How often toilet brushes need replacing to keep your bathroom clean

One man has reached out to the internet for advice after the question of when to replace their toilet brush divided his household.

The husband shared the debate in a post on Reddit's Cleaning Tips page to find out how often most people throw them out.

"My wife is insisting that we need to replace the toilet brush monthly. This seems rather wasteful to me, how often do you all replace yours? If ever?" he wrote.

There were plenty on the husband's side, agreeing toilet brushes don't need to be replaced quite that often.

"It does not need to be changed monthly that's just ridiculous. All you have to do is clean it. I only replace it when it doesn't work well," one said.

"I keep it until it's not cleaning well enough, when the bristles get less effective. You can just bleach it every month. Don't throw it away," another wrote.

Some, however, aren't changing their toilet brushes at all.

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"Till there is only a few bristles in it," a woman said.

"I've never replaced mine that I can recall," another wrote.

Some are the opposite, preferring toilet brushes with heads that can be thrown away after each use.

"Look into the Clorox toilet wand. It's sanitary and easy to use," one commented.

"This is what I use. The thought of having a toilet brush sitting there with bacteria and water… makes me sick… So this is my compromise," a Redditor said.

A few people suggested using a silicone toilet brush since it doesn't have bristles or sit in water after use, but this type of toilet brush has been criticised by many professional cleaners because they don't scrub effectively, making them pointless.

How often toilet brushes should be replaced

There is a recommended time toilet brushes should be replaced and it is between six months to a year.

Microbiologist and author of The Germ Code, Jason Tetro, changes his yearly and explains this is necessary because the bristles on the brush become less effective at removing "stuff" on the toilet bowl surface over time because they break down from use.

"And when I say stuff, it's not just simply visible, it's also what we call invisible biofilms, because what ends up happening is, even if you have running water, bacteria can grow... and they can actually stick to hard surfaces. And over the course of time, they can grow communities, and that can be happening in your toilet bowl," he told The Huffington Post.

Toilet brushes are actually quite easy to clean and keep in good condition, despite what many people assume.

How to clean a toilet brush

The easiest way to clean a toilet brush is to sandwich it in between the toilet seat and the bowl – which you would likely have cleaned before, using the brush to scrub inside.

Then use a jug or cup to pour water over the brush, rotating the handle as you do so to rinse the bristles.

Next, spray the toilet brush with disinfectant and let it sit for the amount of time recommended on the bottle – usually 10 minutes.

When the time is up give it a final rinse and then leave it to dry. This step is crucial as it prevents the bristles from getting discoloured and a puddle of water pooling at the bottom of your toilet brush holder.

Understandably the brush might not be able to sit there long enough if people need to use the toilet. In this case you can pop it in an empty bucket (which you can disinfect later) or somewhere outside to dry.

It's also good to dust and disinfect the toilet brush holder while the brush is out of it, otherwise you're just putting a clean brush into a germy container.

Once it's completely dry pop it back in the holder and it'll be clean and good to go for the next use and many cleaning sessions to come.

Following those cleaning steps means you can keep your toilet brush going strong for six months to a year, saving you money and reducing waste.

Another handy tip is to look for toilet brushes with replaceable heads. That way you don't need to throw the entire brush and container out when it needs replacing, instead you just remove the used head and screw on a new one.

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