Author Topic: Is it rude to guests if you hide the plunger in your bathroom?  (Read 1709 times)

Hanna

I keep a brush like this in every bathroom

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Basics-Stainless-Steel-Toilet-Brush-TB41027/303975852

Onyxbird What do you clean with? My DH had those wand things for years and no brush. I confess I had questions that I never have asked.

gramma dishes

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I'm honestly not even sure if we have a toilet brush in our house. It's not a tool we use to actually scrub our toilets, and needing it for "smears" has just never seemed to be an issue. We're not out to cruelly doom our guests to embarrassment by not displaying a toilet brush--it's just not an item we use and thus we don't keep one around. (We do have a plunger, but it's not kept in the bathroom.)

Are you saying you never need to clean any of your toilets or are you saying you use something other than a toilet brush?  If the latter, what do you use instead?

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oogyda

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I'm honestly not even sure if we have a toilet brush in our house. It's not a tool we use to actually scrub our toilets, and needing it for "smears" has just never seemed to be an issue. We're not out to cruelly doom our guests to embarrassment by not displaying a toilet brush--it's just not an item we use and thus we don't keep one around. (We do have a plunger, but it's not kept in the bathroom.)

Are you saying you never need to clean any of your toilets or are you saying you use something other than a toilet brush?  If the latter, what do you use instead?

A quick wipe with some toilet paper will easily clean a smear.   A more thorough cleaning can be done with a rag or a sponge along with some sort of cleaning solution.  I understand that there are people who will not put their bare hand in a toilet, but that's what rubber gloves are for. 

Personally, I think toilet brushes are gross.  Unless you bleach it after every use, it's more unsanitary than the toilet bowl itself! 
« Last Edit: July 11, 2020, 08:45:05 am by oogyda »
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Hanna

...

I'm honestly not even sure if we have a toilet brush in our house. It's not a tool we use to actually scrub our toilets, and needing it for "smears" has just never seemed to be an issue. We're not out to cruelly doom our guests to embarrassment by not displaying a toilet brush--it's just not an item we use and thus we don't keep one around. (We do have a plunger, but it's not kept in the bathroom.)
Are you saying you never need to clean any of your toilets or are you saying you use something other than a toilet brush?  If the latter, what do you use instead?

A quick wipe with some toilet paper will easily clean a smear.   A more thorough cleaning can be done with a rag or a sponge along with some sort of cleaning solution.  I understand that there are people who will not put their bare hand in a toilet, but that's what rubber gloves are for. 

Personally, I think toilet brushes are gross.  Unless you bleach it after every use, it's more unsanitary than the toilet bowl itself!

I get what you are saying. But then the rubber gloves are gross, too.

My house and all of the houses in our neighborhood had basement toilets. The one in my old house was removed and sealed long before I bought it but still had an outhouse-like structure that I had dismantled and removed.

That made me wonder; when people first began having indoor toilets installed did some people think it was weird/gross to routinely use the bathroom inside their house when they usually went outdoors?  Is that why these were in the basement? Or did they install the others at the same time?
I keep a bit of cleaning solution in the base of the brush container. I also clean it inside the toilet anytime I use it.
« Last Edit: July 11, 2020, 10:01:43 am by Hanna »

cymbaline246

Downstairs bath has a brush in the cabinet under the sink, upstairs it's next to the john.

If someone needed the plunger at our house - I'd have to hunt it down. I know we have one, maybe two, but it or they aren't in either bathroom at the moment.
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OnyxBird

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...

I'm honestly not even sure if we have a toilet brush in our house. It's not a tool we use to actually scrub our toilets, and needing it for "smears" has just never seemed to be an issue. We're not out to cruelly doom our guests to embarrassment by not displaying a toilet brush--it's just not an item we use and thus we don't keep one around. (We do have a plunger, but it's not kept in the bathroom.)

Are you saying you never need to clean any of your toilets or are you saying you use something other than a toilet brush?  If the latter, what do you use instead?

We use a sponge (in the hand, to scrub it down with a toilet cleaner, e.g., Comet or something, just to be very clear, since my previous statement was apparently vague enough to confuse multiple people  ;))

I admit, it never occurred to me that anyone would read that sentence and guess that maybe we just don't clean our toilets!  ;D Or perhaps to imagine that we have somehow acquired miracle toilets that need no cleaning (I wish!).

I take it that some of you only clean toilet bowls with a toilet brush? Do you not also need a sponge or something for the rim and outer surfaces? A brush doesn't seem like it would be very useful/neat for cleaning outside the bowl, and whatever other implement is used for the rim/seat/etc. would have to be assumed to be as potentially germy as whatever you stick in the bowl itself. (In our sponge-only method, the cleaning starts at the least waste-exposed outer surfaces and ends with the inside of the bowl, so germs aren't carried from inside the bowl to other spots.)

