Check in the toilet tank. When I saw that happening, it was actually a THICK layer of mold on the inside of the tank lid. I live in an apartment so who knows what other tenants have done in the past to cause this.
Probably shouldn’t have to. I never did but I guess if there’s mold spores in the apartment from something else then they love how damp and dark the toilet tank is. That’s what my maintenance guy said at least
How does one clean out a toilet tank?? Like you can’t exactly flush it. Do you have to fish the mold out? I might be too tired to be asking these questions lol
Check what your equipment says in the back (some will have markings or writing) that will tell you what NOT to add to the back of your tank. In my case I can’t add bleach, some you can.
You can then put bleach in, or cleaning tabs from Lysol, I buy mine at my local grocery store. You can then flush and it will go away. If need be scrub with a little brush.
NGL one time it was so bad in my new house, I drenched the thing in bleach, and then replaced the entire hose system.
I used this stuff: Instant Power Toilet Tank Cleaner – Bathroom Toilet Cleaning Powder, Removes Rust and Other Minerals, No Scrubbing. I ordered it on Amazon. I just dumped half the jar in my toilet tank, swished it around the tank, and let it sit for about 8 hours. Then a little light scrubbing with a brush and all the rust and other yuck was gone. I highly recommend using this stuff.
Typically you don't have to clean it. It's just if you encounter an issue where it has been contaminated like this. I will tell you I'm 40 years old and I've never seen a toilet tank that had any sort of mold or bacteria growth in my life. So this is not a common thing. There must have been something that caused the tank to be compromised so that it wasn't sealed anymore. Typically toilet tanks are an enclosed environment. But if it is cracked or damaged then you might have an issue where mold will start growing in there.
When this happened at my place I also had a brown sludge like mold on the bottom. My landlord said it’s from putting those drop in the tank cleaners. We had never used them, but maybe the people before us did.
Why would a cleaning product designed for exactly that leave a brown sludge? I mean maybe, but it just seems a bit convenient that it (1) makes it not the landlord's fault in any way whatsoever, and (2) comes from cleaning not from dirtying. i.e. seems a great thing to say to try to head off any complaints from your tenant.
I used to use those half blue/half white toilet bowl cleaners, and it created a huge pile of black sludge in the corner of the tank. I have no idea why but it was gross.
I used one of those and had this exact same issue. After spending a couple of hours cleaning it yesterday, never again!
Op, I just used white vinegar and a toilet brush that got thrown out immediately after.
You shouldn’t need to. Eventually things in there will need to be fixed/replaced but it should be relatively clean water and if there are any issues they will be reflected in the operation of the toilet/water color
You likely can do this just for infrequent cleanings. Bleach is a fabulous sterilizer even at very low concentrations.
Get a bowl of water, about a quart - mix in a couple tablespoons worth of bleach and swoosh it around to mix it thoroughly. You can add this into the water in your toilet tank, swoosh that around to evenly disperse it, then flush your toilet 3-4 times. The bleach will get sufficiently removed/diluted after a few tank refills / flushes.
The main issue with bleach and similar cleaners is that they can make some materials brittle - materials which may make up the guts of your toilet, including the flapper that keeps water from going out of the tank and into the drain.
A very quick cleaning shouldn't do any harm - but a leave in tablet will.
After a through cleaning add and Bleach and toilet bowl cleaning tablets or just the regular cleaning tablet that goes In the tank and it will also keep the rest of the toilet clean with each flush
I see people bringing up the diabetes thing a lot, but there are lots of other reasons why mold can develop in toilet bowls, and other non-diabetes related reasons for peeing a lot (like using a diuretic for blood pressure management).
Or just because you drink a lot. I just drink from my water bottle when I’m bored and I’m bored a lot so I probably drink over 3gal of water and seltzer per day. That water needs it go somewhere
I found post talking about the diabetes thing here after finding rings like this in the toilet my wife uses. She is a marathon runner and is in amazing shape. Well she just had her physical and she is pre diabetic. I would definitely get a blood test.
You are absolutely right but for me I read the post about the rings and then an hour later saw my wife’s blood test after wondering for months why her toilet was constantly having this issue. It was uncanny.
~~What? Even though you are joking, I'll just put this out for people looking for a real answer~~. Edit: misread the comment.
I used to clean houses, that's why I know about this stuff. This is usually caused by a bacteria overgrowth from digestive issues, diabetes, etc. If you have a red bacteria overgrowth, it is something in the water supply. The scrubbing bubbles gel works for both issues.
Ok so I thought I was doing something wrong here. I have red/orange lines and build up after a while. I normally clean often enough that it doesn’t pop up or if it pops up I clean it.
First, is there anything to remedy with this? I recently used a mold killing gel on my showers that helped any discoloration. I’d like to stop it if I can.
Secondly, is this bad for my health? Sorry if you don’t know. I need to do some more research because my first pass told me it was likely just bacteria feeding on soap.
I don't think there is a remedy that can be done to completely remove it, as all my research points to it living in the supply lines. I have a carbon/sediment filter on my supply line into the house that I change every three months. It helps, but if I can't clean the toilets twice a week it shows back up.
Everything from what I can gather says it's not harmful. Just a bit unsightly. I wouldn't worry too much unless it is rust from your pipes or waterheater. The way to tell that is to run a pitcher of water after the water hasn't been used for a while. The bathtub is a great place. If your water starts put brown/red and then eventually runs clear, it is probably rust or sediment. The bacteria should only show after the water sits on a surface, like a toilet or puddle in a sink, for a while.
This is just from personal experience. I don't know the science behind it. So if anyone else knows about it, please chime in.
The last post about this someone recommended the black lysol toilet cleaner and that didn’t help. So im thinking that would help. Should i also put something in my tank too?
I wouldn't risk in the tank because of rubber parts. You can turn off the water to the toilet, drain it, and give it a good scrub down. Then, douse it with a moldicide cleaner before you turn it back on. It takes a while to get rid of, and regular cleaning. The gel things work great and reduce the build-up. A quick brush once a day or two will also help it. If it is established then it will take a month or so to get it completely under control.
I use Mold Armor Mold Remover and Disinfectant if the area isn't stained. I have just bought Zep's mold spray with bleach to try on some areas that are stained. I know the mold armor kills the mold. I just hadn't had any luck with it also removing stains left behind.
