Probiotic toilet cleaner: what stays behind after you flush

YOKUU's Toilet Bombs and Toilet Foam Explosion bring 1 billion cleaning helpers into your toilet, and those helpers keep cleaning after you flush.

That's a nice sentence on a pack. But is it true? Here's what our testing has shown us.

What we tested

We used two toilets, one for each of our toilet products.

In the first week, we didn't use any products, to measure what a normal week without YOKUU looks like inside the toilet bowl. No surprises there: the usual mix of bacteria you'd expect to find in a toilet.

Then came three weeks in which we measured the bowls while using our products. They were applied twice a week, left overnight, then brushed and flushed.

After flushing, a cotton swab went over the same patch of porcelain each time, about 10 by 10 centimetres, just above the waterline. That same day, the lab grew what was on the swab and counted it.

What we found in the toilet

Once we started using the products, the bacteria on the swabs changed. More and more of them were the probiotic bacteria from our products, the ones we call cleaning helpers. After a while their number stopped rising, and it stayed stable for as long as we kept using the products.

Here's why that matters. If our bacteria washed away with every flush, they couldn't keep cleaning afterwards. Every swab was taken after flushing, and they were still there.

We also looked at whether they were active. These bacteria have two states: dormant, which is how they sit in a dry tablet or powder, and awake. In the first week most of them were awake, which suggests they became active soon after landing in the bowl.

Both products gave the same result. With Toilet Foam Explosion it happened slightly faster, probably because foam climbs the bowl and stays in contact with the porcelain for longer.

What this test doesn't tell us

This was a small test: two toilets, four weeks, and products used more often than in our own routine. It shows that our cleaning helpers stay. There's more we want to find out.

Why it matters

For years, a clean toilet has meant an empty one. Bleach in, everything out. This autumn the Belgian federal health service launched Poets Veilig (Clean Safely), a campaign saying we disinfect far more than we need to at home.

Our own routine: a Toilet Bomb once a week, and a Toilet Foam Explosion about once a month.

YOKUU is not a disinfectant. When stomach flu hits your house, the health service says to disinfect, and they're right. Start with the flush button and the door handle.

Quick answers

Do YOKUU's cleaning helpers stay in the toilet after you flush?
In our four-week test, yes. Swabs taken after flushing showed a stable number of cleaning helpers just above the waterline, for as long as the products were used.

What are cleaning helpers?
Our name for the probiotic bacteria in our products. They sit dormant in the dry tablet or powder and become active once they're in the bowl.

Toilet Bombs or Toilet Foam Explosion: which settled faster?
Both gave the same result. The foam was slightly faster, most likely because foam stays in contact with the porcelain for longer.

How often should you use them?
A Toilet Bomb once a week, and a Toilet Foam Explosion about once a month.

Is YOKUU a disinfectant?
No.

Sources

• YOKUU, internal four-week toilet test of Toilet Bombs and Toilet Foam Explosion
• FPS Public Health: How do you clean safely? (Poets Veilig campaign)