Sep 6, 2010

A little potty talk

Not that kind, silly.  This is a serious water closet conversation.

I occasionally mention Flylady - in fact, I typically sing her praises.  I think her ideas and routines are awesome.  Wish I followed them all, but I don't.  (My sink is shined every night and those of you who know anything about her system will know what that means.)  I embrace her general principles and salute her passion for helping us all become more organized and in control of our homes and lives.

However, there is one area where Flylady and I aren't on the same page:  the toilet bowl.  She advocates a daily swish-and-swipe of your bowl, using nothing more than a little soap (leftover shampoo or something similar) or just water from the toilet bowl itself.

Not to get too graphic or gory, but errrmmm, that would seem to make your bowl brush a breeding ground for bacteria.  So I don't heed her advice on the daily swish thing, instead preferring a weekly scouring with a disinfecting cleaner, and then a buff job with a soft cloth.  I know my way leaves everything fairly clean from one week to the next, and I can always do a midweek emergency cleaning if need be.  (My desire for a clean toilet has always been driven by the fear of someday coming face-to-face with it in a time of crisis.  Hugging the bowl is most definitely a low point anyway...you surely want to know the bowl has been recently disenfected, right?)

This came to mind because my bowl brushes are about ready for replacement.  Every time I read her admonition to swish and swipe each day, I wrestle with the desire for a daily tidying vs. getting the heebie jeebies just thinking about a gnarly bowl brush sitting there beside each toilet.  Maybe I'll scout out some new brushes that have a little deeper water-tight compartment, and try the daily thing with a healthy squirt of disinfecting cleaner and water.  (No young children or curious pets to worry about getting in it.) 

And while we're on the delicate subject of uhhh, toilets, I can now say I've bought toilet paper at the strangest place ever: Staples.   They carry the Marcal Small Steps brand of toilet paper, which is 100% post-recycled paper.  (Yeah, recycled toilet paper..there's a joke in there somewhere.)

Kroger's carried this brand for a while, but the last time I needed to stock up, I couldn't find it. When I spotted a 48-roll pack at Staples for $16.99, I snagged it in a heartbeat. But I felt a little self-conscious lugging this ginormous package of TP from an office supply store.  At least it will last us a while...maybe Kroger's will have it in stock when I need to buy more?