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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask about the dreaded loo brush?

162 replies

crispysausagerolls · 27/04/2019 07:52

This is not supposed to be goady - promise! I know the loo brush is a contentious issue here on MN, but DH and I are having a discussion about what the hell you are supposed to do without one! They are unsightly, yes, and ideally we wouldn’t have one but I cannot understand how you clean the loo under the water otherwise - genuinely want some answers please!

OP posts:
Processedpea · 27/04/2019 10:11

the joseph one doesn't get great reviews on the jL site? am wondering if it will do much for limescaled toilets

purpleme12 · 27/04/2019 10:13

I just use bleach. And no it's not after every few flushes. It works. My toilet's clean

DumbleDamn · 27/04/2019 10:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cloudtree · 27/04/2019 10:17

when people say "bleach" do they really mean bleach or do they mean toilet cleaner? Please don't use bleach when you can buy septic tank friendly toilet cleaners which don't destroy the planet

ShabbyAbby · 27/04/2019 10:20

I have a loo brush. I will always have a loo brush. Unless they invent a self cleaning loo that works.

I also have a bathroom bin Shock

TheSerenDipitY · 27/04/2019 10:22

i have one, i buy a new one every time we move house ( we are farmers so move every few years to bigger farms) i use it most days, and once a month i take it and stand in the bath ( we dont use the bath ever) and pour boiling water over it and fill its holder to the top and then place bleach in it and leave it to soak for a couple of hours, then i rinse with more boiling hot water and replace behind the toilet, i also have a bin in the toilet, YES A BIN! and a packet of wet wipes, which i use to wipe the seat and entire toilet, it gets dusty, and the walls and door handle and light switch and then place in the bin... it doesnt have to be dirty, you can clean it and replace once a year or every 6 months if you like and you can buy fancy holders that hide it away, my mum has a fancy statue with a hollow in the back designed to hide the toilet brush, so if you didnt look at the back you wouldnt know it was there

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 27/04/2019 10:24

I don’t understand the squeamishness about loo brushes. Or bathroom bins. If kept scrupulously clean they do a good job.

Mind you, I use soap on my important little places which is apparently another MN faux pas.

MarieIVanArkleStinks · 27/04/2019 10:25

Mine are in an enclosed marble casing. They are things of beauty Grin

I bleach the interior of the marble regularly; whenever the brush is used it's bleached along with the interior of the loo.

One use and then throw away? In whose universe?

PennyMordauntsLadyBrain · 27/04/2019 10:28

I don’t use one either- any poo marks above the water can be cleaned with a bit of tissue, and anything under the water comes off with an extra flush of the loo.

I don’t understand the need to take a brush to poo stains unless someone in your household was shitting cement?

HBStowe · 27/04/2019 10:28

I cannot believe people are being so fucking wasteful as to bin a plastic brush after one scrub. YOU are the reason there is a plastic field in the Pacific Ocean the size of Texas, and the absolute fucking entitlement of you to think that the overzealous cleanliness of your fucking toilet bowl is more important than the fate of the planet is astounding and disgusting.

LaurieMarlow · 27/04/2019 10:30

The idea of chucking loads of bleach down after every use is abhorrent to me. I loathe bleach. I use it very sparingly.

JuniorAsparagus · 27/04/2019 10:31

Oh no. Are bathroom bins forbidden now?😮

LaurieMarlow · 27/04/2019 10:31

any poo marks above the water can be cleaned with a bit of tissue

I’ve no interest in doing that. Why stick your hand down the loo when a loo brush can do the job?

Mind boggles

LaurieMarlow · 27/04/2019 10:32

Are bathroom bins forbidden now?

Oh yeah. I think it’s because people might use them or something Grin

PutyourtoponTrevor · 27/04/2019 10:33

Also those toilet duck one use flushable things are probably adding to the fatbergs

JammieCodger · 27/04/2019 10:38

I’ve no interest in doing that. Why stick your hand down the loo when a loo brush can do the job?

Because you don’t have to stick your hand down the loo. You don’t even touch the water and because it’s less hassle than using the loo brush and then having to rinse it off/clean it. I do have a loo brush that gets used for the once a week, under the rim and down the u-bend proper clean, but don’t bother with it for dealing with skid marks as they happen.

Pharlapwasthebest · 27/04/2019 10:40

I don’t understand why people think it’s not ok to chuck a loo brush away, but are happy to throw loads of bleach around!
When you go to the loo, flush, then get a bit if loo roll, wipe away the poo stain, done. I think it was Aggie that recommended that. You don’t touch the poo, and you’re about to wash your hands anyway as you e been to the loo.
Every so often empty the water out of the loo, and soak it in vinegar, it totally removes the lime scale and leaves it sparkling.

Strugglingtodomybest · 27/04/2019 10:40

I do the same as gubbsy, one scrub and bin. I buy about a dozen from Ikea and keep them in the cupboard. Yes, I know it's not great environmen tally but needs must.

Absolutely shocking behaviour and very depressing. I mean, what's the fucking point of trying to save the planet when other people are doing this?

LaurieMarlow · 27/04/2019 10:40

Because you don’t have to stick your hand down the loo.

You have to touch the bowl, which is what I’m talking about. No way do I want to do that when the handy brush can help me out.

Unless youve got some magical technique up your sleeve, is so do share.

CustardCreamLover · 27/04/2019 10:41

Surely you are using some sort of cleaner when you do the toilet though? I use bleach. I stick it around the inside rim, leave for 15-30 mins and then clean with the toilet brush. I find if there are any poo stains (I'm looking at you husband 🤨) then they have gone with the bleach before I even get to scrubbing. Surely no one's toilet is so dirty that the toilet brush is as well. And if it is then just bleach the toilet brush as well!

Thirtyrock39 · 27/04/2019 10:41

We have one but I don't really use it- I do organised mum so daily wipe of the loos though am guilty of using chemicals with a bit of loo roll - however I have a loo brush horror story to share (gross poo trigger warning ⚠️):- last week on Easter Sunday my dad managed to block our loo with a hideously hard and enormous poo and had tried to unblock it using the loo brush 😱😱😱god knows why but it meant not only did I have a horribly blocked loo but a loo brush literally clumped up with lumps of poo- it's put me off them for life !

Al2O3 · 27/04/2019 10:41

...clean the loo under the water....

WTF! I’ve been doing it wrong. I’ve been reaching round and scrubbing my arse ever since I bought mine.

SandAndSea · 27/04/2019 10:46

I don't understand all the squeamishness either. I'm quite happy to have a loo brush. It has its own pot. I keep it clean. No problem at all.

HBStowe · 27/04/2019 10:52

I don’t understand why people think it’s not ok to chuck a loo brush away, but are happy to throw loads of bleach around!

For one thing, it’s not an either / or situation. There are plenty of non-bleach alternatives for cleaning both loo and loo brush.

For another, they are not remotely comparable in terms of impact. A PP stalked about binning a loo brush after every use. Just think about the natural resources used to create that brush in the first place, the chemicals pumped into the environment during its creation, and then the fact that once it has been binned it will lie in landfill for literally hundreds of years, leaching chemicals into the soil. And this is happening every single time that PP cleans her loo. It’s not really comparable to a couple of tablespoons of bleach, is it?

PennyMordauntsLadyBrain · 27/04/2019 10:59

You have to touch the bowl, which is what I’m talking about. No way do I want to do that when the handy brush can help me out.

So you have no problem wiping your bum with loo roll, but once poo has touched the bowl of the toilet it suddenly becomes much more disgusting?

What?