Why is my toilet seat turning blue? Struggling to understand what caused your normally white toilet seat has turned bluish over time? And how to get rid of this lovely blue color, and avoid this problem in the future? Then this article is for you!
Have you bought new blue jeans recently?
If you wear blue clothing a lot, or you just recently washed your blue trousers, or wear blue jeans in the rain – what can happen is that the blue dye can stain your skin!
Once stained, if that part of the body comes into contact with anything (especially white!), it is very likely to stain it too thus causing blue stains on the seat!
From a single time, nothing will happen – but if you live close to the seaside (or have high humidity!) and go to the bathroom in wet jeans quite often, over time you may notice your once white seat becoming a blue toilet seat phenomenon.
Why is my toilet seat turning blue
Water pH
Hard toilet water, along with the increased rust levels from the pipes, can contribute to making a blue toilet seat.
Same with the residue from copper pipes – if you are aware that there are copper pipes in your house, and you started to notice that your toilet seat turning blue, this is a potential health hazard.
Copper residue is not safe to drink! Thus, if you like drinking from the tap, and you notice a blue toilet seat in your house, try to solve it by installing a filtration system first and see whether the situation improves and the toilet rings disappear.
Medical condition
Chromhidrosis is a rare medical condition that can make your bodily fluids like sweat turn blue! That is usually diagnosed during the teenage years of the individual. And yes, it can affect the color of your toilet seat!
Let’s not dive into medical terminology – simply speaking, chromhidrosis makes you have colored sweat and urine. This is happening due to the color pigment getting mixed into the sweat produced in the so-apocrine glands (so-called sweat glands) – and the pigment can be not only blue, but also brown, black, and gray color.
So, if you decide to use a bathroom after doing some physical exercise, and you are aware you have this condition that makes you have colored sweat, this may cause the stain and turn your toilet seat blue.
One of the family members may be pregnant
Whether it is not always the reason, as superstitious as it may sound, pregnancy can cause the toilet seat to turn blue!
When someone is expecting a child, the level of pregnancy hormones, estrogen, and progesterone, in their body, is changing. The pregnancy hormone changes can result in lower pH levels meaning that the urine is more acidic than alkali – thus causing a blue toilet seat problem!
Microorganisms
So many things about the bacteria are yet to be researched. However, scientists agree that certain bacteria may take part in making a toilet seat turning blue.
Bacteria present in the bathroom are so small that they are not visible to the naked human eye. However, it is not ruled out that certain bacterium types can live on such surfaces as toilet bowl and toilet tank (as well as other surfaces) and interact with dirt particles on the toilet seat thus making toilet seats blue.
image credit: mavink.com
Some of them may even be present in toilet water! Under certain circumstances, this microorganism colony may grow and the toilet seat turn blue.
Mold
Sometimes what you may think are blue stains may end up being nothing else than mold on the toilet seat.
If you were thinking of cleaning toilet seats tomorrow day after day, but not doing it – don’t be surprised if your toilet starts turning blue. Though blue color can be nice, having mold in the house is dangerous, eventually causing respiratory disease for the inhabitants of the house.
If you spot mold on the blue toilet seats, try to use dedicated mold removers, or if those fail, just get a new toilet seat straightaway – as mold will spread unless dealt with.
FAQs
How do you fix a blue toilet seat?
Blue toilet seats are a common problem in today’s households, and you can try several things to combat it and restore your blue toilet seat to its original color.
Baking soda
Baking soda has a wide range of applications and can help you not only in baking but also in toilet cleaning. It can help remove blue stains on your toilet seats in combination with vinegar in no time!
To get rid of small blue stains that are likely to be caused by the colored dye, try to mix 1/3 cup of soda and 1/3 cup of white vinegar.
However, if the stain is more complex (i.e., was caused by the “blue sweat” issue, you can try 1-part vinegar to 2-part baking soda solution.
Tip: Try to apply the vinegar baking soda solution as soon as possible after making it. Whilst the chemical reaction is still active, it is most effective at removing the blue stain.
Rubbing alcohol
Rubbing alcohol is an easy way to remove blue stains from your toilet seat. Here is how to use it if your toilet seat turns blue:
1. Take a cloth and soak it in the rubbing alcohol.
2. Leave a soaked cloth on the toilet seat for about 15-20 min., allowing alcohol to react with the blue stain on the plastic toilet seats.
3. Remove the cloth with rubbing alcohol from the toilet seat.
4. Take another clean cloth and wet it slightly.
5. Wipe down the toilet seat from the remainder of the solution with a clean slightly damp cloth.
6. Now that there is no alcohol residue on the seat, all you have to do is wipe a surface with a dry cloth or towel.
Bleach
Bleach and water solution can be efficient in removing blue stains. Mix equal amounts of bleach and water and use it to clean the blue toilet seat. After 10 minutes, wipe the toilet seat until there is no residue.
Warning: Never mix bleach and rubbing alcohol together. Both are very efficient in removing blue stains on their own, however, once mixed, they form a substance called chloroform. This is highly toxic for humans – it can injure the lungs, eyes, and liver just from breathing it in!
The Magic Eraser product
Those have become pretty common nowadays as they are very easy to use for households and relatively efficient if the toilet seat turns blue.
Just buy a magic eraser product, wet it a bit, and scrub the toilet seat turned blue until toilet seat discoloration disappears. Don’t forget to wipe the surface with wet wipes at the end to get rid of the residue!
Toilet cleaners
There are many efficient cleaners on the shelves nowadays already containing highly efficient chemical substances that will help you to sort the newly noticed blue stain (especially if it is likely to be linked to blue dye).
Read usage instructions on each toilet cleaner bottle very carefully – each one can have different directions of use.
Can sweat turn a toilet seat blue?
Yes, if you have chromhidrosis, this can be the case!
Though this condition is extremely rare, I would advise consulting a health professional if in doubt. If you have confirmed that you don’t have any medical issues, try to find another reason to answer “why is my toilet seat turning blue”.
Conclusion
It is quite hard to determine the exact reason to find an answer to “why is my blue toilet seat turning blue”. If the cause is something like a clothes dye, it can be solved (and cleaned!) easily.
However, if the copper pipes are involved, or some microorganisms cause the discoloration, sometimes, it may be even out of your hands to sort it out – and buying a new toilet seat can be just more efficient and less time-consuming in the end.
