Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with toilet

Best Bidet

KRS — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:10:04 -0800

Bidet - the best reasonably priced one, and do I need a new toilet with a built-in one? My back is getting old and creaky, and I have trouble cleaning myself after defecating. A bidet seems to be the solution, but the prices run from $30 for a kitchen-sink nozzle on a hose to over $5,000 for a Japanese combination toilet/bidet with fans, a heater and a top that opens automatically when you walk up to it.

Is there a really good bidet that replaces the toilet seat? Or are they all awful, so I should go into the $thousands$ for one integrated into a new toilet? (I don't have room for separates.)

Many thanks for the wisdom of others who are aging with less grace than we thought we would.

I want to stop wasting water

jujube — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:40:55 -0800

How can I get my toilet to fill up all the way to the waterline? My toilet isn't filling up all the way with water. Because of this, water gets wasted because instead of a single flush doing the job, two or more flushes are needed.

In the past, when I wanted to adjust the water level in the tank, all I had to do was adjust the arm on the ball float. But this toilet has a different mechanism, where the "ball float" is part of the valve mechanism, and rests just beneath the filler tube. I saw that the float was set to about 1 1/2" below the top, so I adjusted the height as far as it would go up. That helped raise the water level, and now it's about an inch below the water level line mark.

Anything else I can do to raise the water level to where it should be?

How does your comfort level in relationships show?

hollygirl — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:46:28 -0800

This is REALLY not about the toilet seat...or is it?!? Men, I need your advice!! Women, there is a question inside for you too! Help! My wonderful boyfriend of 2+ years has ALWAYS been considerate and has put the toilet seat down when he is done. I've never asked him to do this; he just did, which I really appreciated and expressed to him in the past.

We are very close. Have a solid relationship and have learned to adjust to each other.

Here is the weird part: All of the sudden, out of nowhere, he starts leaving the toilet seat up. All. The. Time. I've fallen in. I've shrieked in the middle of the night. I've asked nicely. It still stays up. AND AFTER TWO YEARS OF ALWAYS PUTTING IT DOWN!!!!!!

I've always believed that a change in behavior signifies something....I'm just not sure what in this case!

So I asked him about it in a relaxed, "Hey honey, I've always appreciated how you've been so thoughtful about this. Can you please make the effort again?" kinda way.

His response is that he is now comfortable with me to a degee that he was not before. I appreciate this and I want him to feel comfortable, but to me I feel like I'm being taken for granted. (GF has been around 2 years...no longer need to make the effort. That's how I see it.)

This issue of asking him to try and he saying he will and then doesn't has been going on for over two months now.

FWIW, I've been wanting to get married. He is completely committed to me but needs small steps to get there so part of me thinks that there is truth to his new level of comfort...and he DOES act as if he is more comfortable too. He is 43; I am 38.

My questions: Men, I want to know from you: is this REALLY an issue of comfort? Do men really get to a plateau that is truly indicitive of a level of comfort--that shows in an overt way?? Is this a passive-aggressive way to piss me off (ha ha)? For women: When do my feelings factor in? How do you factor comfort with the courtesies of keeping a relationship alive? And yes... I even told him I'd be willing to leave the seat up for him when I was done.

I HAVE seen all the other posts about the toilet seat, but my question is really one of reaching comfort levels in relationships without turning in to roommates....this just happens to be coming through in way of a plastic toilet seat.

Any advice and personal experience will be most helpful. Thanks everyone!

Don't mean to pry...

lgandme0717 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:10:04 -0800

Need to replace a toilet seat. The hardware seems to be fixed fast to the throne; the screw is all rusty, there's a plastic-y sort of nut that has resisted all my attempts to pry off with a wrench. Would really like to do this myself and avoid having to call in a plumber. I'm about to go out to buy some WD-40. Anything else I should get as well or instead? It's driving me crazy! Any suggestions you have would be most appreciated...

Ack! My do-it-myself bidet is not a feature...

