Choosing the Right Toilet Seat and Toilet Seat Care

Choosing the right toilet seat for your toilet is more complicated and more confusing than many people realize. Then again, you may have already come to this conclusion...so you arrive here and are looking for some assistance...

The two most common sizes for toilet seats are Round (also known as Regular) and Elongated. A round seat is approximately 16-1/2 inches long, while an elongated seat is about 18-1/2 inches in length. These measurements can be found on this handy Toilet Seat Sizing Guide. It should be noted that toilet seats are measured from the center of the hinge to the front of the seat with the lid closed. This is important as your measurements may be off by an inch or two if you are only measuring the seat or lid!

Another common seat measurement is the bolt distance: the distance from the center of one hinge/bolt to the toilet seat or the distance between the bolt holes. Most toilet seats will have a bolt distance of 5-1/2 inches -- this is essentially the current industry standard.

Finally, caring for your toilet seat is rather simple. Most seat manufacturers recommend cleaning your toilet seat with warm water and dish soap. This is because harsh chemical cleansers, bleaches, and scrubbing agents can cause the paint on wooden seat to bubble and peel and discoloration of plastic toilet seats.

Here is a list of commonly asked questions and answers regarding toilet seats; an FAQ of sorts, from PaulSupply.com:

Let’s talk about color, please. How can I make sure I get the correct color?
The easiest way to get the correct color is with Church’s Color Direct Toilet Seat. When you purchase the Color Direct Kit, you are paying for a toilet seat (Either the 300TC Round Front or 380TC Elongated Front) and shipping and handling up front. However, before you get the actual seat, you receive a color booklet with Church’s entire color catalog of 94 colors. The kit allows you to compare the colors with that of your toilet seat (this is much easier than holding your monitor next to the toilet bowl!) and walks you through the sizing and ordering of your seat. It’s quick, simple, and ensures that your new seat matches the color of your toilet perfectly.

I have an off-white toilet, but I am not sure if I need Biscuit, Natural, Bone, or Almond. What’s the difference between them?
First, they are, in order of lightest to darkest: Biscuit, Natural, Bone, then Almond.
Eljer toilets were only manufactured in the colors Biscuit or Natural. Meanwhile, Kohler toilets were made in either the Biscuit or Almond colors. Mansfield toilets, on the other hand, are available in the Biscuit, Bone or Almond colors.
A better interpretation of these colors would be: Biscuit is comparable to the color of an egg shell – only slightly darker than pure white. The Bone and Almond colors could be considered beige in nature. When deciding between these two colors, check to see who manufactured the toilet and eliminate one of the choices based on their color history. The Natural color is essentially Bone or Almond with a mild pink undertone.

How do I measure my Toilet Seat?
Toilet seats are sized with two measurements: 1) The bolt distance describes the distance between the center of the two holes where the seat attaches to the toilet bowl and 2) Length is measured from the tip of the front to the center (between the two bolts/holes) of the rear.

How do I know if I need an Elongated or Round/Regular front toilet seat?
A few simple measurements will allow us to determine whether you require an elongated or round front toilet seat. Common measurements for elongated seats are a bolt distance of 5 ½ inches bolt distance and 18 ½ inches in length. A round seat is 5 ½ inches bolt distance and 15 ½ inches in length.

What if my bolt distance is greater than 5 ½ inches? Or, What seats will fit my older American Standard toilet? Or, My bolt distance is 10 inches, now what?
Some toilets have a bolt distance of 10 inches. The 10 inch bolt distance is common for American Standard toilets and does require a different seat. We carry three seats for American Standard toilets with a bolt distance of 10 inches: EL270 - Elongated Seat, Premium Plastic ; LC212 - Elongated Seat, Premium Plastic ; NW209E10 - Regular Seat, Molded Wood .

Wait, my bolt distance is not 5 ½ or 10 inches, it is 7 inches. What do I do now? Or, Which seats will fit my Case toilet?
Case toilets have a 7 inch bolt distance and a length of 19 inches for round front toilets or 20 3/8 for elongated fronts. If you have a Case toilet, you need to look at the 800CCP (fits Case 1000) - Regular, Premium Plastic or 1900CCP (fits Case 1100) - Elongated, Premium Plastic.

