No one likes scrubbing a toilet, but it is a necessary part of cleaning your home. Wouldn't it be great if it could just clean itself over night? Well, it can actually do this. If you use a couple of standard kitchen items, your toilet can clean itself while you sleep.

By utilising chemistry rather than elbow grease, you can wake up to a fresh looking and smelling bathroom, with you barely having to lift a finger. If you go into your kitchen right now, you will be almost certain to have baking soda and vinegar. Mixing these two common ingredients together creates a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide gas and water, which can help dislodge dirt and grime.

There is a reason why this is much more effective than seemingly endless scrubbing, and it all comes down to the pH scale.

Basking soda is a base, meaning it has a pH of 9. This contrasts greatly to vinegar, which has a pH of 2.5, meaning it is an acid and that it opposes the baking soda, creating a chemical reaction. This helps remove organic matter and mineral deposits without your involvement.

However, do not mix certain items with bleach as this can create harmful gas.

Here is the exact step-by-step guide you can follow in order to have a sparkly clean toilet:

1. The setup

First of all, you must pour a cup of white vinegar into the toilet bowl, and let it sit for a minute as to let it start breaking down mineral deposits. You can do this just before you go to bed.

2. The activation

Now you add half a cup of baking soda. Expect to immediately see a fizzing reaction between the two.

3. The soak

All you have to do now before bed is to close the lid and walk away. Leave it for around six to eight hours.

4. The finish

When you wake up, just give the bowl a quick wipe round with your toilet brush, before flushing it.

Now you should have a beautifully clean toilet.

To make this cleaning process more fun, you can even make a fizzing 'toilet bomb'. This is a mixture of baking soda, citric acid and a small splash of hydrogen peroxide.

Put this mixture into an ice cube tray and let it dry, before dropping it into the bowl before bed.