How am I supposed to keep a toilet bowl clean without a toilet brush?

You're not supposed to do anything. Cleaning the toilet is housekeeping's job, and in better hotels in Asia it's common to have several visits per day: once in the late morning and once more around dinnertime (turndown).

If you lay down a few sheets of toilet paper across the water and inner bowl before you poop, it prevents the poop from sticking to the sides of the bowl. Obligatory emoji: ??

If it's too late and some stuck, then some wadded toilet paper on the top of disposable chopsticks serve as an impromptu toilet brush. Make sure to break the chopsticks in half after use to prevent any accident reuse unless you're a Seinfeld fan. If the ?is on the side of the bowl and not in the water, you might not need the chopsticks at all and just the wadded up tissue works

Finally, if neither work: an extra tip in the bathroom with a note saying "sorry" or ?in emoji with an arrow pointing to the bowl will make the hotel maid happier, although it doesn't work with roommates.

Shouldn't this be in #lifehacks?

That's why toilets flush - to carry everything away. If it's not working right and cleaning properly, it sounds like the toilet is defective.

Ask the hotel staff to:

• Fix the toilet
• Or move you to a room with a better toilet (upgrade opportunity)
• Or to provide a toilet brush (if you prefer)

If you're just stuck with the poorly performing toilet then lining the bowl with toilet paper before using it (even the "dry" side parts or wherever the problem areas are) should help.

Or use some more toilet paper and something disposable like a straw or rolled up paper to wipe it off, then throw everything in the trash.

Or maybe you're not using the right "button" on a dual-flush or electronic toilet, there could be a "heavy flush" setting you're missing.

Another idea, if your hotel has a hand-held or detachable shower head on a hose, and it's right next to the toilet you could

• take the shower head and use it to rinse off the toilet:

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Or, you could make a "DIY Personal Bidet" by poking a hole (with a pen/key/fork/etc) in the lid of a cheap water bottle, so when you squeeze it water sprays out, and use it to spray clean the toilet & anything else.

I've never heard of a toilet brush being used as "permanent toilet paper" that sits in the bathroom, to wipe up feces without any cleaner, that sounds like a biohazard. You probably shouldn't use a toilet brush without some type of cleaner / soap.

You can actually buy a Handheld Bidet Toilet Sprayer that attaches to your toilet, very similar to a kitchen faucet sprayer. I would recommend using one, instead of leaving poop on your toilet brush all the time ;-)

_{[ If I found a house guest had put feces on the toilet brush and left it there, I would not want that guest back in my house again, ever (and I wouldn't touch or eat or drink anything from their house - or maybe I'm a little paranoid about Hepatitis, Cholera, Salmonella, E-coli, Enterovirus, Norovirus and parasites...) ]}

If no toilet brush is provided, you are expected to not clean the toilet yourself.

Hopefully I can provide some context that @jpatokal alluded to in their excellent but succinct response. This situation is highly relevant to both the culture where you're staying and the quality of facility you're in.

In America, lower- and middle-class hotels generally provide some manner of "do it yourself" cleaning utensils, like a toilet brush or cleansing spray. Upper-class hotels and resorts very often do not provide these tools. At these facilities, the expectation is that guests shouldn't worry about cleaning up after themselves*. Places that don't provide any tools compensate by having more frequent housekeeping visits and generally higher-quality fixtures that are less likely to accumulate your waste. Other countries I've been to have more or less followed this trend, to varying degrees depending on wealth & culture.

Ultimately, this sounds like a clash between your own cultural expectations about bathroom behavior and those of the place you're staying. You asked how you are supposed to remove feces when not given a brush; the simplest answer is that you are not supposed to. Your hosts suppose you wouldn't do that sort of cleaning yourself.

If you're using shared facilities, I suggest following whatever the local protocol appears to be. Regarding longer-term roommates, consider that they will have their own cultural expectations and plan accordingly. I wouldn't find it unreasonable to have a quick "how we clean the bathroom" talk upon moving in, and you can always provide your own brush at that point if your habits differ.

If you create a particularly toxic mess, @RoboKaren had some great suggestions. Most toilets provide a simple way for you to hold the lever a bit longer for a better rinse, or you can flush multiple times if needed. And ultimately, if you still feel obligated to clean up after yourself, you can certainly request something from housekeeping be provided for you. Keep in mind that this may be seen as rude or particularly out-of-place in some places. Imagine I went to Berlin and asked for chopsticks with my bratwurst - I'd probably get the chopsticks, but I'd also expect some raised eyebrows! :)

*: Personally, I'm not a big fan of this attitude. It's not uncommon though. :(

A little crude but, if you are a man, hold some pee back and then use it as a jet wash.

For either sex, fill a glass of water and pour it on the mess. Holding the glass higher provides better cleaning power but requires a good aim.

1. Wash hands.

2. Flush the toilet (more than once if there is a mess).

3. Wipe away any remaining mess with some folded moistened toilet paper and dispose of paper in the toilet bowl.

4. Wash hands again.

5. Flush the toilet and check if it is clean.

6. Repeat previous steps as necessary.

7. Close the toilet seat.

8. Wash hands again.

Put some toilet paper over the poop stains, making sure that the toilet paper also touches the water. The toilet paper will soak, keep the poop wet and absorb it. On the next flush, a little while later, most, if not all the poop will go the way of the dodo.

Many (most?) Asian hotel toilets have a nozzle on a hose for rinsing yourself off with (also called a bidet shower). I prefer these to toilet paper myself. They can be used to wash down the toilet bowl after use; indeed, they are more suited to this task than a toilet brush.

A much simpler solution than any of the prior answers, and one which often works for solid waste blockages as well, is to pour warm water down the toilet.

Prevention: flush once or twice to wet the bowl, chances are now none of the poop will stick.

In case of sticky:

1. small: flush a few times

2. medium: bottle with single hole and manly squeeze on the bottle. your pee mostly won't be enough, but beer addled bladders can give a try

3. large: you didn't wet the bowl before. Flush a few times before trying the second option.

If this is a worry, use the public toilet in the lounge rather than the one in your room.

I also wonder if readers are interpreting the word in the same way. When I was in Asia, it was common to have a hole in the ground but no “throne”. And people's aim was rather bad — I could not ring myself to use either of the toilets on the train because the smell was overwelming and there was poop all over the floor around the hole.

So maybe your situation is more serious than what readers are supposing?

Preventive flushing before taking poop makes sides of the bowl wet, so poop sticks to them less, and flushing is easier. So with any luck, one or two flushes will clean the bowl, including any poop on walls.

What's the problem, it is your poop, you already wiped it off your backside ... didn't you?

So wrap some toilet paper around your hand, plunge it into the bowl, wipe it clean, wash your hands ... don't you?

If your companion has left poop smears in the bowl, you do not need to worry.

If your companion has left actual poop in the bowl, flush it away and don't worry.

If the toilet is stuck and you do not have a toilet brush you can save the situation. You may use an empty bottle of water (1 liter or 1.5 liters). I was amazed how it can replace the brush in Asia. You can throw the bottle in the trash after the use. Once it has saved me in Beijing.