Looking After Your Loo: Dos and Don’ts

The components in your cistern play a crucial role in flushing your toilet. If you want to keep your toilet in tip-top shape, read on… 

• Do Make Regular Inspections of Your Toilet

From time to time a brief inspection of your toilet can help to identify any potential problems. Take a look at the interior and exterior of the bowl, the cistern itself and the flush lever or button.

If you haven’t taken the lid off your cistern, now’s the time to take a look. You’ll find a fill valve, which provides clean, potable water to your cistern. And a flush mechanism, which allows the water to flow from the cistern, into the bowl.

• Do Look After Your Loo

From cracked toilet bowls to leaky loos, leaks within or from your toilet can cause severe problems within the home or washroom. As well as continuously wasting precious water resources, water ingress caused by a broken or malfunctioning toilet can be a serious issue. Look out for: cracks or damage to the bowl, cistern or water connections, water pooling around the toilet, obvious blockages in the bowl or water going over the overflow.

• Don’t Forget to Clean the Inside of Your Cistern

Regular maintenance of the interior of your cistern can help avoid malfunctions and breakdowns. Every six months start by wiping away any debris or limescale from the inside of the cistern. Then clean the rubber seals of your flush and fill valves with a sponge or cloth to improve longevity of your cistern technology.

Tip: don’t use any abrasive chemicals in your toilet cistern as they can cause the degradation of rubber seals which can result in leakage. 

• Do Fix Problems When you Spot Them

If you find a problem with your toilet, ensure you fix it as soon as possible. You’ll be doing yourself a favour when it comes to maintaining your property, conserving water and saving money in the long run.

• Do Understand How a Toilet Cistern Works

A malfunctioning toilet cistern can waste 100s of litres of water per day, costing several hundred £s per year. Getting to know the basic functions of your toilet technology is helpful; as you will be able to spot and prevent any issues. Prevention is better than cure when it comes to maintenance issues. Learning how to spot an issue, from a leaky flush valve, to a running fill valve, can save water, the environment and money!

• Don’t Use Cistern Blocks if you Have a Mechanical Drop Valve

Due to the mechanism of a common drop flush valve, it’s easy for a cistern block to get stuck and hinder the function of the valve. Steer clear of cistern blocks and keep your toilet in first-rate shape.

• Don’t Ignore Red Flags

Here is our list of potential toilet troubles, which could cause problems in your home:

• Leaky loos
• Weak or incomplete flushes
• Phantom flushes (toilets flushing when not in use)
• Slow or no filling
• Low water bowl level 
• High water bowl level
• Clogged pipes or blockages
• Noises coming from pipes on flushing 
• Cracks in bowl or cistern

• Do Ask For Help When Needed

If you spot a problem you can’t fix yourself, call your local plumber for help or advice. Plumbing issues that are left to fester often get worse over time.

Take a look at our Little Toilet Repair Guide to find out more about how to identify and fix problems with your loo.