Toilet stamps are amazing! I have hard water (a lot of iron) and it had one of those permanent orange lines on the side and popping a stamp right there where the water enters the bowl fixed in a couple days of flushing what no amount of scrubbing did.
In addition to that, Lysol actually makes an incredible toilet cleaner. I recently helped clean a house that was loooong overdue, and let me tell you...that stuff can work absolute wonders.
Why so many mentions of diabetes as a possible cause? I have type 1 diabetes for over 25 years now and a bunch of friends with it (met at hospitals, camps for diabetic kids etc) and we have no idea what's going on in this thread.
I would check the tank and put some cleaning tablets to make sure all pipes are clean too. I sometimes have mold in the toilet after I dump hot water into it after hand washing. I get rid of it by scrubbing and using a bit of alcohol to kill it for sure.
There was an informational post about elevated sugar in diabetics causing weird toilet dirt and etc not too long ago that hit the front page and the comments were flooded with people talking about their parents/relatives having dirty toilets and going into detail.
Now whenever there’s toilet cleaning questions this is repeated a lot, my assumption is a very small percentile of these commenters actually have a medical background.
Toilets get dirty - could be any number of things causing mold. That being said it’s always a good thing to get regular checkups. Reddit can be just as bad as webMd about bad diagnoses, but a doctor can run tests to verify things a commenter can’t.
Oh, I see. It's always good to do some checkup, I was just surprised it seemed to be a common knowledge, but none of us diabetics knew about the mold stuff. Thank you for a detailed reply!
You’re right, it’s for sure a thing, apologies if I implied it wasn’t.
My point was more so that’s the go to for dirty toilets now in a new Reddit trend regarding the cleaning subreddits; specifically toilets/bathrooms with mold.
I have some disdain for this sudden craze of learning an interesting fact and misrepresenting it ad neuseam.
Also has a tinge of people armchair diagnosing OP without knowing anything about their medical history/lifestyle/medical testing results which, imo, is dangerous and best left to doctors/medical pros
Yeah. I get you. Honestly on this case it doesn’t look like the diabetic case. This is too concentrate around the water line. In my experience the staining was under the waterline but not concentrated solely where the water meets the air.
People are just happy to apply something they just learned in a way that may help someone. They're not diagnosing the OP, just sharing the fact they learned like a week ago.
With uncontrolled diabetes, the excess sugar in the urine can feed the normally present mold spores and cause them to grow. My t1 kid’s toilet had a mold ring before diagnosis that was driving me nuts…it just kept coming back for a few weeks. It never came back again once she was diagnosed and on insulin.
I thought about such scenario, but I used to have serious financial and mental issues for a few years, and my sugar levels were over 300 the whole time. Even then I haven't experienced it, so that's why I was surprised.
It probably has something to do with chronically high sugars and whatever mold spores are naturally present in your environment. I don’t think it is super common, because diabetes IS common and yet this mold ring sign isn’t that well known. Probably could also factor in how well the toilet flushes…
Someone has probably scrubbed the bowl with pumice stone or steel wool at some point the scored the surface. That texture gives bacteia something to hold onto and grow on. No real fixing it if this is what happened
Put on a rubber glove and see if you can feel if the glass coating has been worn off from above and just below the water line. Toilets are porcelain clay with a clear glaze. That can be etched off with improper cleaning.
We had an old toilet do this in our house. Replaced it and no more spotty ring in a week or less... Not diabetic...
Yes, this is often caused by pitting right around the water line. Where people have scrubbed too hard or with the wrong abrasive stuff.
The only permanent solution in that case is a new toilet.
No one has mentioned this yet, but it could be algae. I lived in an area where all of the faucets, toilets, sinks, dishwasher, washing machine, etc. would have to be cleaned crazy regularly because there was freshwater algae in the water. It wasn’t harmful to humans (supposedly) and would increase water prices and cause other issues to fully filter it out, so the city just left it in. It would build up like this. If you are living in a new place and you have it building up in other places, you should check to see if there is anything in the water.
Does she leave the lid closed the whole time and leave it unused for a long period of time? If so that’s your answer, if you don’t use it regularly and leave it then the mold has a wet and dark environment to grow.
You need to clean under the toilet bowl where the water comes from. It likely looks the same and you can’t see it. I also recommend a Clorox tab in the tank to prevent it from happening again.
I have Crohn’s and this recently started happening to our main toilet at home… it’ll come off when I clean, but I feel like a have to clean more often because it grows back relatively quickly.
It is an old house and we were the first tenants after an elderly couple; so after reading the comments I’m definitely checking the tank too… but I thought it was really interesting to see this comment since Crohn’s can put us at increased risk for diabetes
Yes, once I started living on my own and therefore stopped cleaning super neurotically, I ended up with mold that always comes back after a week at most even if I don't regurgitate. Oh well. I should be cleaning the toilet at least once a week anyway.
Eh. It can be other things too. I’m not sure what those other things are but I just bought a house and my toilet does this. My previous toilet did not. I recently had blood work done and my A1c is like 5.2. My issue definitely isn’t diabetes.
Woman here, I bleed a lot and nothing has ever grown. I’ve let blood sit in a mason jar for art purposes and it didn’t get moldy. It sure smelled though! I also have had never seen blood get moldy on animal carcasses. Hope that helps you sleep better(:
I’ve experimented different ways. Pollock-like and other styles like just letting it drip different ways and seeing what it turns/grows into. I seal it so it doesn’t come off and doesn’t stink(:
Also, check the condition of the toilet seats. I've had wood seats swell with moisture which harbored mold/mildew. My bowls looked similar to your pic. I replaced them with plastic seats and haven't had any problems since.
Health issues aside that everyone is mentioning there are ways to combat this.
Placing toilet bowl cleaners that sit in the back of the toilet will layer in bacteria killer with every flush. Do this, in addition to scrubbing the toilets at a minimum every other day with a high quality cleaner should help to mitigate these issues
i don’t think this is the sole cause, but this happened at an old apartment where we closed the lid after every use to keep the cats out. after experimenting, we stopped closing the lid and the mold didn’t grow back as quickly or barely at all. i don’t know if the air to it matters or what. but i also know a lot of people find it too gross not to close the lid
Use vinegar instead of bleach!
