Toilets, lavatories, whatever you call them!

I spied some mould under the rim while washing the bathroom floor. I don't use bleach (septic tank would hate it!) and so I put a bit of toothpaste on the cloth and it worked like magic. Goodness what it's doing to our teeth!

Thanks Espee, I will try steeping the brush in dilute bleach.

Be careful, Sussexborn
In the right combination, it could explode and bring all the debris back up with it!

@Alexa. Try steeping it overnight in a dilute bleach solution.
I do this with my toilet brush using an old plastic lemonade bottle with the top cut off.
Cut the bottom of the bottle off instead and you have a cloche for outdoor plants. I’m a wee bit concerned that when the deposit scheme comes in my supply of lemonade bottles from my neighbour will dry up.?

I use bicarb and white vinegar to clear blocked plug holes. Fizzes up in spectacular fashion and you can hear it gurgling down the drain.

I mean how should the long handled brush for one's back be kept clean? I wash mine after use in hot water with biological washing powder and this does take up rather a lot of time and energy forsuch a little thing.

I'll try that. We have cans of Coca Cola, bought for visitors and most not drunk, now past its bb date..

Best toilet cleaner is Coca Cola, which is why nobody in our immediate family drinks it!!!

Do you mean a brush for your back ?

I hope somebody can advise on how to keep the back brush clean

Use a kitchen sponge with a scourer on top cover in bicarb and scrub, then never use toilet duck or the like again and you wont have black gunge

Cabbie our shower is like that. We clean the drain out every few days. I also make a solution using sterilising tablets and pour it down the shower drain every week.

Only occasionally do I find black stuff under the rim of the toilet. My plumber has advised against putting anything in the cistern as it will cause damage so I just squirt bleach in the toilet bowl occasionally and brush regularly.
But I do get lots of black gunge round the shower outlet and down the plug holes. Huge amounts can be dug out when I investigate if basin is slow to clear. No idea where it comes from.

Thanks Esspee
Ours must be pre-rimless but not very old so they won't be getting changed any time soon.
I checked one this morning and there was no black stuff under the rim but further investigations will have to wait!

@MissAdventure. @Callistemon

Rimless lavatories/toilets (and when we last shopped for one all on offer were rimless) are much more hygienic as there is nowhere for the germs to breed.
Instead of the water from the cistern being channeled through the rim to emerge from holes all round the bowl the water is ejected from the back of the bowl and swirls round the bowl with a whirlpool effect. Very hygienic and simple to clean.

Glad to see you phoenix, I was wondering how you were and if you are better. I’d have thought you’d have had enough of toilets for the moment....!

Toilet 'cleaners' especially the de-scalers are based on crude oil, just the same as your washing powder/liquids.
That's where all this 'black stuff' comes from.

You can get the blocks of anti-black mould prevention that you place in the cistern. Just lift the lid off the top of the cistern and place it inside the tank. However, make sure it is well clear of the flushing mechanism when you do.

The only problem is with the above is that it deeply stains the inside of the tank over time and all the mechanism, but kills the black mould and anything else living down there.

I just leave the compartment drawer open after a wash and remove it now and again for a good clean. (I do a hot drum clean regularly.)

Definitely won't be scrubbing the toilet. Surely the constant flushing washes under the rim.

I use the kitchen scrubber ( sponge and green abrasive stuff) when it is ready to be binned to wash under the toilet rim. Works well

I must be old fashioned, I clean the loo like my mum did. With a bucket of hot water (and good slug of disinfectant and floor cleaner in it), two cotton cloths - ( off-cuts of old tshirt) - one to wipe, one to buff - and rubber gloves. Never found any black gunge as the cloth gets right up under the rim. Chemical cleaners are all very well but the dirt won't all miraculously slide down the pan with a squirt of cleaner, it needs elbow grease too.

Washing machine drawers won't turn black if you remove them after every use, dry the compartment with a cotton cloth and leave the drawer on the side to air dry. It usually says to do this in handbooks and takes a few seconds. Once the mould had formed, it's hard to prevent it coming back.

Yes I noticed you're not alone with the problem. It must be something in the water. Can't think of another reason.

Phoenix, to clean under the rim you hand and an abrasive cloth would be more sensitive to the curves than a toilet brush

annep1 thank you for your efforts, much appreciated!

But it would seem that some others have the problem with "the black stuff", so will see what other feedback comes in.

to not too!!!