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These reusable and disposable toilet brushes will keep your throne sparkling.
The bathroom is arguably everyone's least favorite room of the house to clean, especially when it's time to clean the toilet. None of it is fun, but it's all necessary to keep you healthy and safe from harmful bacteria, plus there's something so calming about a fresh, clean-smelling bathroom. We don't usually give toilet brushes much thought until our old one gets smelly or loses its shape, but a toilet brush that doesn't clean well or is difficult to use or just never dries (yikes!) is a nightmare.
The Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab is continuously testing the best cleaning appliances and tools to keep your entire home in tip-top shape. Through the years, we've tested thousands of vacuums, washing machines, floor cleaners and more. To put together this list of best toilet brushes, our cleaning expert tested 12 toilet brushes by applying a sunflower butter mixture to a ceramic toilet bowl, then determining the number of swipes it took for each brush to completely clean inside the toilet bowl and under its rim. We also noted how easy each toilet brush was to use, clean and store. The holders each toilet brush came in were also evaluated for ease of cleaning and how easily they tipped over.
This toilet brush from OXO has the look and feel of a traditional toilet brush with added angled bristles to clean under the rim. In our test, all it took was five swipes around the toilet bowl for this toilet brush to completely rid the bowl of messes. We found this toilet brush handle easy to hold and didn't have to turn our hands at uncomfortable angles to clean every side of the toilet bowl.
The brush holder keeps the brush out of sight when not in use and has a ventilated drip tray to keep your brush from sitting in a puddle of water. This allows for quick drying of the brush to deter odors and bacteria.
A superstar in our tests, the Looeez tackled our sunflower butter mixture easily, requiring only four swipes around the bowl to completely remove all traces of the mess. Because of the space in between each of the six blades, no debris became stuck in this brush, and it covered a large area of the bowl with each swipe. The brush head is flexible enough to make contact with all sides of the bowl without much effort and has perfectly angled top blades to reach under the rim easily.
This brush holder from Better Living is surprisingly sturdy, requiring a deliberate push to tip it over. It's easy to clean and small enough to fit neatly in a corner of your bathroom.
At a fraction of the price of most of our other picks, this quick-drying silicone toilet brush from Sellemer comes in a slim, easy-to-store holder. Our expert tested three brushes with this untraditional shape, and this one was their favorite thanks to it's cleaning performance. The Sellemer toilet brush cleaned most of the sunflower butter mixture from a toilet bowl after seven swipes around the bowl.
The brush holder is ventilated to allow the silicone brush to dry quickly and can be easily mounted on your wall, freeing up space on your bathroom floor. A drip tray in the holder keeps your floor dry and keeps the brush out of contact with any water that drains away.
This drip-free toilet brush has its holder built directly onto the handle so once you’re done cleaning, simply click one button to snap it in place and it’s ready to store. No more dripping toilet water on your bathroom floor as you take the brush from the bowl to the caddy. During testing, our expert found that the toilet brush holder retracted high enough on the handle to keep the holder out of the way and the brush cleaned our test debris in just six swipes around the bowl. After cleaning, the brush remains elevated above any water dripping into the holder and is easy to rinse and dry thanks to a completely exposed side.
For a disposable option that you won't have to remember to clean, look no further than the ToiletWand from Clorox. The scrubbing head begins dispensing cleaner as soon as it comes into contact with the toilet bowl and contains the perfect amount of cleaner for a single use. You don't have to touch the cleaning head to attach or detach it from the handle, making this toilet bowl brush another hygienic option for your home. Plus, since it contains cleaner, it's the only one of our picks that kills bacteria and viruses without the addition of another product. After scrubbing, let the cleaner sit for five minutes to sanitize the bowl or 10 minutes to disinfect. The holder is big enough to hold about ten pad refills at a time while taking up the same amount of space as a traditional toilet brush.
You can save space in your bathroom by storing your toilet brush with your plunger. This combo from Libman does just that, storing both in a well-ventilated holder that allows for easy drying of both bathroom tools. With just five swipes around the toilet bowl, the Libman toilet brush cleaned most of the sunflower butter from our test toilet bowl. Even with a slightly shorter handle than the other toilet brushes our expert tested, they found this brush easy to use and required no extra bending forward to reach into the furthest parts of the toilet bowl.
To find the best toilet brushes to clean your toilet bowl, our Cleaning Lab expert scoured the web for all of the most popular toilet brushes available to consumers. There are hundreds, if not thousands of toilet brushes on the market — everything from traditional bristle brushes to silicone and biodegradable brushes made from coconut husks. We chose the 12 toilet brushes that best represented what is currently available on the market and put them all through the same performance and ease of use tests.
After spreading a sunflower butter paste onto the inside of a toilet bowl and allowing it to air dry for twenty minutes, each brush was used to clean the bowl with no additional toilet bowl cleaner (except for the Clorox ToiletWand [pictured] which has cleaner built-in to the scrubbing head). After just over 130 total swipes around the bowl, our expert made note of the number of swipes that were made with each brush to remove the paste, along with the effort that was required by the expert to reach all sides of the toilet bowl. We also noted how well each brush cleaned under the rim and how easily the brush and holder were to clean and store. To test the sturdiness of the toilet brush holders, our expert pushed and pulled on the holders making note of how easily each tipped over.
Shopping for a toilet brush seems pretty simple, but when we're given so many options it can be difficult to make a choice. Here are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for the best toilet brush for your home.
✔️ Bristles vs. Silicone: There are two kinds of brush heads that make up the majority of the toilet brushes on the market — plastic bristles and silicone. While both kinds of toilet brushes will get your toilet bowl clean, most silicone brushes require a little more effort and wrist maneuvering than ones with plastic bristles. Silicone brushes trap less water in the brush head and can be more durable than the traditional plastic bristle brushes. On the other hand, traditional plastic bristle toilet brushes are easy to use, clean well and are more readily available at local stores. ✔️ Brush Holder: The holder for your toilet brush is as important as the toilet brush itself. The holder should provide proper ventilation for quick drying and odor control. Also, consider how much space you have on your bathroom floor for the holder. You may prefer a wall-mounted option. ✔️ Price: Toilet brushes cost anywhere from under $5 at your local grocery store to well over $100. Buying a reusable toilet brush should be about a twice-a-year purchase for your home. How much you are comfortable spending on this bathroom cleaning tool is up to you, and it is important to note that the price of the brush is not necessarily indicative of how well it will clean your toilet bowl. Disposable toilet brushes will also add an extra expense when you need to buy refills.
Most manufacturers recommend replacing your toilet brush every six months or whenever your brush becomes discolored, begins to lose bristles or has an odor that can not be washed away. Many toilet brushes, like our best overall toilet brush from OXO, offer replacement heads that can be purchased instead of buying a whole new toilet brush, minimizing both cost and the amount of plastic waste you produce. If you are using a disposable toilet brush, you should replace the toilet brush head after every single use.
Jodhaira Rodriguez joined the Good Housekeeping Institute in 2021. She tests and writes about home appliances, cleaning products and tips on cleaning. She holds a B.S. in forensic science from Hofstra University and previously worked in an environmental lab where she sharpened the analytical skills she applies in her testing of vacuums, dishwashers, detergents and more.