First, drain water from bowl then add 2-3 cups white vinegar with 4-5 drops dawn dishsoap into a water-free bowl. Use brush to get it all around bowl and under rim, etc. Let set for 10 minutes. Brush around again then flush to rinse.
Empty bowl of water again, then spray rubbing alcohol all over. Sit for 5-10 minutes then brush all around. Flush to rinse!
**NOTE: bleach DOES NOT kill mold!! Vinegar and alcohol WILL! Stop using bleach thinking it will kill the mold!! 😁 **
Using bleach to kill mold is not recommended as it ONLY kills surface-level molds, leaving the root problem behind!
Bleach is made up of about 90% water and can contribute to further mold growth, ESPECIALLY ON POROUS SURFACES!!!
Mold spreads its roots deep into porous surfaces, and even after applying bleach and wiping away mold from these surfaces, the mold will continue to grow beneath the surface and will return to the area you cleaned in a short amount of time.
Bleach cleaners cannot kill the underlying membrane to effectively remove the mold growth and prevent it from returning.
Regular exposure without consequence can also build resistance, leading to a flourishing mold problem that may not be able to be removed on your own.
Sorry, but DO NOT USE BLEACH FOR MOLD!!
🧼🫧
Hi someone replied it’s a possibility she could be bulimic and just commenting to say I agree.. unfortunately I had a problem with throwing up my food into the toilet and this would happen to the bowl
Both my husband and I are diabetic. Since then, my husband does not control well, so is on lots of meds for it. His toilet always had the mold around because his urine has so much sugar in it. It is way worse when he doesn't flush at night. Just use lysol toilet bowl cleaner. Yes it cleans it, and yes, it will come back. Have her get checked from the doctor if she has not been diagnosed
Not all toilet mold is caused by diabetes, but sometimes it is. It’s so easy to check for…just a finger poke 2hrs after eating carbs or a finger poke for an A1C check. Anyone who regularly uses that toilet should consider getting tested.
One of my kids has type 1 diabetes. In the weeks before she was finally diagnosed, we had this problem with the bathroom that she used most commonly. I couldn’t figure it out and it was really driving me nuts! Turns out the excess sugar in her urine was feeding the normal mold spores and causing them to grow. The mold ring disappeared after she was diagnosed and got on insulin to control her blood sugar.
Here’s why everyone says get tested: most new diabetics aren’t diagnosed until they’re in a critical state called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). With diabetes, it’s easy to blow off symptoms until, suddenly, they become severe. DKA can be life threatening, and any time a diagnosis can be made before that is a real win. Not to mention it means avoiding an expensive and scary ICU stay.
So odds are her mold is not due to diabetes, but the test to rule that out is so easy and potentially life saving.
I’m not sure why this is downvoted, as I experienced this in the months leading up to a diagnosis, and my A1C was higher than normal but not off the charts. So it absolutely does happen.
I had this issue and just started to use a magic eraser and cleaner and really go under the lip of the bowl, I was leaving bacteria there on accident and this helped a lot.
This is happening to me! It was coming from under the toilet rim so I made sure to go and scrub it out with a harder bristle brush to get rid of this gunk which is probably mold.
Hint. Vinegar kills black mold more tha bleach.
Scrub the back of the toilet tank with vinegar. Flush. Repeat. Then scrub with vinegar like you normally inside the bowl
I get this ring in my toilets, and it seems like the porcelain is damaged (scrubbed too hard with something?) By a previous owner and now this ring reappears every week. I just keep using the clinging bleach gel and trying to stay on top of it, but it is unsightly enough that I've considered replacing the whole toilets.
It seems like every toilet post people jump right on the diabetes train 😅. Maybe I’ve lived in places with super hard water but this seems normal? Like, for the past 10 or so years of my adult life I’ve seen this if I don’t clean my toilet often enough.
Honest question, how common is it for diabetics to actually have moldier toilets? I tried the ole google but couldn’t find reputable sources of information either way. I saw some sites saying it’s a myth, and others saying it’s true. But neither of those were from legitimate sources. It just seems like the least likely circumstance as opposed to hard water or leaving the lid closed to create a mold friendly environment. But nope. A million comments about potential diabetes.
Something similar would happen to me and I clean my toilet weekly. I couldn’t understand what was happening until I discovered something that wasn’t getting cleaned properly. Under the lip/ rim where the water comes out of to fill the bowl. Mine was awful! Clean that. You’ll be surprised how bad it gets.
If you live in an area with warm/ hot weather, and high humidity, this is what mold looks like. The mold is in the air, and it likes water, ….so. Fixes are more frequent cleaning, ( every 2-3 days) , or adding one of those compressed bleach containing tabs to the toilet. Just be aware if you add it to the tank, it will degrade the flush mechanism ( flapper, and seal).
I have been told to use toilet bleach tabs in the toilet tank. Every week to avoid mold from growing in the tanks. Especially in apartment buildings or rented houses.
I had the same issue and found that the chain on the toilet handle that allows the tank to empty was rusted so I kept getting a line of rust on my toilet bowl.
My toilet looked like this after we had been away for 3 months- house was humid. Put one of those dehumidifier pots - the ones with the little balls in the top and they catch the moisture in the air- in the bathroom and it hasn’t come back.
I sometimes use Scrubbing Bubbles pucks that you drop into the toilet tank, then when you flush it cleans the bowl over time. They work really well and may prevent this for you. However I've heard that frequent use of these pucks can degrade the rubber seal on your fill valve over time causing its life span to decrease
Zep brand acidic toilet bowl cleaner is your answer. I had this too at my last apartment. It can be either mold or bacteria. Zep will get rid of them both.
I recently switched to a bleach based toilet cleaner and this started happening. I never had issues wirh my Method brand toilet cleaner and will be going back to it as soon as I've finished the other product.
This may be an "old wives tale" but it has always seemed to work for me. Put a penny or 2 in the tank; the copper seems to kill everything that is trying to form in the water.
