Toilet Wax vs Rubber: Which Works Better?

to be fair, if you're putting 25 PSI of air pressure on your toilet, you eat way too many beans.

I like the test but you can see the acrylic is bending which won’t be a good seal so something stiffer would have been a better test for both in my opinion

I'm a licensed plumber in New Mexico and I've done service work for 6 years. now I'm in a maintenance position for an apartment complex. Since the first time I tried "Better Than Wax" five years ago, I decided that I was never going back to wax. I've installed hundreds of the foam/rubber ring seals and I've never gotten a call-back or experienced any type of issue related to a toilet I've set using that product. Two things I swear by: "Better Than Wax" and siliconized acrylic caulking in place traditional plumber's putty or for any instance requiring a sanitary seal. This type of caulking is the easiest to use and clean up because, prior to setting up and curing, it's water soluble - just takes a damp rag and washes right off hands and tools. It's also safe on drains because it just dissolves in water on clean up. Once it's set and cured (think basket strainer or disposal adapter installation in a kitchen sink basin) it holds it's seal very well and stays worlds cleaner than putty could ever be capable of.

I've used the exact same Fluidmaster foam rings when I needed to do underlayment repairs under the toilets in our house. I've been pleased with the results. Note: That is a 2 piece system. You don't necessarily have to use both black & blue foam rings. The black piece is used if the flange is below floor level and additional seal is necessary. Really enjoy your videos & tips.

When I did apartment maintenance, I switched over to the better then wax. Worked well for me. I like that there is no wax to clean up. Other bonus, it can be reused incase you set the toilet down off center.

I'm an old guy, and after wrestling with replacing a wax ring today, I'm switching to rubber next time. These old knees have had five surgeries, and all the scar tissue across the face of the knee caps does NOT like kneeling on tile floors any more, and especially so if I kneel on a closet bolt or a nut. The tests are a great idea. Thank you for doing this. I'd like to see a couple of things changed on the tests, and see if you have a revised reaction. The pressure gauge should be moved to the pressure chamber. Right now, it is only reading the pressure in the hose. There is a large pressure drop across the Schrader valve when you are pumping, which masks your results. The other thing, is that if you use another metal ring or even a PVC flange over the acrylic plate, you would have even pressure around the whole seal, and would eliminate the bending of the plate, which also masks your result.

My buddy is a GC and I helped him set with the blue one, also installed the blue one in my house. No issues, no sewer gas. Makes me more likely to upgrade my toilet because I don't have to deal with the wax next time.

The maximum pressure that a ring can hold is not a real world issue. A rocking or unstable issue is an issue. Use very little pressure but rock the acrylic sheet to simulate a wobbling toilet to see what seal gives the best real-world performance. I'm a home owner and have used several of these and they seem to work really well. Especially, if you have lift the toilet for some reason, you don't have a gooey wax mess to clean up.

The problem you were having with the non-wax seals is that the piece of acrylic you were using was warping severely preventing it from being able to seal. That's a problem you won't see against the porcelain of a toilet. I've used them in my house and never needed to replace one after putting it in. I'm sure they'll fail eventually as all things do but to me they work incredibly well.

Landlord here, I've laid 2 toilets personally with better than wax seals, and haven't had a single problem yet! I like them because, I'm not a plumber. I don't have the repetitive skills honed in like one. So it's significantly more forgiving using the better than wax seals. My landlord friends also use better than wax seals, and they swear by them! It's really a great deal to have some leeway installing toilets, for only $10.

I have a condo in Fl. and the toilet was leaking around the bottom, so I figured the wax ring needed replacing. I installed this toilet around 14 years ago. I've always done all of my own plumbing and electrical work in my homes. Now at 81 YO, it is getting tougher, so I hired a plumber. I had all the water out of the tank so it would speed up the process. When the plumber came, and he removed the toilet, he discovered the flange was corroded and that was the failure point. In removing the old flange he broke the 4-inch pipe, he didn't have any along, so he had to go back to the shop to pick up a few more parts. To make a long story short, the charge came to $694.00 for this repair. His labor charge was $165/hour. Had I known it would have been that much, I would have done it myself even if it took all day with frequent rest stops. I figured he charged me for the time to go and get the parts because he did not have a section of 4-inch pipe in the truck, and he also charged me for the time we had a BS session after he was done for the day. Since it was his last call of the day, I offered him a soda, which he accepted. He was a nice guy, but his company was not worth $165/hour.

I am not a plumber by trade, however, I have installed & repaired many toilets in the last 55 plus years , and I always used the wax rings and never, ever, had a failure with any of them.

Should have tested the Better Than Wax without the black spacer because you rarely use it. I’ve installed dozens of toilets with the Better Than Wax and I’ve only had to use the black spacer one time.

I used the Korky rubber ring during my bathroom remodel, as it allowed our contractor to reinstall the toilet every day without having to use a new wax ring each time. The Korky Wax Free ring is made in Burlington, WI.

I switched all wax rings to the blue rubber product you showed. Going strong for 7 years now even when one toilet shifted and rotated.

Should have a metal ring for the acrylic plate to keep it flat.

So for me I've been using the better than wax. For probably 6 years now. I've always been a big fan of wax. And I'm still using wax in certain occasions. But a lot of these new toilate, they have no grip to hold when you're trying to install them. They're odd shaped a lot of times they have these funky designs where you have to insyall the bolts. Inside the bowl so I started using the better than wax. Because it was a way I could get a seal. Cause you have to keep working the toilet sometimes to get the these funky toilets to set the way you want to. And that's just what has worked for me with some of these different toilet designs. But I've never really had any issue with it. And I really don't use the foam piece unless it's. Like specifically, an upstairs toilet situation where maybe the flange is sitting just just a little bit too low and I'll give that to my customers as an option as opposed to redoing the entire upstairs flange, which reinstalling the flange at the right height is the better option. But sometimes with budgets, people can't afford those kinds of repairs when they want to. And have to save up for the repair costs. So it's a kind of a Get me by Repair, but I've had a lot of success with the better than wax myself.

Homeowner. Replaced all 4 seals with rubber years ago. Never had a leak so far.

My upstairs bathroom has had the wax ring fail twice in the seven years we've been living here (first was installed by the people who renovated the house before we bought it, second was installed by me (I am not a plumber)), and both times the ring had a large crack and also appeared to have partially dissolved or something. When it leaked the second time last summer I replaced it with a rubber ring, haven't had any more leaks so far but only time will tell if it lasts as long or longer than the wax rings have. Both failures resulted in water dripping from the dining room ceiling any time the toilet was flushed.

Not a plumber but diy'er...used 'The Green Gasket' sani seal from Home Depot and it worked great. Almost 10 years later and still no leaks. My dad still prefers the wax rings though.