To ask my wife to stop using blue cistern blocks?

[Breadandwine]

Which are absolutely unnecessary and environmentally unsound.

But apart from this, I've been following the 'If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down' dictum for some years now. (The lid of the toilet is always kept down.) If my wife doesn't use cistern blocks (these things appear intermittently), everything is fine. However, when she puts the blocks in, there is a reaction between the urine in the bowl and the chemicals in the blocks resulting in a crust forming around the sides of the bowl.

This can't just be wiped or brushed away. The best way I've found to get rid of it is to use a (dedicated) pan scrubber. But it's a pain in the arse, to coin a phrase.

I am going to remain a meat eating toilet flusher. Flushing the toilet after using is not indiscriminate usage.

Excellent that you and your wife have reached an agreement. Hope you haven't spent the whole weekend debating it.

A bath full of dirty water is going to leave an almighty tub ring which will require much elbow grease and scouring powder to remove it. Don't do this.

Noo - not being unreasonable because if you are taking such an interest in the toilet cleaning process you should obviously take over this duty completely - so long as you can keep it pristine and sparkling I am sure your wife will be happy to surrender blue, pink or any other cleaning products!😜

yanbu. un-necessary blue chemical things..... and saving water is good imho.

I use bath water for flushing whenever possible. but, busymumtoone has a point. perhaps becoming chief toilet cleaner will help your wife accept your green (not blue) ways

If I ate a more plant based diet, the UN would have me on their most wanted list

And I really would need to flush the loo a lot more and use a lot more cleaning products in it. Trust me. I've tried it.

They are awful things.... Tell her to stop! The chemicals might go on you or kids if you splash.... Blurgh!

Whoever posted about not putting lid down on loo, you are so wrong about germs on fingers. Leaving lid up spreads it all around the place, up the walls, on th door...why worry about touching loo lid, assuming you wash hands after....

The only person in this house who is allowed to get away with leaving the toilet unflushed is the toddler. And that's only because the chain is stiff and he can't pull it hard enough

Yank the chain OP

Another mellow yellow here.Male wee on compost heaps is supposed to be a good activator if you're wondering where to empty any receptive OP.👍

Leaving the lid open while flushing means the germs fly up to 9 feet in the air and will land all around your bathroom, including on your toothbrushes...

My hubby is a plumber. He says they're really bad for your toilet, the chemicals in them attack the rubber washers inside the cistern resulting in you having to replace them far earlier. Far better to use a good old fashioned squirt of bleach up around the rim once or twice a week.

The OP could be a woman, right?

I am all for saving water, but whatever is in the loo, it needs to be flushed away!! I hate finding festering wee in the loo (as I often do with 3 boys).

Does no one else use a piece of toilet paper to lift and lower the lid? Obviously we wash hands as well but it's far more hygienic not to touch the thing especially in public loos.

I don't want you saving the planet for me... I'm a bleach using flush every time, meat eater. I'm fine with that, I'll be long dead before the population go back to the dark ages, I think men's pee stinks more generally, have you ever passed a gents and inhaled? I do draw the line at cistern blocks though - they smell of chemicals and water is meant to be crystal clear not blue or green or pink. So if you've agreed to flush and she'll ditch the blocks I think it's a good result!

I'll be long dead before the population go back to the dark ages

Oh, that's all right then. As long as you're ok.

You'll be dead too - so you'll be all right too!

Seriously it's totally ridiculous to suggest that saving a gallon of water now has any effect on future generations. Some things yes, but water what you save today will be used in the next few days- so what's the point unless there's an actual drought or you live in a country that doesn't have it? I was knee deep in excess water in my kitchen only a few months ago. Don't save it for me - we have an excess this year.

Thanks, Seventh! 👍

London you worry too much about touching your toilet seat:

"Office desks are more than 400 times dirtier than a toilet seat".

Buttered, I might go back to what I used to do when staying with friends in Australia - pee in the garden. It was de rigueur for the males since the toilet was an outside dunny!

And, has been suggested, there's always the compost heap.

Thanks, Catalina, I had no idea the blocks had that effect.

Ewww I clean my loo every day..both of them and I constantly have to tell the children to flush. Absolutely would never not flush ever. Modern toilets don't use that much most toilets are fitted with a long and short flush. I don't use the blocks but I do bleach my toilets daily. I'm a little ocd but I believe bathrooms toilets and kitchens are the main areas in a house that need to be clean. I think Yabu OP. If that's house your wife chooses to keep the toilets clean then why shouldn't she.

Llozamas, you really should think before you post:

You'll be dead too - so you'll be all right too!

And your kids? And your GC?

Seriously it's totally ridiculous to suggest that saving a gallon of water now has any effect on future generations. Some things yes, but water what you save today will be used in the next few days

"...the South East of England has less water available per person than the Sudan and Syria."

www.waterwise.org.uk/pages/why-we-need-to-save-water.html

I might go back to what I used to do when staying with friends in Australia - pee in the garden. It was de rigueur for the males since the toilet was an outside dunny! I understand what you're saying but I think for the kind of lifestyle we live over here, the rainwater diversion is a good alternative. Depending on how big your garden is/where you'd be peeing, in the Summer it's not going to be a pleasant smell, plus you might scare the neighbours if they happen to be looking out of their window when you're doing your business.

Llozamas Some people can't see past the end of their nose.

Office desks are more than 400 times dirtier than a toilet seat.

Guess why?

It's because people clean toilet seats frequently but rarely clean office desks.