Toilets are of course a total godsend. After all, since the invention of modern indoor problem, the level of sanitariness has increased greatly, coupled with far fewer diseases linked to human waste. With that being said, as convenient as it is to just flush your waste down the pipe, sometimes it doesn’t flush, at least not all of it.
Sometimes poop stays in your toilet other times it sticks it, and yeah, it’s nasty. So, how can you keep poop from sticking to your toilet? Continue reading to find out.
Why Does Poop Stick to a Toilet Bowl?
Alright, so while you might think that poop sticking to a toilet is pretty straightforward. But, as you are about to find out, there are actually several possible causes as to why this might happen, with most having to do with the toilet itself.
1. A Fatty Diet
The first reason why poop might be sticking to your toilet more than it should is if you have a very fatty diet. Fat is not water-soluble, and it floats on water. So, if some of the waste gets onto the inside of the toilet bowl, particularly if the toilet bowl is dry, when you flush, the water, instead of washing the poop away, will simply run over it. Now, this could be due to a very fatty diet, or it could be due to digestion issues. Keep this in mind, because after all has been said and done, there might just be a cause for you to go see a physician or a gastroenterologist.
2. A Dirty Toilet
Another cause of poop excessively sticking to toilets is a dirty toilet. If you never clean your toilet, dirt and debris build up over time. Old urine and waste stains combined with god-knows-what-else will eventually stick to the inside of the bowl. This creates a so-called snowball effect. The more dirt is in your toilet, the more poop sticks, and this buildup will start to accelerate over time. Simply put, dirt sticks to dirt. The existing waste and dirt give the new waste a great place to hold onto. By not cleaning your toilet, you are providing the waste with a foothold.
3. Hard Water Deposits
The next cause of poop sticking to toilet bowls is hard water. To be specific, magnesium and calcium in toilet water will stick to the inside of your toilet bowl, which is what we know as being hard water deposits (hard water is water that has high concentrations of magnesium and calcium). As these minerals stick to the inside of your toilet, deposits build up, and they become rough bumps. Just like dirt and waste providing new poop with a good foothold, so do these rough and bumpy hard water deposits.
4. Damage or Defects
One of the primary reasons why poop might stick to a toilet is due to a defective toilet or due to recent damage. What we are talking about here are any chips or areas where the coating or glaze is missing. As soon as there is any sort of damage of this nature, it causes the interior surface of the toilet bowl to become very rough. As we have already discovered, rough surfaces provide that poop with a good place to hang onto.
5. Not Enough Flushing Power
Another common problem that toilets face in this regard, especially modern low flow toilets, is that sometimes they just don’t have enough muscle to get it done. Either they don’t have enough water or enough force, or both, to flush all of the poop down. Although having a toilet that uses lots of water won’t help your wallet, it will certainly help to keep poop from sticking.
6. Dry Porcelain
The sixth and final reason why poop sticks to the toilet is because the porcelain is dry. If you have a really wet poop, and the porcelain is dry, it is more likely to stick. Simply put, wet sticks to dry. It’s simple physics really.
7 Best Ways to Keep Poop from Sticking to Your Toilet
Now that we know exactly why poop sticks to the inside of toilets, we can now figure out how to stop this problem from occurring in the first place.
1. Improve Your Diet
OK, so we figured that we would get this one out of the way because after all, your health is very important. If you notice that you have a lot of digestion problems, you have an irregular schedule, and often have diarrhea (and especially if you eat a lot of fatty and greasy foods), then this is probably the cause of the problem. If this is the case, we recommend changing your diet for the better, and seeing a doctor who is knowledgeable on the matter probably wouldn’t hurt either.
2. Clean the Toilet
Seeing as one of the main reasons for poop sticking to your toilet is a dirty toilet, one of the most obvious solutions here is to keep your toilet clean. We recommend doing spot cleaning, or in other words, when you see dirt, clean it. There is absolutely no point in letting dirt and debris build up, especially because it will cause poop to stick. People, cleaning your toilets not only cleans current dirt but also helps prevent the new stuff from sticking.
3. Use a Water Softener
If you notice that your other fixtures have white deposits, then hard water is to blame. If this is the case, the only real solution at your disposal (to get rid of the existing build up), is to use a chemical hard water stain remover. In terms of preventing this from occurring in the future, outfitting your home water system with a water softener is the only real solution. For more, read my article on preventing hard water stains in a toilet.
4. Reglaze the Toilet
If you notice that the inside of your toilet is rough, no longer shiny, or just has visible damage, then you may need to reglaze it. Now, reglazing a toilet is probably something that you won’t be able to do on your own, so you will need to hire a professional. In some cases, it might actually be cheaper to buy a new toilet.
5. Increase Flushing Power
OK, so you obviously cannot just easily increase the flushing power of your existing toilet, but buying a new toilet that uses more water and offers a stronger flush is always an option. In some cases, though, you might be able to convert a low-flow toilet into a high-flow one.
6. Flush Before Use
If you flush the toilet before you use it, although you will waste water, you will coat the interior of the bowl with a layer of water. If the toilet bowl is already wet when waste hits it, it’s much more likely to slide down into the water rather than sticking.
7. Get a Toilet Cleaning Tab
A toilet cleaning tab that helps to remove dirt before it gets a chance to stick can definitely help too.
Mistakes to Avoid, Tips & Tricks
Lastly, here are some additional tips to help you with solving this issue:
- If you have taken all of the necessary steps in terms of your toilet, we do recommend seeing a doctor to see if you have any issues that require treatment.
- Honestly, although the methods listed above do all work fine for their intended purpose, some of them do waste a lot of water. Our world is not in a position where we can afford to be wasteful with natural resources, so try to go for the more eco-friendly alternatives.
Summary
Now that you know why poop sticks to toilets, you can take the right steps to stop it from happening. Keep your toilets clean folks!