If you have recently noticed a slight crack in your toilet seat, you are probably worried about it worsening. But why do different types of toilet seats crack at all?
Your toilet seat can crack due to use, low-quality materials, accidents, improper installation, or any combination of these.
Seats are not made to last forever, even though we wish they were. Seeing cracks in your toilet seat can be stressful, especially if the seat is relatively new. Knowing what leads to cracks can help you avoid this situation.
This article will take a good look at the cause of toilet cracking and what you can do about it.
How Do Toilet Seats Crack?
Toilet seats can crack for various reasons, including the manufacturing materials used, design defects, heavy handling, and more.
You might think that designing any type of toilet seat is the simplest thing in the world, but it really isn’t. There can be flaws in the design that result in cracking sooner or later. Defects can also make their way in during manufacturing.
Accidents
Seats are surprisingly strong and can support heavy individuals. However, that does not take accidents into account.
Sometimes people do not sit on the toilet gently but accidentally fall onto it by slipping slightly as they sit down. People even accidentally drop objects on the seat. These accidents take their toll on the seat.
Quality
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. When buying a seat, getting the cheapest possible option instead of a high-quality one often ends in the seat cracking or breaking.
If you suddenly find a small crack in your toilet seat, do not panic. This does not mean that your toilet is entirely out of order. There are various options at this point for fixing the toilet seat or replacing it with one made of more robust material.
Fix It
For many people, replacing a broken toilet seat is much easier than fixing it. Of course, some people love to fix things and are up to the challenge of repairing a cracked toilet seat. If that describes you perfectly, you can do so with epoxy putty.
Epoxy putty is a compound material that incorporates resin and hardeners. When the resin and hardener are mixed, the putty is soft and easy to handle, adhering to other materials with incredible strength. Once curing begins, epoxy hardens and becomes surprisingly durable material.
Epoxy putty can help you cover toilet seat cracks. Start by cleaning your seat with soap and water. Dry the seat thoroughly before applying epoxy putty. You will want to get the putty well into the cracks so that they bond properly.
Use only as much epoxy putty as you need to avoid the seat looking like it was poorly mended and to avoid making a mess in your bathroom as well.
If you happen to have a cracked wooden toilet seat, you can use wood glue to repair the cracks. The method to do so is the same as the one for plastic seats.
Keep in mind that repairing a cracked toilet seat is not a perfect solution since those cracks have already weakened the whole structure. You will want to be especially careful when using a toilet that has already been cracked since it can break entirely at any moment.
Replace It
If fixing your toilet seat seems like too much of a chore for you, you can just replace it or pay someone else to do so. This solution can make your toilet look better than before and helps you avoid the possible pitfall of a fixed seat that cracks yet again.
This can be an opportunity for you to remodel your bathroom, starting with a seat of a different color, style, and materials. You might want to change from a plastic toilet seat to a wooden toilet seat, which is reportedly stronger and more durable.
How to Keep Toilet Seat from Cracking
While it is nearly impossible to keep a seat from cracking or breaking due to age, there are things that you can do to avoid damaging it. Here are a few tips:
Clean It
Cleaning the average toilet seat does not have to be overly complicated. You can get this done with just soap and water. Using harsh chemicals on your plastic seat can slowly wear it down and cause cracking.
If you have a wooden seat, make sure to dry it quickly and thoroughly after cleaning to avoid water damage.
Keep Heavy Objects Away
You might love decorating your bathroom in all sorts of ways, but avoid doing so with heavy objects near the toilet. An accident could lead to those objects falling directly on your seat and cracking it.
Situations that result in cracking include accidents, flaws, the quality of the seat, and more. You should take a cracked toilet seat seriously since it can lead to more problems, including injuries.
Fortunately, using advice from this article, you can easily fix or replace a cracked seat and prevent breaking the new one.
