# So Why Don't They Make Teflon Coated Toilet Bowls? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2007, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771 "2007-12-04T12:48:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/1 "2007-12-04T12:48:48Z")
It’d make cleaning them easier, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/2 "2007-12-04T14:38:18Z")
Probably expense. I recall in some SF novel, perhaps “The Mote In God’s Eye”, aliens provided a toilet for human visitors that had a frictionless or near frictionless bowl so no water was needed. That would be cool. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/3 "2007-12-04T15:02:04Z")
Teflon is soft enough that after a year of cleaning there would be enough gouges in the surface that would make things stick. After several years, the Teflon would either be worn off or a chewed up mess. Glazed ceramic stays smooth for decades. Besides that, Teflon is expensive compared to ceramic and would require a significantly higher level of manufacturing technology–a ceramics factory in Mexico couldn’t do it. That said, a Teflon trap sounds like a good idea! It would be slightly more slippery, and the shape would be more tightly controlled so it could be a better design. In other words, if it went down the hole, it wouldn’t stop! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/4 "2007-12-04T15:31:55Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] It’d make cleaning them easier, wouldn’t it? [/QUOTE] You could try cooking spray before you do you business. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/5 "2007-12-04T15:50:33Z")
Yeah, but paper would get all greasy and I’d want to shower to wash the oil off… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/6 "2007-12-04T15:55:20Z")
As **cornflakes** notes,. Teflon’s pretty soft. If you use a standard-issue Toilet Brush on it, it’d be hopelessly scored and peeling after one scrubbing. I suppose that you could put Teflon on and hope that the users will only use the required soft-scrub products and pads to clean it, but if they don’t, it ends up looking awful and actually retaining dirt, and there goes your several hundred dollar investment, literally down the drain. Glazed porcelain is pretty non-stick and a heckuva lot more scratch-resistant. If you really want to guarantee a clean bowl, you could use what they used to have at the Utah Fly’s Eye telescope. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, by the Dugway Probving Grounds in the Utah desert. Hard to get good plumbing out there, and any water you truck in is too valuable to use flushing. So they had the incinerator toilet, charmingly nicknamed the “Destroylet”. It’s made of stainless, and you put a liner in it. Try not to pee. After you’re done, you close the lid, flip the heater switch, and leave the room. Reduces the waste and the liner to fly ash. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/7 "2007-12-04T16:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=cornflakes] Besides that, Teflon is expensive compared to ceramic and would require a significantly higher level of manufacturing technology–a ceramics factory in Mexico couldn’t do it. [/QUOTE] Probably right about the expensive part, but I’ve seen teflon applied, and it’s actually not very high-tech: a sprayer to apply proto-teflon goop and an oven to dry it, basically. Making the secret goop might be high-tech, but that’s all done at a central plant and shipped across the country anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/8 "2007-12-04T16:42:38Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] If you really want to guarantee a clean bowl, you could use what they used to have at the Utah Fly’s Eye telescope. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, by the Dugway Probving Grounds in the Utah desert. Hard to get good plumbing out there, and any water you truck in is too valuable to use flushing. So they had the incinerator toilet, charmingly nicknamed the “Destroylet”. It’s made of stainless, and you put a liner in it. Try not to pee. After you’re done, you close the lid, flip the heater switch, and leave the room. Reduces the waste and the liner to fly ash. [/QUOTE] Woah. I hope it has one of those lights like on ceramic hobs to warn you it’s still hot before you sit down. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/9 "2007-12-04T16:51:28Z")
I’ve seen lately a lot of those toilet drop-in discs have teflon in them. [Clorox Blue](http://www.amazon.com/Clorox-Toilet-Cleaner-Surface-Protector/dp/B0009P68KW) ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/10 "2007-12-04T17:17:29Z")
They could, however, make the porcelain antimicrobial, which might at least slow the growth of colonies that require scrubbing. ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Gedde\_Mistarted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Donna\_Gedde\_Mistarted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donna_Gedde_Mistarted)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/11 "2007-12-04T17:24:49Z")
