The Best Toilet Brushes and Holders (Researched & Ranked)

The short answer: the best toilet brush and holder is the OXO Good Grips Compact Toilet Brush and Canister. It suits almost any bathroom because it solves the two problems that make cheap sets unpleasant: the canister door opens automatically as you lift the brush, so you never touch it with a dirty hand, and the head rests above a drip tray instead of sitting in a pool of its own runoff. That second detail is the entire reason ordinary holders start to smell. If the set is on display in a bathroom you care about, the simplehuman is the more attractive version of the same idea.

Below are the six the owner-review record supports, why holders smell and how to stop it, and the complaints that recur across every brand.

Top Picks at a Glance

Our #1 Pick: OXO Good Grips Compact Toilet Brush and Canister

Almost every toilet brush cleans a bowl adequately. What separates them is what happens in the thirty seconds after you finish, and OXO is the set that thought hardest about that.

The canister door is hinged and sprung so that lifting the brush pushes it open, and lowering the brush lets it close. It sounds like a gimmick until you notice what the alternative is: reaching down with a hand that has just been near a toilet bowl to lift a lid, or a holder with no lid at all. A lid earns its place for a second reason too: a peer-reviewed review of toilet plume aerosol found flush toilets produce substantial aerosol capable of carrying microorganisms, while noting that disease transmission from it remains uncharacterized. Owners mention this feature more than any other in the review record, which is a decent proxy for how much it matters day to day.

Inside, the head sits on a raised tray with a well beneath it. Runoff drains away from the bristles instead of pooling around them, and that is the mechanism behind the most consistent finding in the reviews — OXO holders do not develop the sour smell that ordinary ones acquire in a few months.

The brush itself is unremarkable in the best sense. Angled bristles that reach under the rim, a comfortable handle, a compact footprint that fits the gap beside a toilet base. It is not the most powerful scrubber here — stiff nylon on a heavy limescale ring is a losing battle for any brush, and a pumice stick is the right tool for that.

Honest limitations: the plastic looks like $18 of plastic, the compact version is genuinely small so anyone who wants a full-size head should buy the standard model, and the hinge is the one moving part, which a small number of owners report becoming stiff over years.

Check price on Amazon →

The Ranked Field

Quick Comparison

How We Rank

We do not buy or physically handle these. We read the owner-review record at volume, which in this category is unusually informative because the failure modes are slow and social — a brush that smells after four months generates a very specific kind of review. Four things carry the most weight. Drainage design, meaning whether the head sits above the runoff or in it, because that single decision determines whether a holder ever smells — helped along by the room itself, since the EPA advises keeping indoor humidity below 60 percent, ideally between 30 and 50 percent. Touch points, since every surface you have to grip with a dirty hand is a hygiene failure. Head material and shape, judged on under-rim reach and on whether the material sheds or absorbs. And footprint, because the gap beside a US toilet is typically narrow and half of these do not fit it. Prices were checked at time of writing. Full method on how we rank.

The Toilet Brushes, Reviewed

1. OXO Good Grips Compact Toilet Brush and Canister — Best Overall

Covered above. What owners consistently praise: the auto-opening canister, that the holder does not smell, the under-rim reach, and how well the compact size fits a tight gap. Recurring complaints: the plastic is functional rather than attractive; bristles splay after roughly six months of heavy use, which is normal for nylon; and a minority report the hinge stiffening over several years. A few owners wanted the full-size version and ordered the compact by mistake — check the dimensions. Check price.

2. simplehuman Toilet Brush with Caddy Stainless Steel — Best Premium

The one that looks like it belongs in the bathroom rather than being hidden. A crescent-shaped head that follows the curve of the bowl instead of fighting it, a slim dome cover, and a magnetic collar that holds the cover to the handle so it lifts away together — no wet cover to set down on the floor. The stainless is treated for rust resistance, which matters in a room that is humid twice a day.

Recurring complaints: at around $40 it costs more than twice the OXO for a marginal functional gain; the stainless shows water spots in hard-water areas; and the crescent head is less aggressive on a heavy limescale ring than a conventional round brush. Buy it for how it looks and feels, and it delivers. Check price.

