Purple stains on toilet seats aren’t as common as some other types of stains, so when you initially discover one, they can be quite alarming. As with any stain, knowing what causes one and how to remove it can also help you prevent it from coming back again.
Purple stains on a toilet seat can be caused by bacteria or because of remnants of cleaning chemicals you’ve used in the past. In some less common circumstances, if you happen to be pregnant, hormones that exist in your urine can break down a toilet’s coating over time and cause purple staining.
Being more cautious about the cleaning products you choose can help you avoid making purple stains worse.
What Causes Purple Stains On Toilet Seats?
Purple stains on your toilet seat might sound strange, but they happen, and they happen more often than you think. Stains in just about any color of the rainbow can occur in or on your toilet.
You don’t want any of these stains sticking around, so knowing how to identify them and get rid of them is your first step. Your second step will be to try and prevent these stains from coming back and causing you unneeded stress.
Potential Bacteria
Bacteria is inevitable in any bathroom, and not all bacteria is bad. However, there’s pretty much no good bacteria that can survive in a bathroom; it’s all bad. One such example of a bacteria that forms on a toilet is Serratia Marcescens, and it’s usually either purple or pink. This bacteria can be bad for your respiratory system.
No matter what kind of bacteria is turning your toilet a weird color, it’s important to disinfect the area so you can kill any chance it has to continue growing and potentially spread outside of your toilet throughout the rest of your bathroom. You don’t necessarily have to use bleach to disinfect, but you should wear gloves while you clean.
Cleaning Products
Toilet bowl cleaners and cleaners designed specifically for bathrooms can be mixed with all kinds of dyes that can cause colorful stains, including purple stains. Moreover, the chemicals that are in a lot of these cleaners are known to interact with minerals in your water, leading to stains, gunk buildup, and more nuisances to clean.
Some of these products won’t wash away with a simple flush. If you’re set on using these cleaners, you might want to consider pouring some water into your toilet bowl after use so these products are properly rinsed.
Pregnancy Hormones
Your less likely culprit for purple staining is pregnancy hormones, but as anyone who has been pregnant knows, nothing is out of the realm of possibility during this time. Strangely enough, pregnancy hormones can sometimes interact with the protective coating that’s on some toilets.
As you naturally produce some sweat and create moisture when sitting on a toilet, your hormones could interact with said coating, leaving a purple-hued residue behind.
How To Clean Purple Stains Off Toilet Seats
Choosing your cleaning products wisely is the first step in getting rid of your purple stains. You don’t want to use the same products that might be causing your stains in the first place.
Going homemade with your cleaning products isn’t just economical, but knowing what to mix together to make a good toilet cleaner will give you far better results than most of the products you’ll find on the shelves in stores.
Baking Soda, Vinegar, And Oil
Vinegar and baking soda almost never fail when they come together to clean toilet stains. White vinegar can be diluted with some water in a spray bottle if you find the scent to be strong. You can also mix in a couple of drops of an essential oil that you like to add some fragrance to your toilet bowl.
Give your toilet a good rinse with some water before sprinkling some baking soda on the stained areas. Spray your white vinegar all over your toilet seat and bowl, making sure to hit those spots where the stains are. If you let the two products work together to penetrate those stains for a few minutes, you’ll get a much more effective clean.
Using a bristle brush or a sponge, wipe the vinegar and baking soda into your toilet to make sure any remnants of the staining is wiped away. Give your toilet a thorough rinse once again with water. Once your toilet dries, a spray or wipe with some disinfectant is a good idea.
Dish Soap And Baking Soda
A mild, gentle dish soap without any added colors and some baking soda work in tandem to give your toilet a nice refresh while also getting rid of purple stains. Mix together about a half cup of dish soap, a half cup of water, and one and two-thirds a cup of baking soda.
Stir the mixture well before pouring it into a spray bottle, then apply the spray generously around your toilet. Scrub at the stains after letting your concoction sit for a few minutes. Be sure you rinse the entire area with a lot of warm water once you’re finished.
Bleach And Water
You should try and limit your use of bleach to clean your toilet. Too much of it can cause its own form of staining on your toilet, and it’s also tricky to use bleach safely. If you need a very deep clean for your toilet, you can accomplish this by mixing one liter of water with 100 milliliters of bleach.
When you mix these two products together and apply the mixture to your toilet, make sure you wear a mask and gloves and either open a window or turn on your bathroom fan. Using a spray bottle helps you avoid any spills. Let the mixture soak into the stains for a few minutes before wiping the mixture into the toilet with a sponge.
You want to make sure you give your toilet a very good rinse with warm water afterward. Your purple stains should be gone and any bacteria should be sufficiently killed.
How To Prevent Purple Stains On Toilet Seats
There isn’t a lot you can do to prevent purple stains on your toilet seats, but that’s because they are somewhat easy to avoid.
Clean Your Toilets Regularly
It sounds like unneeded advice, but you need to clean your toilet more carefully and more often. Not everyone can clean their toilet every day, but doing it as much as possible will help prevent all kinds of staining that results from a variety of causes. It also keeps your toilet safe to use.
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to consider all the things your toilet encounters on a daily basis. It handles a lot of waste, it’s filled with water that can breed bacteria and germs, and there is usually a high amount of mineral content in your toilet water.
Use Water Softener
Whether you’re dealing with pregnancy hormones or frequent staining in your toilet despite cleaning often, having a water softener could mitigate a lot of that staining. Water softener helps reduce the high concentration of minerals that swirl around in your toilet that can interact with cleaners and waste to cause frequent stains.