AIBU about these mystery stains?

[litlealligator]

We had a houseguest this weekend, one of DH's very old friends who has been having a tough time with his mental health. I don't know him super well but he seems a lovely guy.

However. On Friday before guest arrived, DH cleaned the toilet. I went in to talk to him while he was cleaning and I know it was spotless. So on Saturday I was a bit miffed to see what I thought were wee stains on the seat. It's not DH because he is very clean, so assume it's houseguest missing his mark in the middle of the night in the dark. Try to give them a quick clean but can't completely shift them.

Stains get worse over the weekend. He left this morning so we've gone to look at them (DH noticed too) and I don't think it's wee or poo. If anything they are sort of a reddish colour and we are struggling to shift them from the loo seat, we've tried normal bathroom cleaner and bleach. We're now wondering what on earth this could be - could DH's friend be bulemic for instance? Would that leave these kind of stains? He seemed to go to the bathroom a lot but we never heard him vomit and it's a small house. We're quite worried about him.

Any advice on what this could be (and how to shift the stains!!!) greatly appreciated, I've never come across this before.

@litlealligator I was lucky, in that my family member was overjoyed that I'd magicked away the previously permanent staining on the back rim of their toilet seat, and asked me what I'd done. Which led to swapping tales about the hassles of emptying their stoma bag vs. the various cleaning strategies I'd attempted. Very close family though - and I'd not have brought it up myself. I'm a little in awe of how matter-of-fact they are about something which seems quite difficult to me.

Absolutely you can’t ask him, omg!

He can hardly have not noticed. Just get it off by some means or other and definitely don't mention it to him.

My toilet seat gets like that after I have bled all over it (endo, adenomyosis and fibroids).

@litlealligator

More generally how on earth would you raise this with the guest? Or would you ignore it? Obviously it would potentially be easier for us to clean it if we knew what it was but also we're now concerned about him. Is there any non awkward way to ask someone what on earth they've done to your toilet seat???

Wouldn’t occur to me to raise it with a guest. Id just quietly either clean or replace and never speak of it to him or anyone else.

Okay I think the consensus is not to ask then lol! DH has been quite upfront with guest about his own medical issues and given our concerns about guest (and the state of our flipping loo seat - we've made good progress with limescale remover but it's still noticeably stained!) I thought maybe we could broach that conversation but I guess not. I do feel like no matter what he's doing surely lifting the loo seat is common sense!

Could you casually ask if he's been using a dye or anything as you're just trying to get some stains off the bathroom and see what he says?

Barkeepers friend will get that off. Might need a bit of elbow grease with it and use the powder version of it, but it's brilliant stuff for difficult stains.

My first thought was fake tan as I’ve been known to drip it in the bathroom and it does leave a reddish mark. However as your houseguest is male that’s possibly unlikely.

The
pink stuff (tub version) not the spray will remove stains from it.

I was going to suggest hair dye or fake tan. My daughters are always leaving marks on the loo seat from dripping those.

Some medication can discolour the urine.

I really don't see what asking him would do besides make it very awkward .
Leave it or buy a new one don't challenge your guest

could be mouth wash and he's spat it down the toilet.
Multi tasking shitting and gargling .

Might be something like that VIP poo spray that stops it smelling when you have a shit thats oil based . You spray it in the bowl before you crap puts oily film on water to contain stench perhaps he didn't want to stink your house out .

@litlealligator there’s absolutely no way I’d raise it with a friend. It’s bound to embarrass him, if it came to it I’d rather buy a new seat tbh.

Bicarbonate of soda and vinegar should get that off.

Looks like hibiscrub.
That's really hard to wash off

Corsodyl mothwash treatment for tooth disease is a killer for staining. I used it for too long and had to spend ages having my teeth treated by a hygienist.

Well what a lot of fuss over something that doesn't matter!
Clean it or replace it.
Definitely do not mention it.
Stop prying into his business.

Don't ask him. He obviously didn't stain it deliberately. Given it is on loo, he has probably been sick or peed and stained it somehow. Clean it off if you can or if you can't, replace the seat.

@tobedtoMN

Well what a lot of fuss over something that doesn't matter! Clean it or replace it. Definitely do not mention it. Stop prying into his business.

Exactly! If it's such a huge deal replace the seat, they're really not expensive. Poor guy!!

My toilet seat is terrible for picking up stains despite our best efforts. The only thing that shifts it is sand paper - however, in my case I use it on the underside and around the edge. Not sure I’d sandpaper them seat itself.

This looks very similar to staining caused by medication for inflammatory bowel disease being excreted through urine. It only shows up when any ‘splashes’ dry, some people say it’s a reaction with bleach. They do come off eventually with detergent type cleaner.

Replace the seat and don't embarrass by mentioning it.
It could be medication or mouthwash ,or possibly blood .