I shouldn't have to be writing about a toilet seat. But it seems no matter how much you pay for a toilet you can bet that it is made from strong vitreous china yet it will come with a seat that is almost unusable. And when you go to replace it most of what you find isn't any better, usually a piece of thin molded plastic or pressed sawdust with a coat of paint on it.

WHY DO YOU REPLACE YOUR TOILET SEAT

The universal reason that there even exists an aftermarket for toilet seats is that the existing one is loose, wobbly and likely has broken just from sitting on it. Some are so loose as to be a peril to use. Down on the list but still important is that some are simply uncomfortable.

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT

As mentioned, most are made from either molded polystyrene or pressed sawdust. It is rare to find ones made from solid wood or ceramic. Most of the products from Bath Royale are plastic. But this model is said to be different, using what they call Eurocast which is said to be extremely durable and resistant to chemicals and stains and harder than what most seats are made from with better scratch resistance. From the first moment you will know just from how substantial it feels.

INSTALLATION

The good news is that this company wins for one of the best written instruction manuals I have seen in a long time. Not that installing something like this is rocket science but truth be told their product is a little more complicated than average and you really do need to read the instructions to get the performance you expect. Beyond that, not that it's bad news, but simply reality this is not a replacement that you will snap into place in thirty seconds, yes there are products that actually promise that. The multi-piece mounting brackets are engineering wonders but they do take time to install, align and adjust properly. To do it right took me about thirty minutes, but part of that is for what I paid I demanded a perfect installation.

DOES IT LIVE UP TO THE CLAIMS

It is immediately apparent as soon as you see it that this product is much heavier and more solid feeling than what you're used to. In a way it feels like wood because of how dense it feels, yet it feels smoother and sturdier. The hinge has no wiggle to it at all and once mounted in place there is nothing I could do to get it to wobble. The closure feels more precise than any self-closing seat I have used. One minor point though is that the color has a very slight gray cast to it. It's something that you may not even notice unless the lighting is just right but if you are a décor purist you might notice. My opinion is that the color looks elegant and I should be clear that as a graphic artist I have very accurate color perception.

BUT 70 BUCKS

Yes, it's a budget breaker but in my shopping search I learned something. Gone are the days of under twenty buck replacements. It is actually very difficult to find anything worth considering these days for less than forty, so the extra difference for this one doesn't seem that much. For almost any product there is always the range of good, better and best and if you are the kind of person who typically bypasses the lower end range and goes for the high end you are a candidate to consider this model. I don't know of anything better available unless it's solid gold "“ and that sounds too cold to be comfortable "“ but I can say that I feel I got a good value and in the long term it will be a worthwhile outlay. So to answer the question if it is worth it "“ there is no doubt in my mind that it is.

The Amazon box was on my front porch. I brought it in the house thinking I must have gotten more than I ordered. This seat is much heavier than the one I'm replacing. This is good. The plastic one that came with the toilet was self closing and was nice but it was flimsy. It tended to move and need tightened periodically. After 2 years it would no longer self close and we were again BANGING the lid closed. Once you get use the the self close you find you are banging seats at most other locations forgetting that not everyone has self close seats.

I assumed it would be a quick install and it was but I was shocked to see a 4 page instruction sheet with large pictures taking me through every step. It was VERY clear and easy to follow. This was not written by a novice but a professional writer who knew his product. I read the instructions twice and started the install.

I pulled the old lid and found that the housekeeper, who does an excellent job, had not gotten all the crude around the bolts on the old lid. I used a spray cleaner and made the toilet squeaky clean as the instructions said.

I installed the bolts, measured the 4 3/4 between the posts as needed. I installed the lid after moving the posts slightly as I must not have been exactly 4 3/4. It takes two hands to set the seat and was a little hard as the seat somewhat heavy. The lid snapped into place and I was set to go. It is easy to remove and reinstall the seat for cleaning around the bolt covers. I suspect that is going to be my job from time to time as the housekeeper probably won't remove it. We'll see what happens.

I searched the web for this seat and Amazon was the best price. Almost all other sellers were significantly more expensive. I could not find it in my local big box stores (3 of them)

This is definitely a premium seat that should last longer than the house. I've only had it one day and really like it. It is very well engineered and is made of premium material. I cannot say enough about the great instructions. I'll give it a little time but I have two more toilets that I will soon be ordering this seat for them.

I finally had this installed (after having a right-height toilet likewise installed), and its semi-soft pads that it rests upon have contoured to the rim. That is, the portion that touches the rim has flattened (smooshed) while the portion that does not make contact retains its original shape. It thus will not wiggle or slip sideways. these contoured pads work as hooks that prevent wiggle, as long as my weight is on it. I am very happy about this! Note that it never wiggled/wobbled in the 1st. place. I suppose the pads gripped the rim.

