# Whose idiotic idea was it to make all toilets white? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2009, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890 "2009-11-09T09:23:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/1 "2009-11-09T09:23:59Z")
What is a toilet? It’s a receptacle for shit and piss, and occasionally, vomit and blood. You can dance around the issue all day long with euphemisms and other forms of linguistic chicanery, but at the end of the day, it’s a shit bowl and pee pot, and there’s nothing on God’s green earth that can change that. Why, then, is it always _white_ - the color that is positively the _worst_ at disguising the various shades of yellow and brown that eventually stain it? Is the idea that it’s more sanitary if it’s white, because it will be more frequently cleaned because the shit and piss stains are more obvious? If so, there are about a million restaurants, gas stations, and bars that never got that memo. I’d think that toilets in public restrooms with really heavy traffic - toilets that see dozens or maybe even hundreds of “customers” a day - would be cast from black porcelain and not white. But it isn’t so. In fact…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a non-white toilet in my entire life, with the single exception of the toilets in my grandparents’ house in Queens, NY, one of which is painted yellow and the other green. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/2 "2009-11-09T09:26:40Z")
They’re not all white. One of mine is green, one is gray. Even the white one is more almond. And it doesn’t matter. The shit still looks brown, etc. The one in the house I grew up in in California was pink! Still didn’t help! ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/3 "2009-11-09T09:46:34Z")
Why would you want to disguise it? If you can see shit in your toilet bowl after flushing, your toilet needs cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/4 "2009-11-09T12:41:09Z")
We had blue fixtures in the half bath when we moved in years ago. Mr. Sali was outraged with a blue toilet. 😕 He went out and bought a white one, with an oak seat, installed it, and busted up the hated blue toilet with a sledge hammer out in the back yard. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/5 "2009-11-09T13:23:38Z")
For my money, _because_ of the reasons mentioned in the OP, a white toilet makes the most sense (although for years, my mother had a blue one!) My reasoning? Yep, it gets used for lots of nasty stuff; if it’s white, you can bleach the shit out of it (literally _and_ figuratively) and never worry about discoloring it! _However_, what’s even easier is this: clean your toilet bowl really well. Keep a toilet bowl brush in a container with a little water and a little liquid soap of some kind, and just give it a real quick scrub once a day in the morning. Then you _never_ have to do any more of that _real_ scrubbing! ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/6 "2009-11-09T13:26:21Z")
But they’re _not_ all white. Fixtures from the 70’s came in a variety of interesting and delightful colors such as Avocado Green, Harvest Gold, and Turquoise. More recently, I was in a preppy couple’s home and all of their upstairs bath fixtures were navy blue. With gold hardware. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/7 "2009-11-09T13:51:30Z")
I lived in a house that had a black toilet. All the crud that shows up on white also shows up on black plus you can see all the lighter colored slime and crud that doesn’t show up on a white toilet. The white toilet that went in a few months later was a huge improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/8 "2009-11-09T13:52:53Z")
We have a pale green one. Why is this in GQ, anyway? But for all the reasons given, I agree that white is the best color. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/9 "2009-11-09T14:21:01Z")
I recently went toilet shopping. In order for me to get something off-white, I had to pay $80 extra. I don’t know why it costs so much to take a white toilet off the assembly line and give it a coat of Sedona Beige paint, but apparently it does. So you will see some colors other than white in peoples’ homes where appearance was a determining factor. But when you are talking about “a million restaurants, gas stations, and bars”, where a toilet is purely a functional necessity, I don’t see these businesses spending the extra money on off-white toilets in the hopes of getting more customers in the door. ---
**Author:** ![vifslan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f4b2a3/32.png) [@vifslan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vifslan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/10 "2009-11-09T14:22:31Z")
My home-town library (which was built as a bank in the early eighties, but filed for bankruptcy in the nineties recession) still has the original bathroom fixtures in a dark mahogany brown. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/11 "2009-11-09T14:25:28Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > We have a pale green one. Why is this in GQ, anyway? I guess because the original question is factual–who came up with the idea of a white toilet? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/12 "2009-11-09T14:25:56Z")
White is the color associated with sanitary conditions. Traditional Doctors and nurses uniforms are white (not so much nowdays), as are chefs. A spotless white surface is to many folks a sign of antiseptic, sterile cleanliness. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/13 "2009-11-09T14:33:58Z")
They offer colors. They can not force places to buy colors other than white. As for cost that would be cheaper for the white because it’s produced in larger quantities and sells faster. Both influence the price you pay. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/14 "2009-11-09T14:46:56Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > White is the color associated with sanitary conditions. Traditional Doctors and nurses uniforms are white (not so much nowdays), as are chefs. A spotless white surface is to many folks a sign of antiseptic, sterile cleanliness. And back to what I was saying about toilets and bleaching: hospital and hotel linens are predominantly white because you can safely bleach the hell out of it. 🙂 In fact, one thing that _always_ ‘pulls me out’ of a show where a character is hospitalized is when they are in a hospital bed, with _blue_ sheets. I’ve occasionally (rarely, but it’s happened) seen hospital _blankets_ that weren’t white. But the sheets? Always, always, always white. Because nasty bodily fluids seem to happen quite frequently and accidentally in hospitals. They _need_ to be ‘bleachable’ (Is that even a word? I guess it is now!) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/15 "2009-11-09T14:55:09Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > As for cost that would be cheaper for the white because it’s produced in larger quantities and sells faster. Both influence the price you pay. Is there anything about the material that makes it inherently easier or cheaper to make them white? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/16 "2009-11-09T15:00:01Z")
Porcelain colors are more expensive…yes…because some colors cost more to manufacture than others. The coloring agents are more expensive and more difficult to control, requiring more technology, time and skills. Firing something in white is the fastest and easiest way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/17 "2009-11-09T15:15:13Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Is there anything about the material that makes it inherently easier or cheaper to make them white? White could be a cheaper colorant than some colors, but the major factor is the bulk production of the product and it’s distribution costs. You clean and set up for the color to be produced and if you only run it for 12 hours those set up costs are part of the price of that small production run compared to the ones made in white for a month with only one set up. Being able to just run production without stopping lowers the cost. Sending out a wrapped pallet of one production run of one color and model is cheaper per unit than assembling a pallet of different toilets and shipping it. Labor for that pallet build costs additional money. Shipping a whole semi load from one production run of the same product is cheaper per unit than shipping only a couple pallets. You can be sure if 90 % of toilets ordered were brown it would be the cheapest color per unit out there. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/18 "2009-11-09T15:17:02Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Is there anything about the material that makes it inherently easier or cheaper to make them white? I believe that porcelain is white, and any colors involve an extra step (glazing, mixing pigment into the porcelain?), so it would be more expensive, I would guess. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/19 "2009-11-09T15:35:23Z")
Your toilet is glazed, white or not. If you look on the bottom bit that screws into the floor, or inside the tank, you can see the unglazed porcelain surface. It may be somewhat off white. To make them in a different color, they should be glazed in that color - simply painting them would not hold up very well. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890/20 "2009-11-09T15:46:58Z")
Glaze: a vitreous coating to a ceramic material whose primary purposes are decoration or protection [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-idiotic-idea-was-it-to-make-all-toilets-white/516890.md?page=2)