Right. I've thought long and hard about this, I've conducted rigorous scientific experiment, and I'm sorry all you non-loo brush using MNers, but you're wrong.

[Lawks]

Following the earth shattering news last week that some mumsnetters don't own loo brushes, and what's more this isn't some oversight on the housekeeping front but a deliberate stance against "germy loo brushes dripping in the corner of the bathroom" (I'm too lazy to look up the exact quote paraphrasing), I have been keeping a watchful eye on the state of the Lawks household lavatories.

I removed the loo brush from the downstairs loo and left one in the upstairs loo (cf aforementioned rigorous scientific experiment). After a week the downstairs loo needed a jolly good scrub below the waterline. It also went through various mildly unpleasant phases which we won't go into but which would not have been necessary had a loo brush been available.

We have perfectly happy and healthy bowels, so no casting aspersions in that direction please.

I conclude that I don't understand how you can have sparkling clean loos without a regular scrub below the waterline.

I don't pretend to love my loo brush, and I change it often. But it's a necessary evil.

you can scrub below the water line and everywhere else without a minging brush

I agree. And what is all this worry about the germ freeness of the toilet and the toilet brush? I don't find myself tempted to suck on the brush or drink the loo water, so why does it matter?

Or you can just put some bleach around the bowl which will trickle down below the water line and sort out any stainage.

I agree. Loo brushes are a necessary evil.

But you can probably have sparkling loos if you use gallons and gallons of bleach every day.

bleach does not dissolve skidders.

get yourself those toilet duck doodahs that you use and then flush away [shudder emoticon]

I agree - they are a necessary evil.
I will also confess to replacing mine quite regulalry - I don't think they're recyclable, are they [green]

Gallons and gallons of bleach, bad, tiny bit of bleach, brush and lots of elbow grease, good.

I find the 'OMG if I allow a loo brush into my bathroom we'll all be dead of e-coli in a week' brigade quite amusing, we are all so afraid of germs now, all down to the ad men I'm afraid.

Yes buy the Duck things, use them and flush them away and then for out £000s having your drains rodded

loo brush does not equal immediate death from doodie parasites...

they are just ICKY!

SoupDragon! surely not...

Trinity - please explain how you scrub below the waterline without a brush.

Ones in public toilets certainly are
When they're all brown with flecks
I feel really sorry for the cleaners who actually have to touch them - think they should get danger money

ruby, clarify your affilance please
are you a brush owner or not?

Can someone tell me how to get rid of the hideous scale on ours. We have been here for nearly 5 sodding years now, and still not making much headway with it with brush, bleach, that limescale remover duck stuff....

scrubby pad and cleaner

I just dont like the brush dripping shitty water into its holder and then me having to clean that and how do you clean the 'bits' off the brush

I dont think I will die from the germs of having one around

I just doint like the look and whiff of a shitty brush

Indeed, loo brushes are icky. There is no getting away from this fact. But they are necessary and icky.

The bits don't cling on to the brush unless they're pretty big, and a good bleachy flush cleans the brush.
Once it does start collecting bits, it goes in the bin!

Slightly off topic, but do you think you could eat chocolate off of a brand new unused loo brush?

Saw this as an experiment to do with conditioning toward things that were 'dirty' on TV once and the guy just couldn't make himself do it, even though rationally, he knew it was fine.

Yes, despite talking about how clean they are I don't use them to clean the bath as well! They stay shoved out of sight behind the toilet!

Vinegar Flame, the distilled type you use with nappies.

Chemical reaction acid + alkali = neutralise

This is easy to do if scale is around the rim (or on taps)just soak a icky flannel in it and leave on to dissolve.

If the scale is in the pan .... dunno

WTWTW
I once used a new toilet brush as a body brush on my cellulite - worked a treat. I could eat chocolate off one, no problem, in fact I have a new one waiting to take its place if you want me to go and try it?!

Fix my scale please people!!