I have an Eljer Emblem toilet, which seats will fit? Or, None of these seats look quite like the one I have…can I still get the correct seat from you?
Of course we have a toilet seat for you! If your toilet seat does not look like any of the other round or elongated front seats you have seen and instead appears to be squared-off in front, look to see if it says “Eljer” anywhere on your current seat or toilet. If it does, the solution is simple: All you need to do is determine whether your toilet is elongated or regular front, decide if you want a wood or plastic seat, and then check out our Eljer Emblem Toilet Seats!

What’s the difference between wood and plastic seats? Why is wood cheaper?
Wooden toilet seats are cheaper as they tend to wear at a more rapid pace than plastic seats. With time, wood seats will crack or their paint will chip. Wooden seats are also more prone to denting than plastic.

What in the world is a Coralink toilet seat? How is it any different than premium plastic?
Good question! There is a seat manufactured by Church which is made with Coralink plastic, it is called the Alesio. The Coralink plastic is much heavier and sturdier than premium plastic toilet seats. It has unsurpassed surface durability and is scratch and scuff resistant. Furthermore, the Alesio seat is entirely fireproof and is more resistant to harsh chemicals in cleaners. The coloring is solid and evenly distributed throughout, so any scratch or scuff does not show up as a different color. Also, the Alesio has a load capacity of 500 lbs…and it still looks and feels more like porcelain than any other plastic.

Does my new seat come with installation hardware, or do I need to keep my old hardware?
All toilet seats shipped out of our warehouse come complete with installation hardware. Feel free to discard the old hardware!

Water Saving Technology

Sustainability. This is a major goal of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WaterSense Program. WaterSense is meant to make "it easy for Americans to save water and protect the environment." The EPA even notes that "many products are available, and don't require a change in your lifestyle." Essentially, the WaterSense mark shows that plumbing manufacturers finally understand that even the most water conscious American needs a few minutes to wash a well used pot or pan...and it's nearly impossible to turn off a faucet with one's elbows while holding a pan full of hot water in one hand and a soapy sponge in the other. Sometimes, you just have to let the water run to get the job done right -- and you are left with a guilty conscience due to all the water you wasted.

One solution to this dilemma is to have less water come out of the faucet or shower head. Sounds like a good idea, right? "But," you say, "I need high pressure to remove those baked on stains! Less water coming out at any given moment means I'll have to run the faucet longer. Doesn't this defeat the purpose?" Simply put, no!

Most of the faucets and shower heads will compensate for the difference in water by inducing air into the water stream. Think of it this way: A pessimist will say the glass is half empty. The optimist will say the glass is half full. WaterSense says the glass is completely full -- half water, half air! What this means is that your current faucets and shower heads use approximately 2 to 2.5 gallons of water per minute. EPA WaterSense faucets and shower heads, on the other hand, will use between 1.7 and 1.5 gallons per minute; an estimated average water savings of 30%. In order to keep the same feel or pressure the faucets and shower heads will have better aerators and cartridges. Honestly, who really wants to feel 30% less water or experience a 30% more difficult time rinsing the soap off when they shower? Well, we can have our cake and eat it, too!

PaulSupply.com recommends taking a look at a few of the following manufacturer's webpages to really get a better feel for what products are available for the environmentally conscious water user:

Grohe WaterCare: Enjoy less water, more!

hansgrohe EcoRight: The "Green" behind the Green Logo

Kohler: Conservation Innovation

The Kohler WaterSense section has a particularly useful Water Use Calculator which will allow you to compare your water use habits with those of the average American. Now you can see exactly how many gallons of water you use per day; and how many gallons you could potentially save!

K/BIS -- Best of Show & Products to Watch For

We spent this past weekend traipsing around the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (K/BIS) at the McCormick Center here in Chicago. If you have not had the chance to explore this building, rest assured -- IT IS HUGE! There were easily 50,000+ vendors and attendees at any given point; the place seemed empty. Suffice it to say, if it was not at the K/BIS show, it probably doesn't exist.