Nanukthedog — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:33:21 -0800

[PlumbingFilter] Ack! The toilet sprang a leak and is now acting like an impromptu bidet when flushed! What is the proper way to fix this? (more inside) So. The toilet has a small chip on the flat part, just behind the seat and infront of the tank - you know - the solid part that collects crud. Unfortunately, this chip seems to be right above where the water comes out - meaning that when you flush the toilet, a small stream (not all) shoots out of this hole and soaks the seat for about 10-15 seconds. This is a tiny hole - I mean a really tiny tiny hole.

I don't know how this happened, but I would assume that a combination of something being dropped from the cabinet above, and perhaps some rusting or wear and tear from below caused the porcelain to give out. Either way, this is inconvenient, as toilet water (at least from the clean end) spews forth every time it is flushed.

We rent, no landlord in their right mind would replace a toilet over this, and realistically I know that I'm going to need to fix this myself if I want it done (at least partially) right. Obviously, home depot doesn't cover this sort of thing in their plumbing books, so I'm at a bit of a loss...

I can think of a few ways to fix this, but I don't know what really is the best way, or if it is the sign of something else... I need suggestions, help advice and some more advanced know-how..

My thoughts sofar:
1. clear silicone caulk from the inside, then smoothed to fill the hole on both sides. The problem with this is I would assume the drying time might make living in a 1-bathroom appartment a little rough. Plus this seems like a temporary solution that will just cause problems later.

2. Some sort of plumber's putty or epoxy. Plumbers putty seems like it would disintegrate, but I don't know of an epoxy that wouldn't besides the caulk.

3. Some sort of porcelain glaze. This seems ideal, except - I'll just state that the toilet is yellow - making finding a color match a bit difficult, as well as previously expressed time and prevention concerns expressed above.

I have a window of opportunitity for 8 hours on saturday for drying time... so ideally any solution dries in that time frame or we'll be spending a lot of time in other people's bathrooms.

Home repair referrals in Minneapolis please.

Juicylicious — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:56:53 -0800

I need a referral to a plumber in Minneapolis who can do a good job replacing my 1930 toilet. Also need a roof repair, sidewalk, and tree removal. I'm home on leave and as usual I find my home in disrepair after two years away.

I own a 1930 tudor duplex with the original bathroom fixtures and tile (both wall and floor). It has the old wall-mounted toilet tank, which has a hairline crack and is leaking. I am going to look for a replacement tank tomorrow. If I cannot find one, I will have to replace the entire toilet. After doing some preliminary internet research it appears that plumbing has changed quite a bit in the last 80 years and any replacing can damage walls, floors and aesthetics.

I need a recommendation for an experienced Minneapolis/St. Paul plumber who can either replace the tank or install a new toilet and not turn my bathroom into a disaster zone.

My roof also sustained some damage due from the recent tornadoes. The insurer says the damage is not enough to exceed the deductible. Still it has to be repaired in spots. I need an honest roof person.

I have to put in a sidewalk around my house, going from the front steps around through the backyard to the garage. I was thinking of those poured concrete pieces that look like stones. It is a job that I am not prepared to do on my own.

And lastly, there is a large tree on the property line in front of my house that is beginning to grow into my wrought iron fence. It must be removed. I hold no hope of the owner of the other property taking care of the problem.

All of this has to be done in the next four weeks before I deploy once again for another year.

What the funk?

at the crossroads — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:17:27 -0800

[WaterFilter] What is this slime that accumulates in my toilet? I moved to a new place (Indiana) about six weeks ago. I've noticed that my porcelain toilet accumulates a yellowish film of funk in the bowl that stops at the water level. I've wiped it down with a bleach soaked rag a couple of times and the grossness returns about a week later.

I've lifted the lid to the reservoir and the accumulated deposits are in the tank also, which leads me to believe that these funky slimes are coming from the water not from my body. (I live alone and flush after every use).

Algae? Bacteria? Lime deposits? Pharmaceutical residue? Mold?