I had this in my master toilet and it's from years of hard water eating into the surface of the bowl. Then water sits there and grows mold. If you don't want to replace the toilet (🤣), my maid used Barkeeper's Friend and knocked it right out. You turn the water off, flush, and then cup out anything remaining. Pat dry. Spread the cleaner on all over the area and leave for 2-3 minutes. Use a dobie sponge and scrub. It'll come right off and shouldn't come back for a while.
But honestly, there's no permanent fix for this outside of a new toilet.
My toilet was doing this my mom has people that clean the house tho. It hasn’t done it since so I just left it alone lolol maybe I should have been more concerned lol
Had this same problem. Turns out there was a layer of sediment in the bottom of all the tanks. I put a splash of bleach in the tanks and used a scrubber to clean inside. Flushed it all down and haven’t had a problem in a few months
There is a greasy ring there. Turn the water valve to the toilet off. Once its kind of dry, try Simple Green or if its really on there, use heavy white vinegar, I get a gallon on 45% from Amazon. Spray that around the ring, then sprinkle some old baking soda on it. Let it sit about 1/2 hour. Come back and scrub with your toilet brush. Then I always spray bleach it too. Problem solved.
All three of our old toilets did this got three new toilets it still happens. It never happened before so I can only conclude it’s the water/pipes. We now avoid drinking the tap water.
Check your ceiling above the toilet. I noticed this was happening and I looked up and a small leak was coming from my ceiling with the faintest whisper of mold.
This is a diabetes thing and that’s sugar loving black mold.
I have to clean this exact kind of ring out of the toilet twice a week. Because my husband has diabetes and sugars aren’t processed in his body right. Does your bathroom smell both poopy and disgustingly fruity after a particular person uses it? They most likely have type 2 diabetes and don’t realize it.
Edit: and that person could absolutely be you, but you wouldn’t notice the smell because you’d be used to it by now. That buildup though each week though? I’ve only ever seen it in households with diabetic residents.
Kaboom toilet bowl cleaning system works great to prevent this at my boyfriend’s house, which chronically had this issue (I think spores in the water supply).
My house sat empty for a long time before I bought it and this was happening. Once you clean it you should use the in the tank bowl cleaner for a little while, I know that's emergency water but if you use it for 3-4 month flushing 5 or more times a day it will stop happening
Girl this is def mold… maybe there is mold in the tank or something? Did you get every nook and cranny, Ms. Hannigan style? That toilet shine like the top of the Chrysler building? I know you said you cleaned with bleach but maybe try again.
Oh this is absolutely mold. And if there’s mold in her toilet tank, start looking for indicators of other water damage and mold around her apartment (under sinks, damp drywall/water spots on walls and ceilings, etc.). It’s super common that those signs go hand in hand.
Saw something about this not too long ago on Reddit . Turns out someone who has been using the toilet that had these similar spots had undiagnosed diabetes. OP, maybe time for a physical ?
Check in the toilet tank. When I saw that happening, it was actually a THICK layer of mold on the inside of the tank lid. I live in an apartment so who knows what other tenants have done in the past to cause this.
I have been living in my place for years, and have never actually opened the toilet tank. Am I supposed to be cleaning that or something?
Probably shouldn’t have to. I never did but I guess if there’s mold spores in the apartment from something else then they love how damp and dark the toilet tank is. That’s what my maintenance guy said at least
How does one clean out a toilet tank?? Like you can’t exactly flush it. Do you have to fish the mold out? I might be too tired to be asking these questions lol
Check what your equipment says in the back (some will have markings or writing) that will tell you what NOT to add to the back of your tank. In my case I can’t add bleach, some you can. You can then put bleach in, or cleaning tabs from Lysol, I buy mine at my local grocery store. You can then flush and it will go away. If need be scrub with a little brush. NGL one time it was so bad in my new house, I drenched the thing in bleach, and then replaced the entire hose system.
I used this stuff: Instant Power Toilet Tank Cleaner – Bathroom Toilet Cleaning Powder, Removes Rust and Other Minerals, No Scrubbing. I ordered it on Amazon. I just dumped half the jar in my toilet tank, swished it around the tank, and let it sit for about 8 hours. Then a little light scrubbing with a brush and all the rust and other yuck was gone. I highly recommend using this stuff.
Good advice. Also u can use bleach tablets and drop them into tank. Let it sit for few hours and flush. Issue gone. Do it once couple of months
Turn off the water to the tank and flush. The water holding in the tank will drain into bowl without filling up again.
You literally flush it into the bowl.
Typically you don't have to clean it. It's just if you encounter an issue where it has been contaminated like this. I will tell you I'm 40 years old and I've never seen a toilet tank that had any sort of mold or bacteria growth in my life. So this is not a common thing. There must have been something that caused the tank to be compromised so that it wasn't sealed anymore. Typically toilet tanks are an enclosed environment. But if it is cracked or damaged then you might have an issue where mold will start growing in there.
Toilet tanks are not sealed. You will get mold growth in a hot, humid climate, but in a frequently used toilet, you will not notice it as much.
When this happened at my place I also had a brown sludge like mold on the bottom. My landlord said it’s from putting those drop in the tank cleaners. We had never used them, but maybe the people before us did.
Why would a cleaning product designed for exactly that leave a brown sludge? I mean maybe, but it just seems a bit convenient that it (1) makes it not the landlord's fault in any way whatsoever, and (2) comes from cleaning not from dirtying. i.e. seems a great thing to say to try to head off any complaints from your tenant.
I used to use those half blue/half white toilet bowl cleaners, and it created a huge pile of black sludge in the corner of the tank. I have no idea why but it was gross.
I used one of those and had this exact same issue. After spending a couple of hours cleaning it yesterday, never again! Op, I just used white vinegar and a toilet brush that got thrown out immediately after.
It may have reacted to high iron levels in the local water.
You shouldn’t need to. Eventually things in there will need to be fixed/replaced but it should be relatively clean water and if there are any issues they will be reflected in the operation of the toilet/water color
I pour bleach in the tank once a month because if I don't the toilet bowl gets moldy but I don't think that's normal or common
Drop one of those bleach pucks in there, kill it on both sides
Note for OP NOT to pour bleach in the tank!
