Homemade fizzy toilet tablets: how to make them step by step
Fizzy toilet tablets are one of those things that, once you make them at home, you never buy again. With two pantry ingredients and some essential oils you get a dozen tablets that descale, disinfect and leave a pleasant scent, with no bleach or synthetic fragrances.
This is the formula from Clean Without Harm, with the exact proportions and the tricks so they don't crumble before their time.
How they work
When the tablet falls into the water, the baking soda (a base) and the citric acid (an acid) react with each other and produce the bubbles. That acid-base reaction helps loosen limescale and dirt from the bowl. The essential oils, especially thyme, provide the disinfecting action and the aroma.
Ingredients (for 12-15 tablets)
- 200 g baking soda
- 200 g citric acid
- 1 teaspoon deionized or mineral water
- 25 drops of grapefruit essence
- 30 drops of thyme essential oil ct. thymol
- 20 drops of lemon essence
In total that is 75 drops of aromatics. You can swap one for another as long as you keep that total amount.
Where to buy them: baking soda and citric acid can be found in supermarkets (cleaning or baking aisle), household-goods stores and online shops. Essential oils, in herbalists and natural cosmetics shops.
Step by step
- Mix dry the baking soda and citric acid until well combined.
- Add the essential oils and stir again so they spread through the whole mixture.
- Add the water drop by drop, ideally with a dropper. Never pour it in all at once in one spot: you would trigger the fizzing.
- Knead by hand, always wearing gloves. While the mixture is not fully hydrated it can irritate the skin.
- Check the consistency. After 2 or 3 minutes of kneading, the texture suddenly changes and resembles damp sand. If, when you squeeze a handful, it keeps its shape without crumbling or sticking, it is ready.
- Mold in a silicone ice-cube tray or flexible baking molds, pressing well so there are no air gaps.
- Unmold after a couple of hours.
How to use them
Drop one tablet into the toilet bowl and let it dissolve on its own. Wait about 10 minutes and run the toilet brush around the inside to sweep away the dirt that has come loose. Flush.
The most common mistakes
- The mixture fizzes while you knead: you've added too much water or too quickly. That's why the dropper is the key.
- You want more scent: don't simply add more oil. Subtract that amount from the water. An excess of liquid triggers the fizzing too early and the tablet loses consistency.
- The tablets soften over the days: store them in an airtight jar, away from bathroom humidity.
Variation for bathrooms with no ventilation
If your bathroom smells stuffy, replace the 75 drops with 40 of Ceylon citronella and 35 of lemon. The aroma is less "soapy" and, as a bonus, citronella helps keep mosquitoes away in bathrooms with a window onto patios or gardens.
Safety
- Wear gloves during preparation and keep the tablets out of reach of children and pets: they look like candy.
- Don't combine them with other cleaning products in the bowl, especially with bleach. Citric acid is an acid, and bleach and acids should never be mixed.
More formulas for the bathroom
In Clean Without Harm you will find this formula alongside the rest of the bathroom products: cleaning gel, grout cleaner, anti-mold and surface disinfectant, all explained ingredient by ingredient and adapted to the water hardness of each region of Spain.
Do you have blackened grout? See how to clean bathroom grout with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.
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