If I plug and fill my kitchen sink and leave the tap water there, will I see the same deposits on the stainless steel? If I plug and fill my bathroom porcelain sink? Why or why not?

What is it?

Dual Flush Toilet

mccarty.tim — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:54:25 -0800

The latest issue of Good made me feel like I use water wastefully. Is it more cost/eco-effective to retrofit my existing toilets with a dual-flush kit, or should I go for a latest-gen low-flow dual flush toilet. All of the toilets in my house are first-generation (post EPA mandate) 1.6 GPF toilets, which work with varying success. The upstairs toilets, either due to design or a quirk in water pressure, rarely clog, while the downstairs toilet will often have issues with solid waste. These are issues we've dealt with for years, and I've replaced flappers and pumps as needed.

A quick Google search shows me that there are some kits available for retrofitting toilets to have a dual-flush option, but some looked a bit sketchy. Has anyone here tried one of them and had success?

If those are more trouble than they're worth, or too expensive considering my family may replace the toilets before we move out (probably will happen in about 2 years), what are some good latest-gen low flow dual-flush toilets? Is it easy enough for a novice to install a toilet, or should I hire a plumber?

How to get a toilet bowl cleaner stain off a marble counter?

shelayna — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:08:51 -0800

I left a new bottle of toilet bowl cleaner on the bathroom counter while unpacking groceries. It leaked, and I didn't notice until the next day. Now there's a rough white stain on the counter (marble) that won't come off. Any ideas on how to remove it?

asking the roommate to close the toilet lid

Anonymous — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:58:24 -0800

This sounds so dumb it's embarrassing, but I find the idea of flushing the toilet with the lid up to be seriously gross, imagining this spray of human waste clouding the bathroom with every flush. More often than not, this is how my roommate leaves the toilet and, one presumes, flushes. Is there a way I can say "Hey, dude, do you mind flushing with the lid down? Because it's gross to leave it up and squicks me out," without sounding like a complete loon? Or crazy or super anal? If your roommate asked that of you would you think he was just nuts? Would it be an unreasonable request? I like to think of myself as pretty normal and we don't have any real issues as roommates. I do have slight germophobe tendencies that I mostly successfully ignore. But whenever I walk into the bathroom and see the lid up...ick! If it's relevant I feel the same way about peeing standing up at home but I know where to draw the line, I think.

Toilet lid etiquette

dreamphone — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:52:56 -0800

Are guests rightfully exempt from lowering the toilet lid? Please note: In this question, I’m asking about the toilet lid (which essentially covers and “closes” the toilet), not the toilet seat. Don't worry - I’m not trying to initiate debate over which way of leaving it is most hygienic.

In our house, we always keep the lid on the toilet lowered when it’s not in use. I’ve noticed that when guests use our bathroom (most often, women), in most cases they leave the lid up. Because my guests are typically conscientious, considerate, and clean, I’m wondering if leaving it up is actually the “right” thing to do when visiting someone else’s house (i.e., they would be exercising their right as a guest to not unduly touch a toilet lid) rather than leaving it as they found it. This “guest option” occurred to me after using the toilet at someone else’s house – I was about to lower the lid after use, but found myself slightly reluctant to touch it. I went ahead and lowered it anyway, but am wondering if I could leave the toilet lid up at others’ houses and thereby still practice good etiquette?

I’m in the U.S., as that may matter.

FWIW, I asked one guest about it (the only one I really can, of course: my mother—who lowers the lid at her own house but leaves it up at mine). She apparently isn’t doing it intentionally.

Public toilets -- which is the cleanest and which is the dirtiest?

bondgirl53001 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:33:57 -0800

I've always wondered which toilet is used the least and which one is used the most in a public restroom, especially a women's restroom that contains only stalls. I would imagine that statistically, the handicapped stall is used the least and that there is probably not a large difference in the number of times each other toilet is used throughout the day, provided they are all functional. I think this is due to the different personality types of their users and the varying degrees of cleanliness at any given time.

What are your thoughts?

