Toilet Brushes!

Chewbacca

The newer rimless loos are so much easier to clean. Having said that, I do have a silicon loo brush and use it when needed I'm looking at you GC. For those of you worrying about the hygiene dangers of such things, you could do what one of my colleagues did and put it in the dishwasher every so often. Now there's an image to conjure with!

Visiting someone, after lunch I tried to help load up the dishwasher and finding a metal spoon in a corner added it to the others to be washed. Turned out it was a cat litter scooper.

Whats with this squeemishness about toilet brushes? I've never heard of such a thing! They do a good job of cleaning the loo. Mine get rinsed under the flushing water and every so often get soaked in bleach along with its holder. Then I put them out in the sun to sterilize. The sun is a great germ killer.

I agree about the new rimless toilets being so much easier to keep clean, but confess had never heard of them until we decided to refit our bathroom earlier this year.

Makes you wonder why we ever had toilets with rims!

lemsip

people who think toilet brushes are disgusting I presume, are the ones who shove it down the toilet on top of the #### before flushing first then flush again with bleach and brush same time as brushing.

You presume wrong then. Good idea to never make assumptions.

The newer rimless loos are so much easier to clean. Having said that, I do have a silicon loo brush and use it when needed I'm looking at you GC. For those of you worrying about the hygiene dangers of such things, you could do what one of my colleagues did and put it in the dishwasher every so often. Now there's an image to conjure with!

All these chemicals being used! My newish loos seem to never get debris stuck on them. Perhaps the surface is super shiny. I think using bleach would reduce the shine! I use lime scale remover under the rim sometimes as we live in a very hard water area and that is the only chemical used. It is sparkling and pong free. I clean inside and out with water and an eco friendly multi purpose cleaner.

I do have a toilet brush but have only ever used it along with limescale remover to clean the loo. I don't believe it has ever come into contact with anyone's faecal matter but obviously can't be absolutely certain. I replace it regularly and always attempt to buy the same type with a small brush on a long handle in a tall holder. So it gets binned every six months approximately and never seems to have any cling on's attached thankfully. I'm also very liberal with bleach and limescale removers living in London.

I wouldn’t be without a toilet brush. I spray with antibacterial cleaner after. Frankly if people are alarmed by toilet brushes then do they not use public toilets or cash? Much more concern for bacteria and filth there!

But MaizieD quite right in an ideal world but I'm afraid good hand hygiene isn't universal especially when you have little ones around. In my book a daily wipe of those handles confers more benefit than trying to sanitise the innards of the lavatory.

GrannyLaine

Interesting thread. I'm not overly concerned about lavatory brushes - no one handles the business end and as long as they are rinsed after using, what does it matter? Its on a par with the ads about keeping your floors germ free with various products: WHY?? Floors just need to be socially clean. When did we see commercials that demonstrate cleaning the flush handle & door handle? Those are the bits that needs keeping clean. And while I'm at it, closing the lavatory seat before flushing.

I was wondering by what possible mechanism the germs on the despised toilet brush could be transferred to the people using the toilet. It's not as if people using it actually handle the business end and bacteria don't actually go anywhere unless, as has been found in research studies, they can be dispersed via droplets when the toilet is flushed with the lid open.

As to 'dirty' flush handles and door handles, surely proper hand washing would deal with that? Washing hands thoroughly after flushing deals with anything that may have been transferred from the flush handle/button and opening the door with those clean hands won't leave anything on the door handle.

mokryna

A clean bleached one is in the cupboard and comes out when I have guests. One male guest didn’t use it and had left before I realized, mind you I don’t think I could have asked him to clean after himself, would you have?

Yes!

GrannyLaine, yes, maybe we should use disposable/flushable gloves when wiping our bottoms which would then help keep everything else more germ free! And I thought I was the only one who felt that closing the seat before flushing was important.

Anybody tried Astonish Fizz & Fresh tablets which are supposed to remove limescale and clean the bowl? I’ve seen them advertised and wondered if they work. Do they remove ‘everything’ from the bowl?

Interesting thread. I'm not overly concerned about lavatory brushes - no one handles the business end and as long as they are rinsed after using, what does it matter? Its on a par with the ads about keeping your floors germ free with various products: WHY?? Floors just need to be socially clean. When did we see commercials that demonstrate cleaning the flush handle & door handle? Those are the bits that needs keeping clean. And while I'm at it, closing the lavatory seat before flushing.

people who think toilet brushes are disgusting I presume, are the ones who shove it down the toilet on top of the #### before flushing first then flush again with bleach and brush same time as brushing.

I don’t own a toilet brush, they’re disgusting. They cannot be properly cleaned whatever is done. I use bleach or toilet cleaner.

I use MissAdventure's hammer and chisel method. Never fails to do the job!

Absolutely agree with you. Heavenleigh, and others here. I loathe toilet brushes. Mr 1968 cleans the loos; he uses Jcloths which are then thrown away. (We have a separate bucket and gloves for loo cleaning.)

Eeek I've just googled silicone toilet brushes and found what I think is a tongue shaped implement which is advertised as having " clog free silicone bristles". I'm now feeling quite queasy and wondering how well they cope with pebbledash....

Another here who loathes the filthy brushes and won’t have them in the house. I agree if a problem occurs a couple of warm water jugs usually sends anything on its way in a very eco friendly manner.

this thread is so much fun isn't it? Shi**y cloths and gloves, silicon tongues, hammers and chisels, and strong chemicals. I'm sticking to my trusty brushes. Jackyb I agree with your action on putting toilet paper down first and it also helps reduce the noise if that could be a problem!
What works quite well to remove any residue is to pour hot water over it. Not boiling, hot from the tap is fine. Above water level should disolve quickly, below might need a couple of glasses full. Then flush.

I always thought toilet brushes were disgusting and used loo paper which I would then flush away. Then I realised that flushing both loos just to clean them every day was a huge waste of water so now I've gone back to using the brushes.

I always put paper down before I do a no. 2 anyway so don't leave skid marks. No one else does though. I recently read that washing up liquid was perfectly adequate, so I have some in a spray bottle, 50/50 with water, which I spray in the loo after I've wiped. It has a pleasant but not overpowering smell that way, and the toilet bowl looks clean and sparkly.

Everyone raves about those silicone ones but I don't understand how they work. Would like to see a demonstration.

Calendargirl
Well we only used to use two regularly, but my daughter and three children moved in a couple of years ago, so no avoiding it really.

I use kitchen roll and bleach to clean the loo.

Oh Sara1954

If I had 4 loos, (we only have 1) , I would try and not have all of them in daily use, to avoid too much cleaning.

But then, I am quite lazy….