Is your flush not working, or are your rim jets just clogged? Dirty toilet jets are not aesthetically pleasing and emit unpleasant odors that reflect bad hygiene in the bathroom.
However, the rim holes are hidden, so you may miss them when sanitizing your commode.
This article will teach you how to clean toilet rim jets effectively to remove limescale stains and bacteria. This will ensure enough water will get into the bowl when flushed and yellow marks won’t accumulate on the porcelain.
Table of Contents
Ultimate Guide to Clean Your Toilet Rim Jets
When the toilet is flushed, the flapper valve opens, and water from the tank goes to the bowl. But what passageway does the water go through? The rim jets.
These holes are placed circularly under the bowl’s rim, ensuring the water reaches all areas for flushing and cleaning.
Since they’re not visible (unless you use a small mirror), cleaning toilet rim jet stains can be challenging. But it’s possible, and below is how you do it!
Method 1: Cleaning With Vinegar
What to prepare:
- White vinegar (at least 1 ½ cup)
- A funnel
- Allen wrench or anything similar
- small mirror with a handle
Using vinegar as a solution is an effective hack for cleaning under the toilet rim. This will allow us to dissolve the limescale sticking into the rim jets and manually remove the ones left later on.
- Turn off the shut-off valve and flush the toilet to remove the tank’s water.
- Heat up 1 ½ cup of white vinegar until it’s warm but not scalding hot.
- Once you have the heated vinegar, open the tank and pour it into the overflow tube using a funnel.
- Let the warm vinegar settle for 1 to 2 hours as it will automatically go towards the rim jets, soaking the limescale.
- After waiting, use your mirror to see under the rim and an Allen wrench or wire to scrape the dirt out of the jets.
- Turn on the water supply valve to let the tank fill and flush the toilet.
Method 2: Removing Clogs With Bleach
What to prepare:
- bleach (at least 2 cups)
- water (at least 2 gallons)
- funnel
- small mirror with a handle
- Allen wrench or anything similar
- chemical toilet bowl cleaner
- scrubbing pad
Another toilet bowl jet cleaner is bleach mixed with water. However, this only works if your rim jets are covered with bacteria (black or dark orange spots). We don’t recommend using bleach against limescale as it will lighten but not remove the latter.
- Create a bleach solution by mixing 1 cup of bleach with 1 gallon of water. You can also follow the dilution instructions on your bleach’s label.
- Insert the funnel into the overflow tube and pour the bleach solution inside it.
- Let it sit for 5 minutes, then flush the toilet.
- After flushing, place your mirror under the rim so you can see the jets. With your Allen wrench or wire, scrape the rim holes clean.
- When finished, pour chemical bowl cleaner into the scrubbing pad and wipe under the rim.
- Mix another cup of bleach with 1 gallon of water, then pour it again into the overflow tube.
- Wait for 5 minutes, then flush it one more time.
Method 3: Disinfecting Toilet Regularly
What to prepare:
- toilet bowl cleaner
- all-purpose cleaner
- toilet brush
- paper towels
- cleaning gloves
Regularly cleaning the entire toilet is as essential as rim jets-focused cleaning. This will keep bacteria and limescale away, plus you can use the toilet brush to scrub under the rim.
- First, spray an all-purpose cleaner around the toilet’s surface, both interior and exterior.
- Let the all-purpose cleaner sit and start pouring the toilet bowl cleaner around the rim.
- With a paper towel, start wiping off the all-purpose cleaner. Begin when the toilet’s closed before working your way through the toilet’s interior.
- Take your toilet brush and dip it into the toilet, then start scrubbing around the bowl.
Focus under the rim, then go towards the middle of the bowl, and finally, below the waterline (yes, dip that brush in!).
- Once you’re finished, flush the toilet. Don’t forget to clean the brush too!
3 Signs Your Toilet Rim Jets Are Clogged
Aside from getting a mirror and inspecting the rim jets to see if they are already dirty, here are some signs that these holes are clogged:
- Your toilet’s flushing time is longer than usual, or it doesn’t flush completely.
- The toilet tank’s water slowly drains from the bowl even when you’ve already flushed it.
- The flow of the water into the bowl when you flush is vertical instead of the default diagonal (to create a swirling motion).
Conclusion
Clogged toilet rim holes can cause inefficient flushing. Fortunately, the answer to how to clean toilet rim jets is easy, and there are different ways.
The first method to remove the gunk from the rim jets is using warm vinegar and pouring it into the overflow tube. This will soften the limescale, which will help us scrap it away later. For bacteria-infested rim holes, pour bleach solution into the same tube.
Lastly, maintaining clean rim jets means regularly cleansing the toilet bowl. Make sure to scrub under the rim with a toilet brush to avoid nasty buildup.
I’m Paulk Webb, and I work as a writer for Saveourwaterrebates. I’m happy to put in the time and effort to conduct market research to identify the most pressing issues faced by households concerning their plumbing. Feel free to check out our guides to get the most informed recommendations for how to solve your problems.