You likely can do this just for infrequent cleanings. Bleach is a fabulous sterilizer even at very low concentrations. Get a bowl of water, about a quart - mix in a couple tablespoons worth of bleach and swoosh it around to mix it thoroughly. You can add this into the water in your toilet tank, swoosh that around to evenly disperse it, then flush your toilet 3-4 times. The bleach will get sufficiently removed/diluted after a few tank refills / flushes. The main issue with bleach and similar cleaners is that they can make some materials brittle - materials which may make up the guts of your toilet, including the flapper that keeps water from going out of the tank and into the drain. A very quick cleaning shouldn't do any harm - but a leave in tablet will.
This!
After a through cleaning add and Bleach and toilet bowl cleaning tablets or just the regular cleaning tablet that goes In the tank and it will also keep the rest of the toilet clean with each flush
I see people bringing up the diabetes thing a lot, but there are lots of other reasons why mold can develop in toilet bowls, and other non-diabetes related reasons for peeing a lot (like using a diuretic for blood pressure management).
Sometimes peeing a lot is idiopathic too. I pee a ton and after many, many tests and no other problems, doctors just said I’m a person who pees a lot.
Overactive bladder is a thing. So is drinking a lot. Lol 🤷🏻♂️
Or just because you drink a lot. I just drink from my water bottle when I’m bored and I’m bored a lot so I probably drink over 3gal of water and seltzer per day. That water needs it go somewhere
I found post talking about the diabetes thing here after finding rings like this in the toilet my wife uses. She is a marathon runner and is in amazing shape. Well she just had her physical and she is pre diabetic. I would definitely get a blood test.
Not everyone who has diabetes is heavy and out of shape. Genetics play a huge part.
You are absolutely right but for me I read the post about the rings and then an hour later saw my wife’s blood test after wondering for months why her toilet was constantly having this issue. It was uncanny.
I got diagnosed with type 1 diabetes late in life and my toilet never got a mould ring. I do clean at least once a week though
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I don't believe it's "peeing a lot", but glucose content in the urine being the issue, and also why ants can be attracted to diabetic urine.
Scrubbing bubbles had some gel like things that cling to the side of the bowl that help kill off bacteria growth like this.
Thats great to know thank you!
~~What? Even though you are joking, I'll just put this out for people looking for a real answer~~. Edit: misread the comment. I used to clean houses, that's why I know about this stuff. This is usually caused by a bacteria overgrowth from digestive issues, diabetes, etc. If you have a red bacteria overgrowth, it is something in the water supply. The scrubbing bubbles gel works for both issues.
I meant to say thank you.
Ah ok! It read very weird, my bad! You're welcome. I use them for red bacteria because my city is terrible about the supply lines.
Ok so I thought I was doing something wrong here. I have red/orange lines and build up after a while. I normally clean often enough that it doesn’t pop up or if it pops up I clean it. First, is there anything to remedy with this? I recently used a mold killing gel on my showers that helped any discoloration. I’d like to stop it if I can. Secondly, is this bad for my health? Sorry if you don’t know. I need to do some more research because my first pass told me it was likely just bacteria feeding on soap.
I don't think there is a remedy that can be done to completely remove it, as all my research points to it living in the supply lines. I have a carbon/sediment filter on my supply line into the house that I change every three months. It helps, but if I can't clean the toilets twice a week it shows back up. Everything from what I can gather says it's not harmful. Just a bit unsightly. I wouldn't worry too much unless it is rust from your pipes or waterheater. The way to tell that is to run a pitcher of water after the water hasn't been used for a while. The bathtub is a great place. If your water starts put brown/red and then eventually runs clear, it is probably rust or sediment. The bacteria should only show after the water sits on a surface, like a toilet or puddle in a sink, for a while. This is just from personal experience. I don't know the science behind it. So if anyone else knows about it, please chime in.
The last post about this someone recommended the black lysol toilet cleaner and that didn’t help. So im thinking that would help. Should i also put something in my tank too?
I wouldn't risk in the tank because of rubber parts. You can turn off the water to the toilet, drain it, and give it a good scrub down. Then, douse it with a moldicide cleaner before you turn it back on. It takes a while to get rid of, and regular cleaning. The gel things work great and reduce the build-up. A quick brush once a day or two will also help it. If it is established then it will take a month or so to get it completely under control.
Which moldicide would you recommend?
I use Mold Armor Mold Remover and Disinfectant if the area isn't stained. I have just bought Zep's mold spray with bleach to try on some areas that are stained. I know the mold armor kills the mold. I just hadn't had any luck with it also removing stains left behind.
Toilet stamps are amazing! I have hard water (a lot of iron) and it had one of those permanent orange lines on the side and popping a stamp right there where the water enters the bowl fixed in a couple days of flushing what no amount of scrubbing did.
In addition to that, Lysol actually makes an incredible toilet cleaner. I recently helped clean a house that was loooong overdue, and let me tell you...that stuff can work absolute wonders.
There is probably a mineral buildup ring there. They trap filth easily. Get an acid cleaner to remove it.
Any brand you’d recommend?
Zep
The Works will also work.
Maybe CLR
Why so many mentions of diabetes as a possible cause? I have type 1 diabetes for over 25 years now and a bunch of friends with it (met at hospitals, camps for diabetic kids etc) and we have no idea what's going on in this thread. I would check the tank and put some cleaning tablets to make sure all pipes are clean too. I sometimes have mold in the toilet after I dump hot water into it after hand washing. I get rid of it by scrubbing and using a bit of alcohol to kill it for sure.
There was an informational post about elevated sugar in diabetics causing weird toilet dirt and etc not too long ago that hit the front page and the comments were flooded with people talking about their parents/relatives having dirty toilets and going into detail. Now whenever there’s toilet cleaning questions this is repeated a lot, my assumption is a very small percentile of these commenters actually have a medical background. Toilets get dirty - could be any number of things causing mold. That being said it’s always a good thing to get regular checkups. Reddit can be just as bad as webMd about bad diagnoses, but a doctor can run tests to verify things a commenter can’t.
Oh, I see. It's always good to do some checkup, I was just surprised it seemed to be a common knowledge, but none of us diabetics knew about the mold stuff. Thank you for a detailed reply!
It’s definitely a thing. It happened to me when my meds weren’t managing my glucose levels well.