There is no point in delaying the inevitable. Common (at least what we think would be common...if this were a real-time dialogue) questions might be: What were the best products? What was unique? What did people say, "Oooohhhh! Aaahhhhh!" about? What was the absolute coolest thing at K/BIS?!?!

Settle down! We'll tell you...right...NOW:

Hands down, the best looking item at K/BIS is part of a new line from Grohe. The line, called Ondus (think...wave), is not entirely new (Grohe unveiled the Ondus collection in Germany last year). A quick Google search will show you that people have been talking about it for almost a year now. However, this was the first time the public could touch and feel Grohe's newest creation

The plus side to the Ondus line: Unbelievable style. Every person who walked past Grohe's Ondus display was compelled to touch the faucets and shower units. Why shouldn't they? There are almost no night-black faucets on the market, let alone highly stylized ones. The faucets and shower units would certainly make the highlight reel of any home tour.

Another nice feature of Ondus: The controls are rather intuitive. Clear pictures denote whether one is affecting the shower head, body spray(s) or hand-held shower head units. Merely touch the picture of where you desire water to pour from and, VOILA! Water! Want hotter water? The digital display allows you to control water temperature to within half a degree! Ease of use of the digital display and control panel is comparable to an I-Pod.

However, PaulSupply.com's Best in Show Award is reserved for the Kohler Zofa toilet seats. Stop rolling your eyes... Most people have experienced a standard, hard plastic toilet seat as well as the occasional padded toilet seat. "What," you may be thinking, "could make any toilet seat stand out? Especially at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show? There must have been ten thousand items which are better than a toilet seat..." And right you would be, except the Zofa will make any toilet a true throne.

Kohler's Zofa toilet seats (Model # K-4673 for an Elongated, K-4674 for Round/Regular size) is neither a plastic seat nor a padded seat. It is, in our estimation, the first ever soft toilet seat. The difference being the Zofa seats have substance to them -- they won't compact so much so that they no longer offer any padding, yet they are hard enough that ripping should never be a concern.

Kohler, in a February 13, 2008 press release, stated: "The Zofa seat features closed-cell foam that does not require a separate material to act as a cover, compared to competitive soft seats wrapped in vinyl. This soft seat is warmer to the touch upon initial contact, and the contour of the seat is ergonomically designed for optimal comfort. The polypropylene ring frame prevents cracking, and is equipped with KOHLER Quick-Release™ and Quiet-Close™ technology." (Click Here to Read Entire Press Release)

Stay tuned and we will let you know when we acquire our first shipment!

PaulSupply.com Goes to K/BIS

PaulSupply.com, in an attempt to expand our offerings, is going to begin blogging. In fact, has already begun blogging; IS! blogging. Enough about the obvious.

We are, if you have not been to our original site, a Plumbing Wholesaler/Distributor. This might be the most opportune time to tell you about, well, us:

PaulSupply.com has a rich history starting in the traditional plumbing supply industry. Founded in Worth, Illinois over 50 years ago, we have grown with Chicago and evolved with the plumbing industry. In 1998, with the increasing popularity of the World Wide Web, we opened our website PaulSupply.com.

Initially, we had only a few products listed on the web and directions to our retail locations. Over time, we uploaded our entire warehouse stock onto the site. Then, in 2003, we closed the doors to our retail locations and became an Internet-only company. What started out as a side-project has become the mainstay of our operations. At the start of 2008, PaulSupply.com opened a new 100,000 square foot warehouse in order to accommodate our growth and better serve our customers.

We look forward to continuing to provide you with the same exceptional brand of customer service and speedy delivery which has brought us to this point. We encourage you to browse our website and enjoy the ever-expanding features and selection. If you have any questions or comments, we can be reached, Monday through Friday, 8AM to 5PM CST, toll-free at 1-877-232-9721 or you can email us at Info@PaulSupply.com. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to help you!

This weekend (04/11/08 to 04/13/08) we will be attending the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show and Conference (K/BIS) here in Chicago, Illinois at the McCormick Place. Stay tuned for new products, product reviews, pictures, stories...

-The PaulSupply.com Team