Toilet seats come in many different options. Whether you are looking for black or white, plastic, or wood, there is something to match every bathroom or business. In the last few years, there has been an advancement in toilet seats. Rather than easily cracked pieces of plastic, it has transitioned to well made, and comfortable hardware.

Finding the most comfortable toilet seat is somewhat dependent on your preference regarding shape, the hinges, whether or not it is heated, or padded. The obvious choice of the most comfortable type of toilet seat would be one that is heated and offers a bidet, but these can be extremely expensive.

For a standard toilet seat, if you have health problems, you most likely will want to go with a padded and elongated toilet seat. For anyone else, you should at least choose an elongated seat for maximum comfort.

Shape

Typically there are two shapes of toilet seats, elongated and round. Elongated toilets and toilet seats are thought to be generally more comfortable than round ones. This is mainly because they are closer to the actual shape of a human backend than a round one.

If you are not looking to replace your toilet, then you will have to go with what fits your current model. Most older toilets are round, while modern toilets are known to be elongated.

Something else to note is that round toilets usually take up less space. This sometimes makes round toilets the first choice in new construction.

How to Tell the Difference Between Round and Elongated

The best way to do this is to measure the toilet bowl. Elongated toilets should be around 18″ in length, while round toilets are about 16″ in length.

Placing the Wrong Shape of Seat on a Different Toilet

You can actually put any shape of seat on any toilet. As long as the fasteners are the same dimensions as the toilet you are fitting, then you will have no trouble attaching it. In order to do this, you will need to compare the specifications of the toilet seat to the one you are attaching.

There are a few troublesome areas when you are placing an elongated toilet seat on a round toilet, and vice versa.

  • Elongated toilet seat will extend out past the rim of a round toilet bowl
  • There is a 2″ difference between an elongated toilet seat length and the length of a round toilet seat.
  • You may be able to see the front of a round toilet bowl under an elongated seat.
  • User may touch the front edge of the toilet bowl when sitting.

Quick Release vs Standard Hinge

Quick Release

These toilet seats are somewhat of a new feature in the world of toilet seat design. Quick-release toilet seats allow the whole seat, and lid to be removed quickly and easily.

This allows you to clean the toilet through all of the small spaces that are normally hard to reach. This allows you to even get to the underside of the toilet to fully clean it.

Standard Hinge

Standard hinge toilet seats only allow the seat and lid to open and close. These can be much harder to clean than quick-release seats, but they are also typically cheaper.

Heated

Have you ever left your bed in the middle of the night during winter only to encounter a freezing cold toilet seat? Heated toilet seats are a great comfort and the price reflects this.

Heated toilet seats come in a range of colors and options. Some seats heat up the toilet to one temperature, while others offer a wide variety of temperatures, or even the choice to program your preferred setting.

If you live somewhere that is warm year-round then this may not be something that is important to you. On the contrary, if you are looking to have an enjoyable time on the toilet then it may be worth it to splurge for this.

Soft Close vs Standard Closing

For a long time, toilet seats were built with a heavy lid to keep things out. Over time, these types of standard closing lids often began to slam closed once you moved away from it. Now, toilet seat lids are made much lighter, but some are still able to be slammed down after use.

Soft-close toilet seats eliminate the lid from being slammed. This technology occurs through the use of tensioned hinges. These hinges control how fast the seat will fall. Even if you push it down, the hinges will only allow it to go down slowly.

This acts as a way to avoid the slamming action, as well as a preventative measure to avoid children’s fingers from getting caught.

Padded

More popular in the 1990s, padded toilet seats are not as common as they once were. Despite this, there is a reason to consider the padded toilet seat.

If you are looking for an ultimate cushion, a padded seat is a great option. For individuals who have health issues that make the toilet a painful experience, a padded toilet seat is a nice alternative to a hard, plastic one.

For anyone who suffers from bedsores, a padded toilet seat is comforting and soothing. Additionally, those with limited mobility, Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative Colitis, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome a padded toilet seat can make life a bit easier.

The only main concern regarding a padded toilet seat is cleaning it. You will be happy to know that manufacturing techniques have changed in the last 30 years to make padded toilet seats easy to clean, and very sanitary.

Raised

Most standard toilet seats have a height of 15 inches when measured from the top of the seat to the floor. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) states that any toilet can only be deemed accessible if it has a seat height between 17-19 inches.

This means that anyone with mobility issues can use the toilet seat more easily at this height, which might be one of the reasons you may be interested in a raised toilet seat.

When looking for raised toilets, you should search for “comfort height”. Despite this, if you are not looking to purchase a new toilet, you can simply purchase a raised toilet seat instead. This can change your standard toilet into a comfort height, raised toilet (without the investment).

Bidet

Typically included in many Japanese heated toilets, the bidet toilet seat is a revolutionary invention. The bidet itself is not new. From France to Japan, to other parts of Europe and Asia, the wealthy have always used bidets to clean themselves with a hose and water after using the toilet.

The Japanese brand TOTO began the modern bidet toilet seat by embedding the bidet in the toilet seat itself. Although these are slowly becoming popular in North America, they do offer a huge amount of benefits and comfort. They include warm water to clean after you use the toilet, heated seats, automatically opening lids, and even drying air.

Related Questions

What are the main specialty features that are offered in toilet seats?

The main specialty features offered in toilet seats are heat, bidet water spraying, light, soft closing lids, and quick release for easy cleaning.