Personally, I agree with oogyda that I'd much rather stick my hand in with a (washable) sponge, since I'm gonna be washing my hands thoroughly afterwards anyway, than a toilet brush that seems harder to clean well. And having the brush sit out with the expectation that people will use it on "smears" just exacerbates the potential cleaning issues--everyone who uses it touches the same handle even if your holder is set up to sanitize the brush itself. I've lived in places that needed it, but it's not a tool I care for since we don't seem to have a "smearing" problem in out toilets.

oogyda

...

I'm honestly not even sure if we have a toilet brush in our house. It's not a tool we use to actually scrub our toilets, and needing it for "smears" has just never seemed to be an issue. We're not out to cruelly doom our guests to embarrassment by not displaying a toilet brush--it's just not an item we use and thus we don't keep one around. (We do have a plunger, but it's not kept in the bathroom.)

Are you saying you never need to clean any of your toilets or are you saying you use something other than a toilet brush?  If the latter, what do you use instead?

We use a sponge (in the hand, to scrub it down with a toilet cleaner, e.g., Comet or something, just to be very clear, since my previous statement was apparently vague enough to confuse multiple people  ;))

I admit, it never occurred to me that anyone would read that sentence and guess that maybe we just don't clean our toilets!  ;D Or perhaps to imagine that we have somehow acquired miracle toilets that need no cleaning (I wish!).

I take it that some of you only clean toilet bowls with a toilet brush? Do you not also need a sponge or something for the rim and outer surfaces? A brush doesn't seem like it would be very useful/neat for cleaning outside the bowl, and whatever other implement is used for the rim/seat/etc. would have to be assumed to be as potentially germy as whatever you stick in the bowl itself. (In our sponge-only method, the cleaning starts at the least waste-exposed outer surfaces and ends with the inside of the bowl, so germs aren't carried from inside the bowl to other spots.)

Personally, I agree with oogyda that I'd much rather stick my hand in with a (washable) sponge, since I'm gonna be washing my hands thoroughly afterwards anyway, than a toilet brush that seems harder to clean well. And having the brush sit out with the expectation that people will use it on "smears" just exacerbates the potential cleaning issues--everyone who uses it touches the same handle even if your holder is set up to sanitize the brush itself. I've lived in places that needed it, but it's not a tool I care for since we don't seem to have a "smearing" problem in out toilets.

Well, now you've done it!!!  Prepare for multiple lectures (many with links) on how much bacteria there is on any surface of a toilet!  There will be references to a TV show years ago that demonstrated how far fecal coliform  particulates can travel when you flush. 

I'm all for digging in and getting dirty to get the dirty jobs done.  I'm washable. 

Hanna

Meh, to each his/her own.

The handles of my brushes get cleaned ever other week and probably are only very rarely used. I’m not running a bus station and have faith in the hygiene of any friends and loved ones that might have occasion to use the brush so I’m comfortable with the way I personally do things.


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peony

...

I'm honestly not even sure if we have a toilet brush in our house. It's not a tool we use to actually scrub our toilets, and needing it for "smears" has just never seemed to be an issue. We're not out to cruelly doom our guests to embarrassment by not displaying a toilet brush--it's just not an item we use and thus we don't keep one around. (We do have a plunger, but it's not kept in the bathroom.)

Are you saying you never need to clean any of your toilets or are you saying you use something other than a toilet brush?  If the latter, what do you use instead?

We use a sponge (in the hand, to scrub it down with a toilet cleaner, e.g., Comet or something, just to be very clear, since my previous statement was apparently vague enough to confuse multiple people  ;))

I admit, it never occurred to me that anyone would read that sentence and guess that maybe we just don't clean our toilets!  ;D Or perhaps to imagine that we have somehow acquired miracle toilets that need no cleaning (I wish!).

I take it that some of you only clean toilet bowls with a toilet brush? Do you not also need a sponge or something for the rim and outer surfaces? A brush doesn't seem like it would be very useful/neat for cleaning outside the bowl, and whatever other implement is used for the rim/seat/etc. would have to be assumed to be as potentially germy as whatever you stick in the bowl itself. (In our sponge-only method, the cleaning starts at the least waste-exposed outer surfaces and ends with the inside of the bowl, so germs aren't carried from inside the bowl to other spots.)

