Toilet seats!

February 1, 2009 3:29 PM

What type of toilet seat hardware is easiest to keep clean and also doesn't break?

I just looked around at the store and they have the normal old-school lids with attachments that collect grunge. I definitely don't want that. I'm a bit worried I'll get something that breaks or is just as gross.

Choices are metal hinges that look a bit easier to clean, a type that is billed as being easy to remove for easier cleaning, and one that has a single long plastic cover across the back covering up the point where the seat is attached to the toilet.

Who has any info to help me decide? Is there another type of toilet seat with hardware that's even easier to keep clean.

posted by jenfu to home & garden (10 comments total)

I bought this American Standard model with metal hinges at Home Depot. I've found these don't collect grunge the way the plastic hinges do. I've been pleased with this one. And it's very solid composite material (the ones I replaced were cheap plastic and the cover would flex inward if you sat on it when it was closed. These don't flex.).
posted by jayder at 3:37 PM on February 1

Toilets are a pretty corrosive environment - well, if you're cleaning them with bleach-based toilet cleaners. My experience is that the metal hinges, and particularly the bolts, will tend to corrode over a period of a few years.

From experience I'd say go for something where all the parts are exposed and easy to get at; the one jayder linked to looks fine. Plastic fittings also tend to allow the seat to slide from side to side. Make sure the screws you use are corrosion-resistant too.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 4:06 PM on February 1

My folks have two bathrooms with one of each. The metal hinge one seems to collect way less grunge and is fairly easy to clean. (I clean their home every two weeks or so.)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:16 PM on February 1

This isn't so much a "cleanness" answer, but I looooove our Toto soft-closing seats. Just a slight tap and they go down on their own. (Though it's always embarrassing when you go to a friend’s house who has a regular seat, and there’s a huge WHAM! when you try to close their lid.) I haven’t had any cleaning issues with their seats. Of course that’s assuming a Toto seat matches all toilets and not just Toto’s??
posted by texas_blissful at 4:22 PM on February 1

Seconding Jayder's suggestion - we had one with similar metal hinge arrangements that was very simple to clean.
posted by odinsdream at 4:50 PM on February 1

Also not so much a cleanness answer, but I love our Toto toilet more than I thought possible to love an inanimate object. Easy to use, and to clean, have never noticed that the hinges were particularly gross.
posted by dpx.mfx at 5:03 PM on February 1

Thirding the love for Toto hinges/seat (and toilet). So expensive, but it was the best $600 I ever spent. If they sell the seats separately, I would highly recommend them. They're plastic, but very, very sturdy, and the hinges are fairly grunge-resistant. And the seat never seems to corrode, and wipes clean with a Clorox wipe.
posted by ROTFL at 6:33 PM on February 1

We've got a Bemis Easy clean seat and it's brilliant. The seat is very easy to remove and the hinges come with the seat which makes them easy to clean in the laundry sink (or even soak I guess for those burrito and chili splash backs). The parts left behind are just a couple of posts which are also easy to clean now that the seat isn't in the way. They have a video.

The seat is sturdy reminiscent of a solid wood seat but with the warmth of plastic yet it is very solid and doesn't squirm around. There isn't any play in either the hinges or the removable bits even after a year of use.

The removable feature is available with the gentle close feature too so you don't have to choose.

To sum up: Love our removable toilet seat.
posted by Mitheral at 6:39 PM on February 1

I second the Bemis recommendation. Mine has the Easy Clean feature, which I wanted when I bought it, but I grabbed the wrong box and ended up with one that also has the Easy Close (video) feature. It's comfortable, too.
posted by pmbuko at 8:39 PM on February 1

Thanks everyone, very helpful.
posted by jenfu at 7:49 AM on February 2