How Dirty is Your Toilet Bowl? Here's a Closer Look

From the handle to the seat to the tank, the toilet bowl is a throne that's teeming with harmful germs. No matter how expensive the brand is or whatever modern fixtures it has, your toilet bowl is not safe from microbes such as E. coli, shigella, streptococcus, and staph that can cause diarrhea, jaundice, and typhoid.

Here are more dirty details about the toilet and, more importantly, how to take proper action:

Cushioned or wooden toilet seats harbor a lot of germs.

They may feel comfortable and look stylish, but cushioned or wooden toilet seats are made of porous material that's prone to absorbing moisture, making them the ideal breeding ground for germs.

Germ-free tip: Get a plastic toilet seat, which is easy to clean and maintain.

The toilet flusher handle isn't safe, too.

Because it's the last part of the toilet bowl you come in contact with after doing your business, the flusher is populated with the same germs found inside the bowl.

Germ-free tip: Regularly disinfect the flusher. Wipe it with a fabric soaked in disinfectant.

Toilet plume is real, and it's dangerous.

Every time you flush the toilet with the lid up, toilet plume, a fine spray that contains aerosolized traces of feces and germs, shoots up and the dirty droplets can land on the surrounding area inside your bathroom.

Germ-free tip: Make it a habit to put the lid down before you flush, and keep your bathroom essentials such as toothbrushes, combs, and towels far away from the bowl.

A regular toilet bowl can harbor 50 different types of bacteria per square inch.

Aside from the dangerous bacteria mentioned above, there are other dangerous microbes that can compromise your health. Just imagine how many microbes will breed in it every time you use the toilet. Nasty!

Germ-free tip: Disinfect the toilet bowl once a week using a specialist cleaner.

Using laundry bleach and detergent to clean the toilet is not enough. Domex Ultra Thick Bleach has an ultra-thick formula that contains sodium hypochlorite, the most effective disinfectant that kills all known germs. Unlike that of thin solutions, its efficacy lasts up to seven flushes, giving your toilet long-lasting protection. You can also use it as an all-around surface cleaner.

Domex Ultra Thick Bleach is available in groceries and supermarkets nationwide.