Large bowel movements + low-flow toilet = problems.

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:27:10 -0800

Large bowel movements + low-flow toilet = problems. So, all the units in my building have low-flow toilets (1.6 gpf). Ordinarily they work pretty well, but since I've made some changes to my diet I've been having monster-sized feces. 10-12", and dense. Pretty much every time I go, the toilet gets clogged and I have to plunge it to get things moving.

I've resorted to opening up the tank and depressing the floaty thing to add a bit more water, but even that doesn't always help.

Any advice?

no, I am not talking about bidets!

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:48:20 -0800

Why do public bathrooms in France commonly not have toilet seats on their toilets?

Turning The Toilet Water Green?

Gianna — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:48:41 -0800

Is it possible to make homemade drop-in toilet tablet automatic cleaners (the kind that go in the tank and usually turn the water blue)? Anyone know a recipe? I work for an all-natural cleaning service; all of our cleaners are homemade and "green", made with things like essential oils and vinegar. As part of our company's image and contract with our clients, we don't use any kind of commercial/chemical products.

However, we have some houses in our roster whose toilets could definitely benefit from being sanitized/deodorized more often than we're scheduled to clean. One client's greywater system leaves their toilet water smelling so bad it stinks up the entire bathroom/master bedroom; another is severely ill, vomits constantly, and is too exhausted to clean up. I'd love to be able to slip something in their toilet tank to keep the bowls nicer for them when we're not around.

Is it possible to roll your own Ty-D-Bol without pulling out a heavy-duty chemistry set? My Google-Fu is failing hard on this one.

Is my new toilet okay?

Mayor Curley — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:20:47 -0800

I replaced a toilet about a week ago and since then I've been hearing little pings in the bathroom-- like what you might hear coming from a cooling ceramics kiln. I've noticed it three times. There are no visible cracks in the toilet. Is this normal? Or is my new Plebe (seriously!) toilet going to suddenly bust up?

Just how big of an item can go down the toilet?

rainygrl716 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:25:46 -0800

Face lotion bottle went down the toilet as it was flushing. This very bottle of lotion went right down the toilet as it was flushing. It reached in as far as I could and couldn't feel anything, so I thought I'd flush it again and see what happened (stupid, I know but I wasn't thinking clearly). There was a bunch of rattling, the toilet seem to back up and start to overflow, and then nothing. It went back to normal. It has had a lot of use since, flushed a lot of solids, and it seems to be fine. I swear it bubbles a little when it flushes by the husband says I am crazy (he also says if his poop can make it through, that bottle can *rolls eyes*)

The bottle seems way too big to have made it out and I'm excessively worried about what problems could arise from this, but the husband says the toilet is flushing perfectly (better than normal, he says). I don't know if I am just being overly stressed (probably), but can a lotion bottle really make it through? I fear it is stuck somewhere and going to cause future problems.

Why are there two hole outhouses?

Jumpin Jack Flash — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:48:29 -0800

What was the reason for some outhouses to have two or more holes?

Trying to find an old comic book story

woodblock100 — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:25:53 -0800

Have you ever seen a snake-like arm and hand coming up out of the toilet? Late fifties, maybe early sixties. My brother and I were big comic book fans, and eagerly took our allowance down to the drugstore to blow it on whatever was new that week.

One day though, we bought a comic book that contained a kind of horror story about a long snake-like arm and hand that came up out of the toilet, grabbed people, and dragged them to a porcelain death. It scared the s*#t out of us, and neither of us could get any sleep that night. "Mommmmmmmmmmmmm!" And I guess it was ages before we would go into the bathroom alone again. My mother took the comic away from us, threw it out, and removed our comic book 'privileges' for a while.

I don't have the slightest idea of the title, series, brand, etc. of this comic, but I would really like to see this again, and re-visit some of those memories. I think I can handle the stress now - without calling for help in the middle of the night. I think!

Any comic experts out there have any ideas what this might have been, and where I might be able to get hold of a copy?

