Unpleasant but important: how do you clean your loo?

[Bitzer]

I've got loo brushes but I can't stand the horrible pools of poo-ey water that gather in the holder. Have been following the fly lady recently and I like her rubber swisha idea but can't seem to find loo brushes in the uk with rubber heads (have googled etc). Or should I just keep a pair of gloves expressly for loo cleaning and get in there once a day with an anti-bac wipe or similar? But then does that set me up for always cleaning other people's poo i.e. if there's no brush there will people just leave a mess?

Would be v interested to hear what other toilet brush phobes do...

Um, I clean outside of lav (cistern, loo handle, seat and body of loo) with cloth designated for that purpose - wearing gloves - and I use loo brushes for inside, but don't have problem with poo-ey water in holder. Maybe you just need to adjust your technique a little? So (having cleaned rest of loo with cloth and bit of bleach):

1. Use loo brush to scrub inside of loo thoroughly (usually with bleach gel)

1. Then flush away results (potentially pooey bit)

1. Then wait holding loo brush in hand over bowl and put more bleach in loo water as cistern is filling up again

1. Then dip loo brush in clean loo water + bleach and kind of thrash it about of it to clean it thoroughly and then rinse loo brush thoroughly under flush

1. Repeat above if necessary

1. Shake all (should be clean by now) water off loo brush and return to holder

1. Final 'polish' of rest of loo

1. Teach everyone else in the family to always rinse the brush thoroughly under the flush and shake (two firm taps) over bowl before replacing.

1. When necessary, clean out holders at a separate time, but I seem to only need to do this about once a month. Holders are dry inside.

HTH!

That's very helpful - thanks, Cabbage. Perhaps i haven't been fastidious enough technique-wise.

Where do you store the 'cloth-that-is-only-for-wiping-down-loo'?

Yes, the problem is poor technique with the bog brush

You must rinse thoroughly under the flush after use and shake properly (in the loo close to water so all drops stay in loo). I only get puddles in my holder when other people use the brush.

You can alternatively wipe the loo down with wipes to avoid the cloth storing issue. Both my mum and Mil like to pick up cloths and start wiping randomly so I don't have cloths to tempt them with!

Cheap toilet brushes and wipes are the answer in this house.

I keep specific loo cleaning rubber gloves in a plastic bag tied in a knot. Also clean handle, cistern, wooden seat and rim with dettol spray and kitchen or loo roll and flush away after use.

Bitzer have small bucket in hollow seat in bathroom in which I keep "especially dedicated to loo-cleaning" J-cloth, rinsed out and folded over side and special "loo-cleaning gloves" (ditto) + gel bleach ie totally separate from normal cleaning cloths. J-cloths get thrown away and replaced pretty regularly. I know some people wash them through in washing machine though and start again (I only get around to doing this occasionally and not with ones that have been used for loo.)

Wipes are good but should not be flushed away as they get stuck in the sewers and stop matter going through apparently - ie become environmental hazard.

Sorry if this is all tmi! Am honestly not loo-cleaning obsessive or anything! Just the way I have always done it ...

I use a toilet brush just to brush around the inside of the bowl and below the water level when cleaning or when it needs it in-between cleans. It doesn't get pooey water in the holder. When I clean the toilet I wash the brush and holder as well.

I keep the cloth for cleaning the toilet and the cleaning liquids on the bathroom windowsill but gloves just for the toilet are in a kitchen cupboard. Which is probably illogical. But there's no cupboard in the bathroom.

I do seat, rim and outside of bowl with dettol wipes most days (small boy in house) and stick bleach down there a couple of times a week or if there's a lingering skidmark. Where I used to live I used limescale stuff too but don't have a problem with it here.

Clean outside and behind with the same vinegar solution and cloth I use elsewhere in the bathroom. Clean inside with the flushable wipes and rubber gloves. I do this every morning and leave a squirt of bleach in the toilet over night.

I use a single J cloth to do the entire bathroom ending in toilet, then throw it out
I scrub toilet with jif or washing up liquid then use a wipe to 'rinse'
I then chuck some bleach down and scrub, don't get particularly pooey water in the holder but I replace the toilet brushes every 3 or 4 months

Thames Water sewermen say that flushable wipes are definitely not suitable to be entered into the sewerage system. They said its one of the main contributors to fatburgs!

I would bear that out. The house next to my Dad's was converted into a care home and the staff use toilet wipes. Fairly soon the sewer connecting the 4 houses at the top of the street was regularly becoming blocked and the owners of the 5th house were always having to clear it. They said it was caused by wipes.

I dont flush the wipes.

Quilted toilet roll also bad for blockages

I know - the minute you talk about using cleaning wipes everyone assumes they're flushed