“So Why Don’t They Make Teflon Coated Toilet Bowls?” 1- It’s easy to clean new toilet bowls. Only the ones with years of scratch cleanser are dull and stained and hard to clean. 2- New toilets can be had at Home Depot for about a hundred dollars. Installation is easy, for average strength men and women anyway, and step by step instuctions are available online. Teflon is not that benign in the environment. It is currently detectable in most water supplies, and in your bloodstream. Overheating teflon by frying things on High (there’s even a warning on new pans that everyone ignores) creates poison gas that can kill parakeets and canaries. So all that teflon in the water supply, going into every food we eat, is constantly being overheated and releasing poison gas. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/12 "2007-12-04T17:28:43Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] I’ve seen lately a lot of those toilet drop-in discs have teflon in them. [Clorox Blue](http://www.amazon.com/Clorox-Toilet-Cleaner-Surface-Protector/dp/B0009P68KW) [/QUOTE] Is that for real? I remember reading a brief column in _Science_ about 20 years ago which said that Dupont was trying to develop a water-soluble Teflon that could be applied at room temperature, and that they were unable to do so despite years of trying. They were primarily interested in developing a graffiti—proof coating for walls. Then I read something just a few years ago that said they were still at it with no success. Did they finally crack that nut? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/13 "2007-12-04T17:30:12Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] It’d make cleaning them easier, wouldn’t it? [/QUOTE] My toilet bowl is made of porcelain, and is very easy to clean. Is yours made of wood, or do you have some unusual dietary habits? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/14 "2007-12-04T17:37:02Z")
[QUOTE=Quercus] Probably right about the expensive part, but I’ve seen teflon applied, and it’s actually not very high-tech: a sprayer to apply proto-teflon goop and an oven to dry it, basically. Making the secret goop might be high-tech, but that’s all done at a central plant and shipped across the country anyway. [/QUOTE] Don’t you have to treat the surface you’re spraying it on somehow? Y’know, to avoid the inevitable “how do they get non-stick coating to stick to the toilet?” routines from amateur comedians. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/15 "2007-12-04T17:38:21Z")
One of the kinds of things you have to clean off a toilet will stick to teflon. Urine spattering causes calcium and other minerals to precipitate out of water. If you have nonstick cookware, you know that boiling water leaves deposits that must be vinegared off. So, no. The poop may not stick, but the pee will. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/16 "2007-12-04T17:56:50Z")
[QUOTE=Donna Gedde Mistarted] Overheating teflon by frying things on High (there’s even a warning on new pans that everyone ignores) creates poison gas that can kill parakeets and canaries. [/QUOTE] If you’re pissing superheated urine, you’ve got bigger problems than a few dead birds. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/17 "2007-12-04T17:58:40Z")
[QUOTE=Donna Gedde Mistarted] Teflon is not that benign in the environment. It is currently detectable in most water supplies, and in your bloodstream. Overheating teflon by frying things on High (there’s even a warning on new pans that everyone ignores) creates poison gas that can kill parakeets and canaries. So all that teflon in the water supply, going into every food we eat, is constantly being overheated and releasing poison gas. [/QUOTE] Excellent points, but really, it’s not as if we’re going to be overheating our toilets. When a canary drops dead in my bathroom, it’s for a different reason. ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/18 "2007-12-04T18:30:42Z")
Toto makes a toilet with a supersmooth coating for just this purpose. If you get one, you have to be careful not to scratch it with BonAmi or similar cleaners. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/19 "2007-12-04T18:36:32Z")
[QUOTE=Apricot] Toto makes a toilet with a supersmooth coating for just this purpose. If you get one, you have to be careful not to scratch it with BonAmi or similar cleaners. [/QUOTE] A quick aside, Toto is a spanish word for girly parts, so as you can imagine I almost peed myself lauging when Toto brand toilets were installed in our middle school in Cuba. Good thing I was already in the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771/20 "2007-12-04T19:39:22Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] As **cornflakes** notes,. Teflon’s pretty soft. If you use a standard-issue Toilet Brush on it, it’d be hopelessly scored and peeling after one scrubbing. [/QUOTE] I don’t know what kind of cheap nonstick surfaces you folks are used to (and not all nonstick surfaces are Teflon brand). But I’ve used a standard-issue nylon bristle kitchen brush to wash my [Anolon](http://www.anolon.com/cs/Satellite/Page/anolon/1177513656235/Page/HomePage.htm) nonstick pans (using DuPont’s Autograph nonstick surface) day in and day out for over a year without any scoring or peeling. If they can stand their daily scrub, a toilet bowl with a _quality_ nonstick surface could stand a weekly scrub. Being a nonstick surface, it wouldn’t need as much abrasion and scrubbing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-dont-they-make-teflon-coated-toilet-bowls/428771.md?page=2)