<p>I know… Ewwwww. but does anyone have a solution to the problems of seldom-flushed toilets (other than use them, which means weekly cleaning)
We have water-line buildup and some pink stains despite cleaning after last use. I see ads for tank inserts, “gel-tabs” that you stick on the bowl, etc. Any advice. The kids are gone for months at a time.</p>
<p>(I may now rank among those who brought up the ickiest subject on CC…)</p>
<p>I think those tank inserts and gel tabs probably require the toilet to be flushed on a regular basis, so if you use them, try to flush once or twice a day.</p>
<p>I just bought the gel tabs. So far so good (our toilets are flushed regularly - we still have one child at home!).</p>
<p>I haven’t tried this, but a friend’s mother puts Clorox in the toilet bowls that she doesn’t use. She says this works–probably wouldn’t help for the hard water line though.</p>
<p>I read the title, and thought the kid left for school without flushing.</p>
<p>Anyway, try a cleaner that is made for hard water, calcium stains like Lime-away or CLR available at hardware, big box stores, and a number of super markets.</p>
<p>In our area, seldom flushed toilets and drains that aren’t used are perfect if you want to take up the hobby of mosquito breeding. </p>
<p>We flush them and run water regularly to get rid of any larva. The Clorox would take care of that, but I haven’t tried it yet. That would be a great idea before leaving on vacation.</p>
<p>I used to stick some kind of thing on the rim, when it flushes the water runs over it and put of whatever stuff is in the container into the bowl. Unsightly but seems to work. I don’t get water-line buildup after using that. I think the Brand is called Vanish.</p>
<p>eta: This was what I used:</p>
<p>[A</a> few words about my toilet bowl - Vanish Toilet Bowl Cleaner Plus Deodorizer, Refreshing Rain - Epinions.com](<a href=“Shopping Online at Shopping.com | Price Comparison Site”>Shopping Online at Shopping.com | Price Comparison Site)</p>
<p>When we used to split our time (pre children) between two residences, we would put one cup of chlorox bleach into each toilet bowl and cover the bowl (under the seat) with clear plastic/seran wrap. When we returned 6 months later and unwrapped the toilets they were “good to go”. ;)</p>
<p>Seiclan…how about colored saran wrap? That way no “mistakes” will be made. I remember covering the potties with saran wrap as a joke in college…made quite the mess when unsuspecting folks used the toilet and really couldn’t see the wrap.</p>
<p>As a note…why not just flush the unused toilets every day or so. You wouldn’t have to necessarily use them and then clean them…but the water would be flowing. Seems easier than all the other options.</p>
<p>LOL thumper–I too remember the saran covered toilets.</p>
<p>Depending on how your floorplan is, I can see why the daily flushing might be a hassle. For instance in our home the kids’ rooms and bath is upstairs and when they are gone, I kinda just forget about that floor.</p>
<p>I suppose colored saran wrap would work just as well but if you are concerned you could always mark the clear saran wrap with a wide point sharpie (X marks the spot). We didn’t have that issue since we were closing up a condo and we were the ones who opened it 6 months later.</p>
<p>We have a basement toilet that rarely gets used. Once it dried out and let in sewer gases. Serious yuck. The easiest solution really is just to make a point to flush it once a week or so.</p>
<p>I’m having a tough time with this one… the kid is gone, so the bathroom is dirty? Dirtier than when the kid was there? What a strangely, counterintuitive situation!!</p>
<p>Just a reminder if you put clorox or any toilet bowl additives in the bowl or the tank to close the lid if you have pets. Many pets like to drink out of the toilet and you don’t want them ingesting the cleansers. </p>
<p>I didn’t even know my cat drank out of the toilet until he was sick with kidney failure. I think he liked to colder water than was in his bowl, plus cats like fresh water. I guess a flushed bowl of toilet water was fresher to him than his water bowl!!</p>
<p>A warning about clorox in the toilets. The lady I bought my house from was Mrs. Clean, she used clorox in the toilets every day and it wore the finish off. Now everything “sticks” to them and they are a bear to clean. I need to replace them.</p>
<p>I use concentrated about half oz. of"quant", Lysol active ingredient, in the bowl and tank. The solution is bought as a bactericide in humidifiers. Quants are very effective bactericides and a little goes a long way, so pay attention to dilution factors.</p>
<p>In the winter time and when I expect a colder weather, at our family vacation house, I have also used auto windshield wash (cheaper the better) in both tank and bowl. The active ingredient is the alcohol. A little bit of vinegar will also prevent some rust staining down.</p>
<p>I have used Oxi Clean to clean toilets.</p>
<p>Put in a few scoops, let sit a while and the swish around and flush.</p>
<p>On two occasions, my family rented a 1 ½ bath apartment. The ½ bath was rarely used. We discovered that bottled concentrated lemon juice was effective in keeping the toilet relatively clean and odor-free.</p>
<p>Directions: Once a week, flush the toilet. As the bowl is refilling, add one cup of full-strength concentrated lemon juice. (For exceptionally heavy buildup, use two or more cups.) Let it sit for a few hours. Then swish the toilet brush around the bowl until the scum wipes away. Flush again. You’re done.</p>
<p>Lemon juice can also be used to clean and deodorize sink drains and garbage disposals. </p>
<p>Just remember that once a bottle of lemon juice is opened, it must be refrigerated, or else it will spoil. (Spoiled lemon juice smells worse than a dirty toilet!)</p>
<p>I thought the thread would be the delight in less cleaning- I have had no problems with an unused bathroom. When we had a condo I would sometimes quick clean the toilet for the stains. At home I flush the toilet when I houseclean the other baths, leave the lid down and ignore it otherwise. Once a month works (with only two of us I clean half as often…).</p>
<p>We had a townhouse with three full bathrooms back when the kids were little – the full bathroom in the basement rarely got used and the tub/shower combination was never used. After a few months, some weird kind of black worms/larvae started showing up in the tub. Found out that if you don’t run water regularly in a sewer drain, things can breed in there – yuck!! Now, if we have a tub or sink that isn’t used, I make sure to run water down the drain at least once a week.</p>
<p>Our first little house had a little basement bathroom with a seldom used toilet. I used Lime Away once in a while. It worked well.</p>