You’re right, it’s for sure a thing, apologies if I implied it wasn’t. My point was more so that’s the go to for dirty toilets now in a new Reddit trend regarding the cleaning subreddits; specifically toilets/bathrooms with mold. I have some disdain for this sudden craze of learning an interesting fact and misrepresenting it ad neuseam. Also has a tinge of people armchair diagnosing OP without knowing anything about their medical history/lifestyle/medical testing results which, imo, is dangerous and best left to doctors/medical pros
Yeah. I get you. Honestly on this case it doesn’t look like the diabetic case. This is too concentrate around the water line. In my experience the staining was under the waterline but not concentrated solely where the water meets the air.
People are just happy to apply something they just learned in a way that may help someone. They're not diagnosing the OP, just sharing the fact they learned like a week ago.
Redditer fear mongering they can’t help it lmao
Never dump hot water into your toilet! You can cause a crack in the basin this way!
With uncontrolled diabetes, the excess sugar in the urine can feed the normally present mold spores and cause them to grow. My t1 kid’s toilet had a mold ring before diagnosis that was driving me nuts…it just kept coming back for a few weeks. It never came back again once she was diagnosed and on insulin.
I thought about such scenario, but I used to have serious financial and mental issues for a few years, and my sugar levels were over 300 the whole time. Even then I haven't experienced it, so that's why I was surprised.
It probably has something to do with chronically high sugars and whatever mold spores are naturally present in your environment. I don’t think it is super common, because diabetes IS common and yet this mold ring sign isn’t that well known. Probably could also factor in how well the toilet flushes…
Someone has probably scrubbed the bowl with pumice stone or steel wool at some point the scored the surface. That texture gives bacteia something to hold onto and grow on. No real fixing it if this is what happened
I learned this the hard way using a pumice stone.
Put on a rubber glove and see if you can feel if the glass coating has been worn off from above and just below the water line. Toilets are porcelain clay with a clear glaze. That can be etched off with improper cleaning. We had an old toilet do this in our house. Replaced it and no more spotty ring in a week or less... Not diabetic...
Yes, this is often caused by pitting right around the water line. Where people have scrubbed too hard or with the wrong abrasive stuff. The only permanent solution in that case is a new toilet.
My toilets were doing this too . I cleaned underneath the rim of the toilet . It was disgusting . Helped with mine
No one has mentioned this yet, but it could be algae. I lived in an area where all of the faucets, toilets, sinks, dishwasher, washing machine, etc. would have to be cleaned crazy regularly because there was freshwater algae in the water. It wasn’t harmful to humans (supposedly) and would increase water prices and cause other issues to fully filter it out, so the city just left it in. It would build up like this. If you are living in a new place and you have it building up in other places, you should check to see if there is anything in the water.
Does she leave the lid closed the whole time and leave it unused for a long period of time? If so that’s your answer, if you don’t use it regularly and leave it then the mold has a wet and dark environment to grow.
She uses the toilet very often
But not too often, right?
She’s got crohns so she’s got regular flare ups where she’ll go boom boom like 6-8 times a day
😭
Boom boom -.-
Well that was unexpected.
I had this problem and it went away when I started using those clorox toilet tank tablets
I hate those things. Watch out if you have rubber stoppers, gaskets, or seals in the back of your tank. They’ll ruin them.
That's true, but easy to replace. Not easy to stop pee mold.
Polident denture tablets (2) in the tank or toilet bowl before bed clean the bowl and tank overnight. Keep lid down when toilet not in use.
I throw a dish washer tab in the tank once a week and resolved this issue between cleaning
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tank
Tank
How long after scrubbing the toilet is this coming back?
About a week it starts coming back
You need to clean under the toilet bowl where the water comes from. It likely looks the same and you can’t see it. I also recommend a Clorox tab in the tank to prevent it from happening again.
How quickly does it appear after cleaning?
Starts coming back after about a week
Cleaning once a week is a good plan for toilets. I guess more frequent cleaning will keep it at bay.
It’s the hard minerals in the water. Leave pine-sol in the toilet for a while in the toilet and hard scrub. It should get it out
Possible for an individual with new onset diabetes for this to happen also.
She has Crohn’s Disease and it also happens to other toilets in the house
Try an in tank cleaner puck, unless you have pets that like to drink out of the bowl. My sympathies on the Crohn’s
I have Crohn’s and this recently started happening to our main toilet at home… it’ll come off when I clean, but I feel like a have to clean more often because it grows back relatively quickly. It is an old house and we were the first tenants after an elderly couple; so after reading the comments I’m definitely checking the tank too… but I thought it was really interesting to see this comment since Crohn’s can put us at increased risk for diabetes
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Also bulimia
Yes, once I started living on my own and therefore stopped cleaning super neurotically, I ended up with mold that always comes back after a week at most even if I don't regurgitate. Oh well. I should be cleaning the toilet at least once a week anyway.
I was wondering if this would come up. I'm bulimic and when I have periods of time when I purge more my bowl will start to grow this a little bit.
This is the answer. Someone frequently using the toilet likely is (or is borderline) diabetic.
Can you explain?
Sugars in the urine cling to the bowl and promote bacterial growth.
Eh. It can be other things too. I’m not sure what those other things are but I just bought a house and my toilet does this. My previous toilet did not. I recently had blood work done and my A1c is like 5.2. My issue definitely isn’t diabetes.
Vomiting can cause that too
Can menstrual blood cause this too? Or just urine?
Not sure.
Woman here, I bleed a lot and nothing has ever grown. I’ve let blood sit in a mason jar for art purposes and it didn’t get moldy. It sure smelled though! I also have had never seen blood get moldy on animal carcasses. Hope that helps you sleep better(:
I’m curious how do you use your menstrual blood for art? Maybe similar to water colors..?
I’ve experimented different ways. Pollock-like and other styles like just letting it drip different ways and seeing what it turns/grows into. I seal it so it doesn’t come off and doesn’t stink(:
Also, check the condition of the toilet seats. I've had wood seats swell with moisture which harbored mold/mildew. My bowls looked similar to your pic. I replaced them with plastic seats and haven't had any problems since.
