How to buy the best toothbrush holder
What’s the best way to store electric toothbrushes?
To get the best results from your electric toothbrush, you need to maintain it properly. Frayed or worn-out bristles will also lose their strength, making it less effective at removing plaque. If you brush your teeth with an electric toothbrush, you should wash it under the tap afterwards to remove any toothpaste debris, and store it upright to let it air dry. The air drying process stops the growth of microorganisms better than closed containers. Enclosed containers can generate warmth and reduce airflow allowing bacteria to grow, so electric toothbrushes should always be stored upright, whether they're wall mounted, freestanding, or in pots. To avoid dirty particles from spreading caused by the aerosol effect, keep any toothbrush at least one metre away from the toilet. Closing the toilet lid before flushing is important to avoid contamination, so try and get into the habit of doing this. If you have a small bathroom and can't create a distance between your brush and the toilet, you may want to consider storing it in a different room.
You may also think that the more you brush the better, but this isn’t the case, over brushing and pressure can cause the bristles to fray more quickly making the clean actually less effective. It’s recommended you replace your toothbrush every three months. Colgate has some super-duper tips on storing your toothbrush safely.
How often should you clean a toothbrush holder?
Finding out that a toothbrush holder can be one of the germiest places in a house definitely freaked us out. But don’t panic, we’ve made sure that all our recommended toothbrush holders are a breeze to clean. To remove stubborn residue, soak the toothbrush holder in soapy water for ten minutes. Use a straw cleaner or a good old scrubbing brush to move any scum. Cleaning should be done at a minimum once a week, but if the soapy grime builds quickly, go for a spruce twice a week to stay on top of it. One Mumsnetter shares a great tip with us to keep the bottom clean:
"I put a few sheets of toilet paper in the bottom and change it when I clean" (Mumsnet user, PiggyPlumPie)
If this round-up has got you in the mood to upgrade elsewhere in the bathroom, our guide to the best flossers and best bathroom scales to buy are also worth visiting.
What’s the best toothbrush holder to buy?
The JosephJoseph toothbrush holder is our bathroom champion. It keeps a lot of Mumsnetters smiling and it’s the most-recommended toothbrush holder on the forums, which is exactly what we're looking for. There’s plenty of praise for its easy disassemble and easy clean-up, a size that suits the entire family, and slimline design. A muted colour scheme will complement any bathroom design, with function over glamour winning every time.
How we chose our recommendations
Because we know that there’s nothing like a real recommendation, we first headed to the Mumsnet forums to find out which toothbrush holders parents were recommending and had bought. We then did some research across the wider web, looking at which toothbrush holders had been featured in ‘best buy’ lists across websites, and what customer reviews said about them. Having collated all that information, we then narrowed our list down to the best toothbrush holders on the market.
Why you should trust us
We work hard to provide unbiased, independent advice you can trust. We do sometimes earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. This helps us fund more helpful articles like this one.