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This 2-second tip keeps your toilet clean

Clean your toilet bowl less with this super fast tip.

Alina Bradford CNET Contributor
Alina Bradford has been writing how-tos, tech articles and more for almost two decades. She currently writes for CNET's Smart Home Section, MTVNews' tech section and for Live Science's reference section. Follow her on Twitter.
Alina Bradford
2 min read
Alina Bradford/CNET

If you have a lot of people in your household, or your place is just where everyone likes to hang out, then you probably need to clean your toilet often. With seven teens in and out of my house on a regular basis, I was cleaning my toilet bowl every couple days. 

It was getting tedious, so I tried those little blue tablets that you put in the tank to keep the bowl clean. I couldn't find one that worked, plus my youngest said the blue water creeped her out. 

I even tried making homemade fizzing tablets, and those didn't work as well as l liked, either. Finally, I came upon a solution and it literally takes 2 seconds.

Use magic... sort of

All you need to do to keep your bowl clean is to drop a magic sponge (aka Magic Eraser) in the tank. Just make sure you place it as far away from the drain as possible so it doesn't get in the way of the flushing mechanics. I wedged mine between the fill valve (the tube thing that has plastic hoses coming from it) and the wall of the tank. 

You'll probably need to replace the sponge once a week if several people use the same bathroom. If you live alone, you can probably get away with changing the sponge once a month.

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How it works

Eraser sponges aren't just sponges. They are actually pieces of melamine foam with a cleaning ingredient inside. As the sponge sits, it releases the cleaning agent into the water that winds up in the bowl, coating the bowl in cleaning goodness. 

The cleanser prevents grossness from sticking, and it washes away when you flush. You probably won't notice a difference in the size of the sponge, but things are happening.

Not seeing results?

Some people have reported that this trick doesn't work and is internet flimflam. If you try it and don't see results, you may have hard water. This means there are minerals in your water that can build up on your toilet bowl. 

The cleansers in a magic sponge are no match for hard water. You'll need attack the bowl with a pumice stone or cleaning product designed for this specific problem.

Check out these tips to get your bathroom clean in less than 10 minutes.

Before you start a load, you really need to know these six surprising laundry hacks.