3. Joseph Joseph Flex Plus Silicone Toilet Brush with Storage Caddy — Best Silicone

Silicone changes the hygiene equation because it is non-porous. Nothing soaks in, water runs off, and the head is close to dry within minutes of being put away — which is why silicone holders do not develop the smell nylon ones do. The Flex Plus uses a flexible D-shaped head with widely spaced blades that get under the rim and do not trap debris between them, and the caddy has a bay for a bottle of cleaner so one object replaces two.

Recurring complaints: flexible silicone scrubs a stubborn ring less effectively than stiff nylon, which is the honest trade; the caddy is bulkier than the slim version; and the blades can pick up dye stains from coloured cleaners. Check price.

4. Joseph Joseph Flex Hygienic with Slim Holder — Best Slimline

The same silicone head in a holder narrow enough to fit the four-inch gap most US toilets leave between the base and the wall. It is a small thing that decides whether a product is usable in a small bathroom at all, and it is the reason this model exists. The holder lifts off for rinsing, which most slim designs do not allow.

Recurring complaints: the narrow base is less stable and can be knocked over; the smaller drip well fills faster and needs emptying more often; and the same scrubbing-power trade-off applies as on the Flex Plus. Check price.

5. Clorox Corner Toilet Bowl Brush with Under Rim Scrubber — Best Value

Around $10, sold everywhere, and it does the two things a budget brush needs to do: it reaches under the rim with an angled tip, and the caddy hides the head. The corner shape is genuinely clever — the wasted triangle behind a toilet is exactly the space nothing else fits into.

Recurring complaints: no drip tray, so runoff pools in the base and it will smell if you do not rinse it; the plastic is thin and the caddy is light enough to tip; and bristles splay faster than the more expensive brushes here. At this price it is a consumable, and treating it as one keeps everyone happy. Check price.

6. Clorox Toilet Plunger and Brush Combo Set — Best Brush and Plunger Set

Two things that both need to exist beside a toilet and both need to be out of sight, in one caddy with one footprint. The plunger is a flange type, which is the correct design for a toilet — the rubber sleeve folds out to seal the outlet, where a flat cup plunger is for sinks and will not seal a bowl. A lot of households own the wrong plunger and do not know it.

Recurring complaints: the plunger caddy holds water after use unless you shake it out; both handles are plastic and feel it; and the combined unit takes more floor space than a brush alone, which defeats the point in a very small bathroom. Check price. If a blocked bowl is the immediate problem, see how to unclog a toilet without a plunger.

Why Holders Smell — and How to Stop It

This is the complaint that dominates the category, and the mechanism is simple. A wet brush is put back into a closed container. The water runs off, collects in the base, stays warm, and does what warm nutrient-rich water does. Within two to three weeks in a typical bathroom, opening the holder is unpleasant.

Three fixes, in order of effect:

1. Buy a holder with a raised drip tray. If the head never sits in liquid, the problem largely does not start. This is the OXO and simplehuman advantage.
2. Drip it before you store it. After scrubbing, close the toilet lid onto the handle so the head hangs over the bowl, and leave it five minutes. It is the single most effective habit in this whole page and it costs nothing.
3. Rinse the holder fortnightly. Hot water, a splash of bleach or white vinegar, tip it out, let it dry. Two minutes.

One more point worth knowing: flushing with the lid up produces an aerosol plume that carries several feet, which is why an enclosed holder near the bowl is a sensible default and why closing the lid before flushing is worth the habit regardless of what brush you own.

What Owners Actually Complain About

Smell. Covered above. It is almost always drainage rather than product quality.

Splaying bristles. Normal wear on nylon, typically at four to eight months of regular use. A splayed brush spreads rather than scrubs. Replace it.

Holders that tip. Light plastic caddies with narrow bases get knocked over by a foot or a vacuum. Weight and a wide base are worth paying for.

It will not shift the ring. No brush of any material removes heavy limescale. That is a pumice stick or an acid bowl cleaner, and it is a different job. If a ring keeps coming back, your water is hard — see what filters can and cannot do about hard water.

The Verdict

For hygiene, price and a holder that does not smell, the OXO Good Grips Compact Toilet Brush and Canister is the set the owner-review record supports most strongly. Want it to look good on display? The simplehuman. Prefer silicone to bristles? The Joseph Joseph Flex Plus, or the slim Flex if the gap beside your toilet is narrow. Kitting out a rental or a second bathroom? The Clorox corner brush at around $10. And if you do not own a flange plunger, the Clorox combo set fixes that too. Check price on Amazon →

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