We stopped the tide, but broke everything else

stormygrey — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:06:05 -0800

Plumbing Filter: After a water heater leak, our toilet is not filling correctly and our water isn't very hot. DIY antics ahead. My bf and I were cleaning out our basement when a can of spray paint fell off a shelf and knocked into the plastic drain valve on our water heater. Apparently it was old and brittle and it snapped off leaving us with a steamy wet mess. We turned off the gas and the water to the whole house while we tried to figure out how to fix the damn thing at 2 am. We turned off every valve we could find trying to find the main water valve. We thought everything go back right, but out toilet water level is very very low now and the water doesn't seem to be very hot at all, what might we have done and how can we right it?

Pee related question SFW!

Anonymous — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 06:52:20 -0800

Why do I constantly need to pee? For the past three weeks, I've needed to pee even though there's often very little quantity when I do pee. The doctor says the blood/urine sample reveals no problems and he doesn't think it's a prostate problem. What else could it possibly be? I realise you are not my doctor, lawyer or priest. I'm on antibiotics but they don't seem to be helping - or won't I know if they've helped until the course is over?

Read on the pot?

arniec — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:14:57 -0800

What is normally considered "appropriate recreational bathroom activities" in US culture? (Safe for work) I am a long time bathroom reader, mostly magazines. I remember growing up going to a lot of houses that had magazine baskets or racks in the bathroom. I also remember the old Eddie Murphy skit about his father reading the Bible in the bathroom.

But in having some discussions with friends, plus personal observations of co-workers, I'm trying to determine what is "socially acceptable" to do/read on the toilet, and what isn't.

For example, everyone remembers the episode of Seinfeld where George takes the book into the bookstore bathroom and he is not only forced to buy the book but the book is "marked" so no one else ever takes it. And Elaine's disgust when she realizes she's touched a book George had read on the toilet certainly seems to say "books aren't okay", but I do know a number of toilet book readers.

And in this information age, I know I am hearing clickings from cell phone buttons when I'm in the loo at work. People whipping out various smartphones for some idle surfing or maybe gaming.

Which then leads to gaming...are PSPs and Nintendo DS appropriate toilet activities?

So I'm wondering, what do YOU do on the pot?

Toilet works: slow flushing toilet

twistedmetal — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:42:38 -0800

My toilet is flushing slowly. Sometimes it takes 3+ flushes to completely remove waste. I have completely replaced all of the internals, and tried the CLR method. I have even manually cleared out the return / fill holes. It has helped some, but not enough. I think I need to use something stronger than CLR, like muriatic acid. The problem is I am on a septic tank and everything I read says do not use the muriatic acid method if you are on septic as it will kill all of the beneficial bacteria in the septic tank. So, my thoughts are to use the muriatic acid to clean out the bowl, but before the first flush, use baking soda to neutralize the acid as much as possible. Then flush. After about a week, add some RidX to help restore some of the lost bacteria and after another week or so, add another box of RidX. Is this a sound plan or should I abandon the muriatic acid idea completely?

How much does 24 hours of constantly running toilet water cost?

kmtiszen — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:31:13 -0800

How much higher would a water utility bill be with a toilet that runs 24 hours a day? Long story, but my building manager has claimed, through some unfortunate hearsay, that my toilet was running 24 hours a day for two weeks before I took care of the problem. He has informed me that I will be charged for any excess on the water bill. Now, my toilet WAS running, but two weeks is a gross overestimation. I'm not going to allow them to bill me on conjecture.

But, in any case, I was still wondering: approximately how much does 24 hours of constantly running toilet water cost?

Does anybody have any insight?

Thanks!

Different Whites in the Bathroom?

Davidissimo — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:04:46 -0800

I want to buy a sink for my bathroom. The sink I want is an American Standard. The toilet I already bought is a Kohler. Both are listed as white, but I can't tell if the whites match. Any one know a good resource for checking this out? I could go to the Depot, but they don't have exactly the sink I'm looking for, so I will probably have to do a internet faith order.