The material appears to be plastic, but is much denser that any plastic I have ever seen. As such, it seems rather cool to the touch.

Installation: I was not the one who installed it, so, I can only say that my brother-in-law had no difficulty in doing so. All the hardware is already on the bolts in the correct order. I chose the stainless steel parts rather than the plastic (to cover the screw).

You can download the instructions from the company's website, as I did.. A nice feature is that the forward position is adjustable during installation, so the edge of the seat will overhang the front edge of the bowl. This means you need not touch the bowl just to lift the seat to its vertical position.

BE SURE TO ADHERE TO THE CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS (flip side of warranty card)

UPDATE (12-12-2020):

I am very happy about THE ROCK-STEADY no wiggle seat, but, after about 1 year of use, 2 of the pads under the seat had worn out. They are somewhat like very firm putty. They squash where contact is made with the rim, and this aids in the grip / non-slip feature. I contacted the manufacturer via its email page on a Friday, and the very next day (on a Saturday!), I received a reply. The guy said replacement pads were being sent via 1st class mail. Talk about customer service! How wonderful. They sent 4 pads, but since only 2 had worn - out, I replaced just those 2. In retrospect, I wish I had replaced all 4!

With 2 new ones, whose shape had yet to squash & match the curve of the rim, and the other 2, that had been flattened by a year of use, only the 2 new pads actually made contact with the rim. The 2 old ones, being a bit flattened, did not. When I next used it, the seat cracked through on the left side! OMG! I was very & unpleasantly surprised!

Contacted the manufacturer again, and, was pleasantly surprised when informed that a replacement was being sent via UPS. I had expected a negative response, given that I had already had replacement parts sent. I am very happy with the product and the customer service! They ought to send new pads with instructions indicating all 4 must be replaced!

This item was crazy expensive. When you can buy a functional toilet seat for 1/3 the money--hard to justify this cost.
The trade off with toilet seats is that plastic ones are easy to clean; but are often flimsy and flex. Wooden ones are very solid--but read the reviews--they are often tougher to clean and/or have fragile finishes that are damaged by cleansers.

After spending way too much time reading Amazon toilet seat reviews, we selected this one. We decided that since toilet seats typically last us 10 years, it was a luxury that, over time, was not that bad.

Seems like every manufacturer has invented the best new mounting system for their toilet seat. No two are alike.
These guys are no different. Theirs is different than any others--but--their instructions are the clearest I've ever read (for possibly any item I've bought!). Easy to install; easy to adjust.

Installation took minutes and only a tape measure and a Phillips head screw driver. It slow closes quite nicely and seems solidly made. Only installed it an hour ago--so durability is still an unknown for us.

If this happy, then why not 5 stars?? Color. We ordered and received in white. We have an American Standard Champion toilet. In the brightest of light, you can see that the color match to the porcelain is ever-so-slightly off. Not bad, just 2% below perfect. At this price point, I was expecting perfect. Once I removed my worklights from the bathroom and went back to normal bathroom lighting, it is pretty easy to overlook, so I'm still quite happy with my purchase.

Very clear and specific instructions. This seat will fit a large variety of hole placements, which I didn't even know could be an issue. Installation is a little more involved than the old "plug and play" that I thought I remembered, but the instructions are really well-written and clear. Don't be put off by "more involved - installation is easy-peasy!

I like the soft close feature. This seems to be getting to be standard for toilet seats, but this one is nicely executed.

I bought the "round" configuration, based on the front-to-back 16.5 inches that my bowl has. Good fit "fore and aft". My bowl is a little more round than the seat, but the bowl sticks out barely 1/16 inch on either side. Looking at other toilet seats in the couple of weeks since I installed mine, this is quite common and I don't object.

The packaging is amazingly well-engineered - I think I could throw the seat in its box off a four story building and it would be fine. A little over-kill, maybe, but the box and internal bracing are beautifully engineered and the result is that the seat and lid are utterly pristine coming out of the box.

The attachment mechanism is very well-engineered, too. The base pegs for the seat are very secure to the bowl, and the seat-lid assembly has two very well-engineered release buttons so you can pop the whole thing off for cleaning or whatever. The seat is super-solid when attached, but pops off easily. Solid, with easy detachment, is a hard thing to get right. These folks have accomplished that.

I'm not a professional but my house is 100 years old and I try to manage most all the handyman fu (like kung fu but harder). Toilet seat replacement is something I've done before, but only a couple of times. This one was easy, with a very satisfactory result. I did not receive this product for testing. I bought this myself with a bit of investigation. The description on Amazon was useful, and accurate.