AIBU to think silicon could end the toilet brush debate once and for all?

[cheeseismydownfall]

I was bought up in a No Brush household. I have no idea how the toilet got clean. Bodily functions of all kinds were unmentionable.

Fast-forward to having three children, and faced with the reality of wiping their shit off the toilet bowl (and, now they are old enough, asking them to reliably wipe their shit off the toilet bowl) I was forced to revisit my deeply held distaste for the toilet brush. I gave in, bought a couple, and yes, they rapidly became every bit as revolting as you would expect. But what to do?

Enter the silicon toilet brush! Effective, never get dirty, and somehow (I don't know how) you never, ever end up with poo water in the holder. I got mine from Amazon, they were only £6.99 and they seem to last forever.

Could the silicon toilet brush finally bridge the divide between two of mumsnet's longest standing factions?

Pah, you can keep your silicone, if it isn’t this I don’t want it 😁

www.harrods.com/en-gb/shopping/crystal-toilet-brush-14794858?utm_source=google_uk&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=home_and_furniture&utm_content=zodiac_14794858-7983&gclid=CjwKCAjwh7H7BRBBEiwAPXjadqno62b-gBz2QpuYgPFTkJl9rwyysjbzLj6bqQgLRs98AhxmUMU0-xoCt3QQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

OP here!

These are the ones we have: www.amazon.co.uk/MEKEET-Silicone-Bathroom-Cleaning-Flooring/dp/B07TYXB4Q1/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&crid=3E6CGVPFMVGOO&keywords=silicon+toilet+brush+and+holder&sprefix=silicon+toilet+%2Caps%2C249&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1600959963&sr=8-7

I do agree that they are not as effective on dried on poo (they work eventually, but need a lot more vigorous scrubbing) but because the are so much less rank to use everyone seems a lot more willing to use them. I even gave the children (12, 10 and 8) a hands-on lesson using smears of toothpaste to simulate poo and it is now a pretty rare occurrence that one of them forgets.

They just don't get dirty. And it is super easy to wash off wet toilet paper if you make the rookie mistake of trying to use it while their is paper in the bowl.

Alas, though, I don't think they would be effective against limescale. For that I'd recommend a toilet pumice, super effective:

www.amazon.co.uk/BETOY-Cleaning-Efficient-Residues-Household/dp/B07S6SY7KH/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=limescale+pumice&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1600960284&sr=8-5

Don't use them on glass though!!!

Rinse your brushes and ten theres no issues (I put bleach in the loo brush holder too

Best. Advert. Ever! I just bought one. It better be as good as everyone says! 😁

I approach this with trepidation as I have never been on a loo brush thread, but I just don’t understand what people are doing to toilets that they require their own brush.

@Stripesgalore

I approach this with trepidation as I have never been on a loo brush thread, but I just don’t understand what people are doing to toilets that they require their own brush.

Sometimes they need a good scrub, just like a bath, sink or shower! Especially if you have children that don't like to flush etc.

Yes, but I don’t have a bath, sink or shower brush either.

At one point I did reserve one brush on the steam cleaner for cleaning the toilet, but I just can’t handle the thought of something that has been in the toilet hanging around afterwards.

They’re not great for a proper clean, without a regular decent scrub a toilet bowl (including the bit under the rim) just isn’t clean. Some people are lazy and think loo cleaner merely touching the bowl is good enough, yet don’t use the same ‘cleaning’ technigue on the sink or bath tub.

I can't believe I've just spent 16 minutes reading all about toilet brushes...

... and I'd read more if that was some

@Stripesgalore yes, but the toilet deals with shit - I'm not using the cloths I clean my sink with on the loo as well!

stripesgalore, surely sometimes you end up with poo stains in the bowl that don't flush? And you have to deal with it somehow, whether that is to bleach it, scrub it with a brush, wipe it off with paper leave it for someone else to deal with

Or do some people have Teflon poo that literally just slides away leaving no trace?! I need the answer to this!

I have just ordered a Joseph Joseph one.

Maybe you are using reusable cloths?

I just use old cleaning sponges and bin them afterwards.

15:10Proudboomer

I have a silIcon loo knife ( flat no bristles) and it is useless at cleaning the loo. But it comes into its own if someone does a trucker sized floater that refuses to flush as you can sort of break it up with the edge of the brush.

Laughing and heaving in equal measure at this!!

OP, I would just use bleach for a poo mark and bleach and an old sponge for a proper clean, then bin it.

Even my love of Joseph Joseph can’t get me past the horror of a brush, especially as it kind of looks like a giant tongue.

‘Or do some people have Teflon poo that literally just slides away leaving no trace?! I need the answer to this!’

Well usually yes. Poo marks are pretty infrequent.

@stripesgalore, but we have five people in our household. So that is five poos a day - lets say that on average two of those will need some additional clean-up over and above the flush - that is 14 old cleaning sponges a week! Or 728 a year! I don't have that kind of sponge turnover! And there is no way I would want to put a poo sponge in the bathroom bin!

Ah sorry I misread your post - you only use the sponges for cleaning.

I am now forced to expose that I am part of the No Bleach faction of mumsnet. Perhaps we can never be reconciled

Okay, we are really getting into the detail of this now.

I do think two out of five poos not cleanly sliding away is high.

Put the sponge in the outside bin.

Bathroom sponges are big. You cut them into quarters once they are finished with for the loo.

If you have five people, that is surely a couple of washing up and counter sponges a week.

I would put Poo residue at maybe one in twenty poos, and mostly bleach alone removes it. Sponges are really for getting under the rim.

Yes, I am destroying the environment with all this bleach and disposing of sponges, it is true. I can’t deny that.

Where’s the link to the joseph one????

Thanks OP. I've just bought one from your link. What sold it to me was that the video in the link showed a rimless Japanese toilet which is exactly like the loo I was talked into buying when we did our bathroom. I love my Japanese rimless loo, but it doesn't take to being cleaned with a traditional brush very well. I've been using tough rubber gloves and getting my hands down inside the bowl, but your silicon brush looks just the thing.

@Stripesgalore

Okay, we are really getting into the detail of this now.

I do think two out of five poos not cleanly sliding away is high.

Put the sponge in the outside bin.

Bathroom sponges are big. You cut them into quarters once they are finished with for the loo.

If you have five people, that is surely a couple of washing up and counter sponges a week.

I would put Poo residue at maybe one in twenty poos, and mostly bleach alone removes it. Sponges are really for getting under the rim.

I'm intrigued by what the national bell curve of cleanly sliding poos looks like . Personally I felt my 2 out of 5 estimate was on the conservative side. Perhaps I need to examine our diets.

I use washable cloths for surfaces etc so I'm not generating that level of excess sponges. They are microfibre though, so are doubtless shedding mircoplastics into the oceans.