Personally, I agree with oogyda that I'd much rather stick my hand in with a (washable) sponge, since I'm gonna be washing my hands thoroughly afterwards anyway, than a toilet brush that seems harder to clean well. And having the brush sit out with the expectation that people will use it on "smears" just exacerbates the potential cleaning issues--everyone who uses it touches the same handle even if your holder is set up to sanitize the brush itself. I've lived in places that needed it, but it's not a tool I care for since we don't seem to have a "smearing" problem in out toilets.

Well, now you've done it!!!  Prepare for multiple lectures (many with links) on how much bacteria there is on any surface of a toilet!  There will be references to a TV show years ago that demonstrated how far fecal coliform  particulates can travel when you flush. 

I'm all for digging in and getting dirty to get the dirty jobs done.  I'm washable.

Mythbusters had a show years ago where they hung toothbrushes in a bathroom, used the toilet x many times a day, and flushed it without closing the lid first. There was another bathroom setup where they did close the lid after each use. After one week they tested the toothbrushes in both rooms and yep...fecal coliforms. (I believe the closed-lid room's toothbrushes had fewer though.)
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Morticia

Maybe I've been in lockdown too long, but when I read the subject, all I could think was it's okay as long as you're not hiding it in the toilet.
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TootsNYC

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Well, I did it. I didn't remake the cabinet; I just took everything out and put it all back in differently.With the plunger in the back corner.

And I put the toilet brush smack in the middle, just in front of the drainpipe, where there is only a tiny little area anyway. But it'll be easy to get it in and out without maneuvering it up and over the stacks of toilet paper.

Then I also took the whisk broom and the kitty-little scoop out of the corner by the toilet, where they'd been sitting since our kitty passed away. I just kept looking past them, I guess. And I moved the trash can in the corner opposite (where the litter box normally went).

It's all very blank. Which is both refreshing and unsettling.

I realized my MIL keeps her plunger and brush tucked behind the toilet, but she also has a counter thing that goes over the area, and so you just don't really see them.
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Chez Miriam

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I don't think I've ever used a plunger on a loo...

Our lives in with tools we rarely use in a storage basket; the last time it was used was 2011 when we moved into a rental property, and the kitchen sink didn't drain properly.  That [once we'd dismantled the U-bend] blockage turned out to have been caused by some moron the diy man pouring wet cement down the sink; odd that a plunger didn't fix it. </sarcasm>

Whereas the loo brush is a necessity [those of you with 'explosive' gastric issues will know what I mean, I'm sure], so is stored by the loo in a decorative holder [think sturdy ceramic bowl, rather than crappy plastic holder].

Toots: I'm glad you found a solution that works for you, but sorry about you no longer needing the pussycat stuff.
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."  - Julian of Norwich

TootsNYC

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as toilet brush holders go, I much prefer my "crappy plastic holder." It's smooth and easy to clean; you don't actually look at the bristles, you can get the brush in and out easily (it tips to facilitate that), etc.

I'm pretty sure I will mourn it when it goes.

But my guests (who are seldom, even in non-COVID times) don't really need a toilet brush; if they're worried about leaving a smear, I'm hopeful they'll open the cabinet door. And it'll be right in front.
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Chez Miriam

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as toilet brush holders go, I much prefer my "crappy plastic holder." It's smooth and easy to clean; you don't actually look at the bristles, you can get the brush in and out easily (it tips to facilitate that), etc.

I'm pretty sure I will mourn it when it goes.

But my guests (who are seldom, even in non-COVID times) don't really need a toilet brush; if they're worried about leaving a smear, I'm hopeful they'll open the cabinet door. And it'll be right in front.

Sorry, Toots, I posted without thinking it through... :-[

I didn't mean to imply yours was a crappy plastic holder.  What I meant was my ceramic [smooth, hides the bristles] item replaced my original loo brush - which really was a crappy plastic affair.  I think I bought it for 69 pence, which shouts volumes about the quality.  We were still renting after we bought this [then uninhabitable] house, so I needed a cheap extra brush, and wouldn't splash out on Poundland quality! ;) ;D
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."  - Julian of Norwich

TootsNYC

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Oh, no worries, I took it to mean "most plastic holders are kind of crappy," and I actually sort of agree that they kind of are. Mine in particular was very cheap, very low-end. Maybe it was made by Rubbermaid decades ago, but who knows?

But it's so functional that I adore it.

And now that I store it in the cabinet, I really need the tilting functionality. So I'll be sad when it eventually gets really brittle and cracks.

This is the closest I could find to what mine is. Though mine isn't as modern looking and it doesn't have the vents for drying (those would be a nightmare to clean).

https://www.wayfair.com/bed-bath/pdp/libman-premium-angled-17in-h-free-standing-toilet-brush-and-holder-quj1183.html
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