Making Your Own Toilet Cleaning Pods
Yes, you can always buy these cleaning pods from me, however, if you are interested in making your own, I will tell you how I do it. One thing I really like about this method is that you can make these pods without purchasing any special tools or equipment when making them just for your household.
Things you will need:
Measuring Cups
Mid-sized bowl
A second, quite small, bowl or a small spray bottle, if you already have one
Something flat for the pods to dry on
Ingredients:
1 Cup Baking Soda
½ Cup Citric Acid
1 tbsp 3% Peroxide
½ tsp White Vinegar
20 Drops Essential Oil
In the larger bowl, mix together baking soda and citric acid, making sure to break up any clumps. In the smaller bowl or a small spray bottle, mix together peroxide and white vinegar. I would recommend making pods a couple of times, to make sure it’s something you want to do, before going out and buying a spray bottle. Nobody needs more stuff from a project they tried once and then put in a closet somewhere.
Once the dry ingredient clumps are dealt with, I add my essential oils. You don’t have to add a scent if you do not want to. Lemon is my favorite but sometimes I switch it up for the different seasons. The scent does not last long after the cleaning is done, but, to me, it does make an unpleasant job a little bit nicer.
Next, I add the rest of the liquids. It is important that you do this very slowly or the wet and dry ingredients will react to each other causing them to fizz. A little fizzing is okay but too much will ruin the batch. When I started making these pods I did not have a small spray bottle so I dipped my fingertips into the liquid and then massaged that into the dry ingredients. This took a little extra time but worked just fine. If using a spray bottle, spray two or three times then, using your hand, mix everything together. Regardless of which method you chose, continue adding the liquid until you have something close to wet sand. You need to be able to squeeze it in your hand and have it form a ball. When you drop that ball back into the bowl, the ball should partially hold shape but not completely. If you add too much liquid the pods will become rock hard when dry and they will not dissolve easily when used.
*Because I do not like single use items, I do not wear gloves when making these pods. They are going into a toilet so I assumed nobody would care if I was touching them. I do not have any allergies, or intolerances, to any of these ingredients. I do not know if that is also true for you. Please be safe and know your limits*
To finish the pods off you will need something for them to dry on. Do not use anything paper. It will stick and become part of the pod. Just trust me. For my second batch I used a baking sheet and for the third I used a plate. The pods stuck enough to not slide off during the drying process but did come off when I applied a little bit of pressure. I moved to a silicone mold once I knew these were something I would continue making. My first molds came from a thrift store. Because I wasn’t going to be eating the pods, I didn’t mind not knowing what the previous owner was using them for. If using a mold, make sure you squish the mixture into every nook and cranny. The flowery molds are pretty but getting the mix into all the folds can take a bit more time. Leave the pods somewhere warm and out of the way to dry (not the oven, that will make them crumble, again, trust me). Here in Washington, we have a bit of moisture in the air so I leave mine for about 3 days. Someplace a bit drier, like Arizona, will probably take less time. Once they are dry, keep your pods away from water. I keep mine in a jar with a lid on the back of the toilet.
I use one pod per person (or per toilet), per week. You can use more, or less, depending on your household’s needs. I just drop one in the bowl, let it fizz, then use a brush to scrub as usual. These pods are not going to harm my toilet bowl so it does not matter if I leave it in there for an extended period of time. Sometimes, if I don’t feel like scrubbing, I will drop one in at night and not flush it down utill the next morning.
Something else I like to use these pods for is scrubbing out my sinks. Tacoma has some pretty interesting water and sometimes it discolors my white sinks. I have to work fast, because these pods dissolve, but I use them like a pumice stone and they do a great job making my sinks shine! If you did use your oven to dry your pods, and now you have a pile of crumbs, you can use this as a scrub on your sinks or bathtub.
Have fun and good luck!
~Amanda
