We Tried Amazon's Highest-Rated Toilet Cleaning Strips And Didn't Get Our Hands Dirty

Shopping for products to clean your toilet has almost become the adult equivalent of going to the candy or toy store. The cleaning aisle is full of multi-colored bottles and brands that tout the sparkliest finish — and don't forget about all the common kitchen ingredients you can use to clean your toilet. If you go online, the options are even more plentiful. Sometimes it comes down to reading reviews to determine if a product works since they all promise a toilet so clean it will look like new. I am very picky about my toilets: for someone who knows what purpose they serve, I still prefer it to feel like a brand new fixture every time. Having never heard of the Nature Clean Toilet Bowl Cleaning strips from Amazon before, of course, I was willing to give them a try after seeing over 1,600 reviews, 61% of those being 5 stars.

I am an avid Amazon shopper, so my cart was already overflowing with the latest Instagram fashion trends and an abundance of books (much to the dismay of my bank account) but the $12 pack of toilet bowl cleaner strips wasn't going to send me into insurmountable debt so I quickly added them to my cart. They arrived within 24 hours, so it was time to put them to the test. What I found was an efficient, eco-friendly toilet bowl cleaner that is great for weekly use.

We have a lot of visitors to our home: we host most parties for special events and holidays, and with two spare rooms it's easy to invite loved ones to stay whenever they can. Our Jack and Jill bathroom and the one downstairs see a lot of action, so I felt these were the best to try the strips on. The instructions say to remove a strip from the packaging, so I followed them to a T for the best results. And by that, I mean I dumped an entire page instead of just a strip into the first toilet before I realized the instructions only required one strip. During both my botched first try and the proper second attempt, I noticed immediately that the strip dissolved quickly, and the "lime" scent was hardly noticeable (in a good way).

The majority of the 5-star reviews noted that once the strips had been added, a brush easily dispersed the cleaner and got out marks or stains. The strip fizzed and created a light, sudsy mixture. I liked that the chemical smell was absent since a lot of household cleaners are filled with harsh ingredients and I don't want our pets exposed to these often. It was also nice not to have to juggle heavier bottles or feel like a mad scientist pouring dollops of liquid cleaner while wearing giant rubber gloves and tearing up at the fumes.

Because these are eco-friendly and don't contain plastic, I felt confident throwing them into our toilets. The directions note to add them in with the darker side toward the water, so I did this and then used a standard toilet brush to whisk the cleaner around. I think as a more natural option, these did well for an everyday solution to use throughout the week. The suds were light and left a slight blue color so you know the cleaner was working. One toilet wasn't very dirty, but it was nice to add a gentle cleaner to keep germs at bay. I usually add ice to the toilets before cleaning to help product stick to the bowl, but didn't need to do that with these.

Another toilet had staining, and I was pleased to see that the strips actually got rid of a majority of the discoloration. A little ring was left behind which might need a stronger solution or product. I will absolutely use these strips regularly due to their eco-friendly nature and their ability to remove staining and grime without much work at all. Word to the wise: read the very clear instructions on the package to save yourself my mistake of wasting an entire page of strips on one toilet. Overall, this product made me hate cleaning toilets a little less, so it was money well spent.