scrub brush.

Clorox is known for its powers of brightening anything it touches, and this is no exception. If you often find yourself combating rust and limescale stains in your toilet bowl, then this gel cleaner from Clorox is the way to go. Simply flush your toilet, apply 6 ounces of the cleaner under and around the rim, scrub your entire bowl, let sit for five minutes, and then flush again for the best results.

For over 20 years, Mrs. Meyer’s has taken the cleaning market by storm with their responsibly sourced, plant-derived, and amazing-smelling products. This biodegradable toilet bowl cleaner also passes the smell test in both quality and scent, boasting both a powerful formula and lemon verbena aroma. This liquid cleaner will clean and deodorize your toilet, and leave your bathroom lemony fresh.

Lysol brings the “set it and forget it” mentality to the bathroom with its automatic Click Gel toilet bowl cleaner. This longer-lasting cleaner allows you to apply a large dab of gel to your toilet bowl (just under the rim), and with every flush the gel will slowly deodorize and clean your toilet. It lasts up to two weeks and comes in a variety of scents.

If your toilet brush is on its last leg or if you’re looking for a better alternative, it’s worth trying out Clorox’s ToiletWand kit. The disposable brush heads come preloaded with Clorox cleaner and are the perfect shape and size to reach under the toilet bowl rim. The kit also comes with a caddy for the brush heads and the handle, so whenever you need to freshen up your toilet bowl, all you’ll need to do is reach in, replace the scrub head, and clean!

Toilet bowl cleaning tablets are also a great alternative when it comes to cleaners. This starter set is a great way to test out if you prefer tablets, coming complete with 14 tablets and a storage tin. Simply drop a tablet in your toilet bowl until it fully fizzes and foams, give your bowl a quick scrub with a brush, and then flush to reveal your newly cleaned toilet. Blueland’s products are also eco-friendly; they're 100% bio-based and plastic-free.

Another automatic cleaner on the list, Vacplus’s offering lasts up to 15 days, with the entire pack lasting up to six months. Simply drop the tablet under the float ball in your toilet’s tank, making sure the refill tube and overflow tube are well-connected. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour, flush, and then it’s ready to start cleaning!

These drop-in tablets also hang out in your toilet’s tank while cleaning over time. These ones last up to four weeks, though, and work to both sanitize your toilet as well as remove stains caused by hard water, lime scale, and minerals. You’ll just need to wait 10 minutes to flush, and then you’re all set!

If your goal is to target hard-to-clean stains, then Zep’s gel cleaner is the one for you. Its 10 percent acid gel formula removes rust, organic stains, and hard water residue, and its squirt top easily reaches under the toilet rim for hard-to-reach stains. Plus, it has a strong wintergreen scent that’ll leave your bathroom smelling fresher than harsher odors associated with other cleaners.

Method’s antibacterial cleaner is made with citric acid (perfect for targeting grime), killing 99.9% of household germs including including staphylococcus aureus, influenza a flu virus, rhinovirus, escherichia coli, enterobacter aerogenes, and salmonella enterica. It’s also a cruelty-free brand, and its spearmint scent will leave your bathroom smelling minty fresh.