In the field of home-cleaning, anti-bacterial toilet cleaning is seen by many as a “secret weapon” to keep the toilet healthy, and it is even believed that, if used frequently, the toilet will remain sterile forever. However, it is simply a good illusion, hidden behind it is an overzealous expectation and misunderstanding of clean products.
Antibacterial toilet cleaners usually contain a variety of chemical components, such as surfactants, fungicides (such as chlorinators, ammonium salt compounds, etc.) and some assistive cleaning components. Surface active agents can help to remove stains, greases and organic impurities from the toilet ‘ s surface and to make them fresh; microbes such as bacteria, fungi and viruses are the agents responsible for the suppression or elimination of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, reducing the risk of disease in the toilet and providing some protection for family health.
But the term “never again” is scientifically untenable. First, the vitality and adaptability of bacteria is beyond imagination. The wet, warm and frequent exposure of the toilet to human excreta provides an ideal hotbed for bacteria. Although antibacterial toilet cleaning agents can reduce bacteria at the time of use, it is not possible to prevent new bacteria from reaccumulating and breeding. For example, common intestinal bacteria, such as bacterium coliform and fascist fungi, have a strong ability to survive and may enter the toilet environment continuously through air, currents, human contact, etc., even after the toilet has been cleaned and after a moment the bacteria may once again “camp”.
Second, antibacterial toilet cleaners have limited and will vary over time and under conditions of use. As cleaners are used repeatedly, their active ingredients will be consumed and their fungicide capacity reduced. At the same time, the presence of sludge residues, water dumps or inappropriate cleaning agent concentrations on toilet surfaces can affect the performance of their antibacterial properties. Moreover, some bacteria may produce resistance during long-term exposure to cleaning agents, rendering their otherwise effective antibacterial components ineffective, thus creating a “bacterical fortress” on toilets that is difficult to remove.
Moreover, the toilet is complex and has many hard-to-reach corners and cracks, such as the dent below the toilet seat, around the flush hole, where anti-bacterial toilet cleaning agents are difficult to reach for thorough cleaning and fungicide. Even when the surface looks clean and sterile, these hidden corners may still hide dirt, become a source of bacterial breeding and propagation and inadvertently threaten the health of families.
In addition, over-reliance on anti-bacterial toilet cleaning can pose other problems. On the one hand, the frequent use of cleaning agents with strong chemical components can damage toilet materials, leading to reduced surface glossiness, reduced materials, etc., and reduced toilet life. On the other hand, with the extensive use of cleaning agents, residual chemical substances may become contaminated with the environment as they enter the sewers, affecting the balance of aquatic ecosystems.
We should look at the role of anti-bacterial toilet cleaners correctly. It is indeed an important tool for keeping toilets clean, but it must not be blindly believed to make them permanently sterile. In everyday life, in addition to the rational use of anti-bacterial toilet cleaning agents, toilet cleaning should be carried out at regular intervals, such as the use of brushes to carefully wash cracks and corners and the use of fresh water to wash them thoroughly, in order to reduce the opportunities for bacterial breeding. At the same time, maintaining a good ventilation environment in the bathroom also helps to reduce humidity and inhibit bacterial growth. It is only through a combination of clean methods and good hygiene practices that we can succeed in a “permanent battle” with the bacteria in the toilet, creating a truly healthy and clean living environment for the family, rather than being caught in the wrong zone of “perhaps”.
