6 Tips to Help You Tackle Toilet Sweating
Whether or not you’ve heard of the phenomenon “toilet sweating,” your toilet does it — it may even be doing it right now.
Even though a sweaty toilet doesn’t mean anything is actually wrong with it, if you ignore it, that’s when problems can start, from ruining the seals around the base to damaging your floors and fixtures. While a simple wipe down may do the trick in most cases, there are better ways to keep it minimal.
Check out these expert tips to help you keep your toilet sweating under control.
First Things, First — What Causes Toilet Sweat?
If you’ve ever had a cold drink on a hot day, you’ve probably noticed water droplets covering the outside of your glass. The exact same thing happens to your toilet. When moisture in the air comes in contract with a cold surface, beads of water will form. This is a result of the difference in temperatures between the cool water inside the toilet (which is typically between 50-60 degrees) and the bathroom’s warm air. And thanks to showers and baths, your bathroom is the most humid room in your house.
Ways to Stop Your Toilet from Sweating
- Reduce Moisture in Your Bathroom
Due to those hot showers and long baths, your bathroom is often excessively humid, and the best way to make it less humid is to remove the moisture. Using a portable dehumidifier is one of the most common ways to eliminate moisture from the air. You can also try being more conscious of how long or hot your showers are. Fun fact: there are a lot of health benefits to taking cold showers! - Increase Ventilation
Another way to reduce humidity is to get the air moving. Simply opening the bathroom door or a window while showering is an easy way to reduce the likelihood of condensation. You can also install a fan and run it whenever you do have any hot water running. The key is to get the warm air moving and make sure it has a place to escape. Just make sure the air outside is cooler than inside, otherwise you’re only aiding the problem. - Insulate Your Tank
You may have noticed some homeowners will line their toilet with fabric. While it may be a design statement for some, it’s actually a preventative measure for others. By covering the exterior of your toilet tank, you prevent the cold surface from coming in contact with the warm air. There are also foam insulation kits or wraps available if simplicity over style is what you’re going for. But if you do choose a fabric, make sure to wash it regularly to eliminate mildew from the moisture it absorbs! - Use a Toilet Tank Liner
If you like the look of your toilet just the way it is, you could try lining the inside of it instead. A toilet tank liner is a foam or plastic liner that can be placed inside the tank to prevent the transfer of cold from the water inside the tank to the outside. A plumber can also come out and put sheets of polystyrene or foam rubber in the tank walls for you. - Warm up the Water
By now you know that cold water is one of the two main culprits involved in toilet sweating. So if you warm it up, you can also prevent it from happening. A plumber can install a mixing valve at the tank inlet which will work to integrate warmer water into the tank to keep the overall temperature less disparate from the outside air. - Check for Leaks
In some cases, toilet sweating is actually the result of a leak. Inspect your flapper valve at the bottom of the tank to see if it’s leaking water. If it is, that means cold water is constantly getting pushed into the toilet, increasingly the amount of condensation that forms. It also can add significantly to your water bill. By fixing the leak, the water in the tank will gradually reach room temperature which will help solve both problems!
If you’ve noticed your toilet getting extra sweaty recently, you can try any of the tips above, or just call Madsen to take care of it for you. Our plumbing experts can take care of all the quick fixes you need to prevent bigger problems down the road. Contact us today.