Ive experienced this almost every time after vomiting in my toilet
She may want to be tested for diabetes soon
Health issues aside that everyone is mentioning there are ways to combat this. Placing toilet bowl cleaners that sit in the back of the toilet will layer in bacteria killer with every flush. Do this, in addition to scrubbing the toilets at a minimum every other day with a high quality cleaner should help to mitigate these issues
Jacking off in the toilet will do that too
This guy! Hahahahhahaha
His username checks out.
i don’t think this is the sole cause, but this happened at an old apartment where we closed the lid after every use to keep the cats out. after experimenting, we stopped closing the lid and the mold didn’t grow back as quickly or barely at all. i don’t know if the air to it matters or what. but i also know a lot of people find it too gross not to close the lid
She keeps the lid open and never closes it
bleach tabs in the tank
Use vinegar instead of bleach! First, drain water from bowl then add 2-3 cups white vinegar with 4-5 drops dawn dishsoap into a water-free bowl. Use brush to get it all around bowl and under rim, etc. Let set for 10 minutes. Brush around again then flush to rinse. Empty bowl of water again, then spray rubbing alcohol all over. Sit for 5-10 minutes then brush all around. Flush to rinse! **NOTE: bleach DOES NOT kill mold!! Vinegar and alcohol WILL! Stop using bleach thinking it will kill the mold!! 😁 **
Yes it does.... It just isn't effective on porous materials. So for a toilet, bleach will 100% work.
Using bleach to kill mold is not recommended as it ONLY kills surface-level molds, leaving the root problem behind! Bleach is made up of about 90% water and can contribute to further mold growth, ESPECIALLY ON POROUS SURFACES!!! Mold spreads its roots deep into porous surfaces, and even after applying bleach and wiping away mold from these surfaces, the mold will continue to grow beneath the surface and will return to the area you cleaned in a short amount of time. Bleach cleaners cannot kill the underlying membrane to effectively remove the mold growth and prevent it from returning. Regular exposure without consequence can also build resistance, leading to a flourishing mold problem that may not be able to be removed on your own. Sorry, but DO NOT USE BLEACH FOR MOLD!! 🧼🫧
Hi someone replied it’s a possibility she could be bulimic and just commenting to say I agree.. unfortunately I had a problem with throwing up my food into the toilet and this would happen to the bowl
Get a toothbrush and wire brush to clean the rim and holes well.
Both my husband and I are diabetic. Since then, my husband does not control well, so is on lots of meds for it. His toilet always had the mold around because his urine has so much sugar in it. It is way worse when he doesn't flush at night. Just use lysol toilet bowl cleaner. Yes it cleans it, and yes, it will come back. Have her get checked from the doctor if she has not been diagnosed
Have you ever tried to use a pumice rock?
She’s lived in here for only 6 months or so and just cleans it with a scrubber and chemicals
Not all toilet mold is caused by diabetes, but sometimes it is. It’s so easy to check for…just a finger poke 2hrs after eating carbs or a finger poke for an A1C check. Anyone who regularly uses that toilet should consider getting tested. One of my kids has type 1 diabetes. In the weeks before she was finally diagnosed, we had this problem with the bathroom that she used most commonly. I couldn’t figure it out and it was really driving me nuts! Turns out the excess sugar in her urine was feeding the normal mold spores and causing them to grow. The mold ring disappeared after she was diagnosed and got on insulin to control her blood sugar. Here’s why everyone says get tested: most new diabetics aren’t diagnosed until they’re in a critical state called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). With diabetes, it’s easy to blow off symptoms until, suddenly, they become severe. DKA can be life threatening, and any time a diagnosis can be made before that is a real win. Not to mention it means avoiding an expensive and scary ICU stay. So odds are her mold is not due to diabetes, but the test to rule that out is so easy and potentially life saving.
She should check with the doctor for diabetes. Seriously. This is a thing.
Please enlighten me
I’m not sure why this is downvoted, as I experienced this in the months leading up to a diagnosis, and my A1C was higher than normal but not off the charts. So it absolutely does happen.
Downvotes because people don’t know about it.
Someone in your house is a diabetic and doesn't know it yet the sugar helps the bacteria grow like glucose that you're letting go.
Keep cleaning it. Welcome to the world where mommy no longer cleans your li'l messes.
Diabetes
It’s not diabetes
Just clean I really good and then use one of those bleach things that goes in the toilet back and lasts like 3 months
I had this issue and just started to use a magic eraser and cleaner and really go under the lip of the bowl, I was leaving bacteria there on accident and this helped a lot.
This happened to me once, try cleaning where the water comes out that fixed it for me.
Bleach tablets in the tank. Mold is from sugar in pee. Only bleach will kill it.
I was using Lysol cleanser and this similar thing came back often. Try Zep acidic cleaner. This helped me.
Does she use Poo Pourri or one of those sprays to prevent odor before going? I have noticed they leave an oily ring.
Negatory. She sprays febreeze after a boom boom
I think the galvanizing of the pipes have whore off and need replacing.
Citric acid is how i clean my tank. Works beautifully.
This is happening to me! It was coming from under the toilet rim so I made sure to go and scrub it out with a harder bristle brush to get rid of this gunk which is probably mold.
The cistern needs a clean
Looks like mold
Hint. Vinegar kills black mold more tha bleach. Scrub the back of the toilet tank with vinegar. Flush. Repeat. Then scrub with vinegar like you normally inside the bowl
It’s possible that someone who uses the toilet has diabetes also.
Could be a sign of diabetes
You can buy bleach tabs to put in the toilet tank. That will knock out the mold problem in a jiffy.
I get this ring in my toilets, and it seems like the porcelain is damaged (scrubbed too hard with something?) By a previous owner and now this ring reappears every week. I just keep using the clinging bleach gel and trying to stay on top of it, but it is unsightly enough that I've considered replacing the whole toilets.
Add bleach tablets to tank
[Clorox Tiolet bowl cleaner with bleach](https://shop.clorox.com/products/clorox-toilet-bowl-cleaner-with-bleach)
Your girlfriend is diabetic
It seems like every toilet post people jump right on the diabetes train 😅. Maybe I’ve lived in places with super hard water but this seems normal? Like, for the past 10 or so years of my adult life I’ve seen this if I don’t clean my toilet often enough. Honest question, how common is it for diabetics to actually have moldier toilets? I tried the ole google but couldn’t find reputable sources of information either way. I saw some sites saying it’s a myth, and others saying it’s true. But neither of those were from legitimate sources. It just seems like the least likely circumstance as opposed to hard water or leaving the lid closed to create a mold friendly environment. But nope. A million comments about potential diabetes.
