Toilet seat
Usually thermoplastic or coated wood, and both are damaged by the products used on the ceramic underneath it.
Start here
What this is, what tends to go wrong with it, and what to do about it.
Made from
What tends to go wrong
A hard, chalky calcium carbonate deposit left by hard water. Dissolved by acids, essentially untouched by detergents.
Why it is difficult: Water hardness, Crystallisation, Adhesion and cohesion
- Dustvia its material
Mostly textile fibres and skin, held by static as much as by gravity — which is why a dry cloth on a plastic surface makes it worse.
Why it is difficult: Static and dust, Mechanical action and abrasion, Why different surfaces get different dirt, Surface roughness
- Cleaning product residue· no established method
What the last clean left behind. It attracts soil, so the surface gets dirty faster — and the usual response is to use more of what caused it.
Why it is difficult: Residue and resoiling, Soil shielding, Why different surfaces get different dirt
A concentrated water-soluble dye with nothing else in it. Nothing has to be emulsified or dissolved — the only question is whether the surface has taken the colour up.
Why it is difficult: Capillary absorption, Dye migration and colour bleeding
A sticky, yellow-brown tar film deposited everywhere at once. It is the reason a room smells after everything visible has been cleaned.
Why it is difficult: Adsorption of odour molecules, Solubility and polarity
Coloured by turmeric in most prepared mustards, and curcumin is a pH indicator — which is why an alkaline cleaner turns a yellow mark red.
Why it is difficult: pH indicators in stains, Fat-soluble pigments, Photodegradation, Pigment retention
The commonest cleaning problem that is not dirt. The tackiness is the plastic's own additive arriving at the surface, which is why wiping it off works for a week.
Why it is difficult: Plasticizer migration, Damage versus soiling
The science behind this: Solvent crazing, Static and dust, Solvents and polymers, Plasticizer migration
Part of Toilet.
In detail
A toilet seat is not made of the same thing as the toilet. Most are thermoplastic, some are coated timber, and their hinges are commonly plated metal or plastic — none of which tolerates what the ceramic pan does. The manufacturer of the china says toilet bowl cleaners belong on the inside of the bowl only, and that splashes of cleaner must be wiped off plastic or plated surfaces immediately. The sanitaryware manufacturers' rules are the ones to apply: soft abrasive cleaners may be used on vitreous china, and abrasives are excluded from plated finishes — and a seat should simply be treated as the plastic item it is, with a mild detergent, a cloth and a rinse. Two practical points. The hinge fixings are where soil actually accumulates, and most modern seats have a quick-release catch precisely so the whole seat can be taken off and cleaned properly rather than wiped around. And a seat that has been discoloured rather than soiled will not recover, because the change is in the polymer.
Related
- Toilet seat is made from Household plastics
- Toilet seat is commonly affected by Limescale
- Toilet seat is commonly affected by Cleaning product residue
Sources for this page
Sources
Care & Cleaning: Toilets or Lavatories Made of Vitreous China
STERLING (Kohler Co.) · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That soft abrasive cleaners may be used on vitreous china while splashes of cleaner solution must be wiped from plastic or plated surfaces immediately. (states this directly)
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Sodium Hypochlorite
New Jersey Department of Health · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That sodium hypochlorite is a corrosive oxidising agent. (inferred from the source; not stated directly)