When you think about it, toilets are pretty gross. Public toilets can be used up to 100 times a day, that means 100 people are using them. It is said that whenever a toilet is flushed it releases over 5000 bacteria into the air. So, when you walk into a public restroom that is well frequented, there can be up to half a million bacteria or virus particles in the air. Those bacteria can land on handles, sinks, faucets and even the paper towels that you use to wipe your hands after you have washed them. You can use all the antimicrobial soap in the world but it won't do you any good if your smearing those dirty germs, bacteria and viruses onto your hands after you have used the soap. If you walk into a public restroom and it doesn't look clean my advice is to walk straight out. If it looks dirty to your eyes imagine how it would look under a microscope. One of the dirtiest places in a bathroom is the toilet but a toilet can be kept clean very easily with regular maintenance. If you want to try an experiment don't clean your toilet for 4 weeks and see what happens. Slowly right above the waterline a black or brownish ring will form. If you let your toilet go a little longer before cleaning, that black ring will slowly start to climb in vertical lines toward the toilet rim (by the way, that ring is about 6 inches from your behind whenever you sit down on your toilet). What is that black ring? The nasty black ring is bacteria and micro fecal buildup. A pretty nasty combination when you consider every time you flush your toilet your breathing them in.

There are many things you can do to avoid the nasty black ring on your toilet. The first is to use a low acid toilet bowl cleaner to kill the bacteria. The second is to get your self a really good toilet bowl brush or toilet bowl mop to scrub that acid around in the toilet and remove those ugly stains.

Toilet bowl brushes come in many styles but most are made from a material called polypropylene. Polypropylene won't mold and can stand up to heat and chemicals. Polypropylene strands are abrasive and can do a great job at removing the nasty toilet ring. The two main styles of toilet bowl cleaning utensils are the toilet bowl mops and toilet bowl brushes. A toilet bowl brush resembles a brush and has a wide stiff polypropylene bristle. Brushes tend to last a lot longer that toilet bowl mops because the bristle is larger and does not break away from the toilet bowl brush handle. Toilet bowl mops are meant to be discarded after repeated use and are considered by most to be a disposable toilet cleaning product. Toilet bowl mops have a ball of polypropylene strands massed at one end to form a light duty scouring surface. Over time the strands tend to break off and the mop should be discarded. Toilet bowl mops are usually a quarter of the price of toilet bowl brushes and most are have a plastic handle.