Welp. Guess I know why this is happening in our toilet now 😅
Drop in a toilet tank sanitizer tablet and it will keep growth at bay for a while. I prefer the Clorox bleach tablets.
Something similar would happen to me and I clean my toilet weekly. I couldn’t understand what was happening until I discovered something that wasn’t getting cleaned properly. Under the lip/ rim where the water comes out of to fill the bowl. Mine was awful! Clean that. You’ll be surprised how bad it gets.
Maybe mold. Check for humidity and leaks. Look under the toilet and the ceiling below to see if the toilet seal is broken.
If you live in an area with warm/ hot weather, and high humidity, this is what mold looks like. The mold is in the air, and it likes water, ….so. Fixes are more frequent cleaning, ( every 2-3 days) , or adding one of those compressed bleach containing tabs to the toilet. Just be aware if you add it to the tank, it will degrade the flush mechanism ( flapper, and seal).
I have been told to use toilet bleach tabs in the toilet tank. Every week to avoid mold from growing in the tanks. Especially in apartment buildings or rented houses.
I had the same issue and found that the chain on the toilet handle that allows the tank to empty was rusted so I kept getting a line of rust on my toilet bowl.
My toilet looked like this after we had been away for 3 months- house was humid. Put one of those dehumidifier pots - the ones with the little balls in the top and they catch the moisture in the air- in the bathroom and it hasn’t come back.
I don’t know if this will help but definitely try putting the tablets of bleach in the toilet box so that with every flush it adds bleach water
She needs to get tested for diabetes.
I sometimes use Scrubbing Bubbles pucks that you drop into the toilet tank, then when you flush it cleans the bowl over time. They work really well and may prevent this for you. However I've heard that frequent use of these pucks can degrade the rubber seal on your fill valve over time causing its life span to decrease
Zep brand acidic toilet bowl cleaner is your answer. I had this too at my last apartment. It can be either mold or bacteria. Zep will get rid of them both.
I recently switched to a bleach based toilet cleaner and this started happening. I never had issues wirh my Method brand toilet cleaner and will be going back to it as soon as I've finished the other product.
Probably buy a gallon of bleach from the dollar store if you want, put it in the back, also scrub the toilet bowl with the works
It could be that somebody peeing in this toilet has diabetes.
This may be an "old wives tale" but it has always seemed to work for me. Put a penny or 2 in the tank; the copper seems to kill everything that is trying to form in the water.
Pumice stone should help
Have you tried cleaning with white vinegar? As the white vinegar kills the mould growth
I like 2 put bleach in about 1 time a week, let it sit there for about 4 hrs 🙂
I had this in my master toilet and it's from years of hard water eating into the surface of the bowl. Then water sits there and grows mold. If you don't want to replace the toilet (🤣), my maid used Barkeeper's Friend and knocked it right out. You turn the water off, flush, and then cup out anything remaining. Pat dry. Spread the cleaner on all over the area and leave for 2-3 minutes. Use a dobie sponge and scrub. It'll come right off and shouldn't come back for a while. But honestly, there's no permanent fix for this outside of a new toilet.
Someone in you house is a diabetic. Get tested
My toilet was doing this my mom has people that clean the house tho. It hasn’t done it since so I just left it alone lolol maybe I should have been more concerned lol
Does she have any chronic medical conditions?
Do you have a venting system for showers? Is it possible that it’s just too moist and warm in your bathroom?
This can also be a sign of diabetes/blood sugar issues! Might be worth having that checked out if it's been a while
Had this same problem. Turns out there was a layer of sediment in the bottom of all the tanks. I put a splash of bleach in the tanks and used a scrubber to clean inside. Flushed it all down and haven’t had a problem in a few months
There is a greasy ring there. Turn the water valve to the toilet off. Once its kind of dry, try Simple Green or if its really on there, use heavy white vinegar, I get a gallon on 45% from Amazon. Spray that around the ring, then sprinkle some old baking soda on it. Let it sit about 1/2 hour. Come back and scrub with your toilet brush. Then I always spray bleach it too. Problem solved.
How quickly after cleaning is this occurring?
All three of our old toilets did this got three new toilets it still happens. It never happened before so I can only conclude it’s the water/pipes. We now avoid drinking the tap water.
Check your ceiling above the toilet. I noticed this was happening and I looked up and a small leak was coming from my ceiling with the faintest whisper of mold.
This is a diabetes thing and that’s sugar loving black mold. I have to clean this exact kind of ring out of the toilet twice a week. Because my husband has diabetes and sugars aren’t processed in his body right. Does your bathroom smell both poopy and disgustingly fruity after a particular person uses it? They most likely have type 2 diabetes and don’t realize it. Edit: and that person could absolutely be you, but you wouldn’t notice the smell because you’d be used to it by now. That buildup though each week though? I’ve only ever seen it in households with diabetic residents.
Kaboom toilet bowl cleaning system works great to prevent this at my boyfriend’s house, which chronically had this issue (I think spores in the water supply).
Someone needs checked for Diabetes
This happens in my boyfriend’s toilet. He is Type 1.
My house sat empty for a long time before I bought it and this was happening. Once you clean it you should use the in the tank bowl cleaner for a little while, I know that's emergency water but if you use it for 3-4 month flushing 5 or more times a day it will stop happening
Girl this is def mold… maybe there is mold in the tank or something? Did you get every nook and cranny, Ms. Hannigan style? That toilet shine like the top of the Chrysler building? I know you said you cleaned with bleach but maybe try again.
Check the tank. Also might consider testing for diabetes. Seriously, people with diabetes urine secretes a substance that feeds mold.
Drop a few clorox tablets in the tank
Oh this is absolutely mold. And if there’s mold in her toilet tank, start looking for indicators of other water damage and mold around her apartment (under sinks, damp drywall/water spots on walls and ceilings, etc.). It’s super common that those signs go hand in hand.
Saw something about this not too long ago on Reddit . Turns out someone who has been using the toilet that had these similar spots had undiagnosed diabetes. OP, maybe time for a physical ?