wood

My personal preference is plastic. I find it easier to keep clean, important when dealing with a male Alzheimer's patient, or little toilet training male munchkins. The one that snaps off easily, and doesn't slam closed it really ideal for the latter.

Rusty

ETA: Soft close toilet seat.

Bemis, solid plastic. Commercial grade. Not that thin molded stuff at the stores. It's sanitary, comfortable and doesn't shift around. Is one the few seats that doesn't have that annoying soft close feature. :-(

I love the soft close feature! So much quieter and safer fo little ones.

I think plastic is more sanitary (easier to clean). The others (which I thought were composite material) do chip. They also stain and split on the underside from misses.

Plastic

Coin toss for me, though would REALLY like to be able to remove old seat! Have a wood seat just waiting to take place of old, battered throne, but just CANNOT get the nuts/bolts apart. As in most cases, you kinda have to go at them "blind", since no real room to work. Bolt (part of seat hinge) is metal and nut holding it on is plastic-something. Periodically, I try to get them apart but no luck. I vividly remember Dad "helping" my grandmother by changing her toilet seat. Wrench/pliers SLIPPED and he punched a hole in the bowl so entire toilet had to be replaced! I can't get a tight grip on the nut which is getting more and more chewed up with each attempt. Have thought of going total Mad Scientist and try to CUT plastic/Teflon nut off... with a stencil cutting tool!! Similar to old time wood burning, craft tool... gets REALLY hot and could easily cut thru plastic... I think??

We have Toto seats and like them, especially the soft close feature.

When the grandkids were training, we got an inexpensive kids' potty for them to use here.

I agree with most that plastic soft close are the easiest to keep clean and last the longest.

Plastic is what I prefer.

Heavy duty no warp or twist and I hate it when you sit it slides off the rim and bam you are half on half off. Which is because of cheap hard plastic bumpers under the seat. We bought one at Lowe's I think that had those and a snap closed top to the bolts on top. Hated it those snap closure things were always popping open and the seat was a slider. The one that came on the rv toilet, this one is like a home toilet, was such thin plastic when you sat down on it the seat would bow. We replaced it immediately. Currently I think all of ours are a hard wood with a plastic coating. Never had a soft close. I would definitely have to see it in person and look at it close up before buying I don't think I could do it as an online purchase.

I haven't seen a wood toilet seat in ages. Must be on old toilets?

We have all Totos too and love them and their plastic, slow drop seats. Many newer toilets perform better than the older ones anyway - our Totos certainly do - and use a lot less water.

Plastic for me, with slow close.

Wood. Our old seat was Bemis and it lasted 15 years. I wanted to replace it with the same but couldn't find it at the big box stores. I went on their website and found out that Church is their brand too, so we went back to HD or Lowe's, wherever we saw Church, and bought the soft close. It's my favorite seat in the house! We also have a wood Kohler and a plastic one from Target and the quality isn't as good.

My wood toilet seat is brand new, white coated wood with metal fittings, I think it cost $32. Didn't like the plastic snap closures on the thin plastic seat that came with the toilet and they eventually broke off. The only thing with this one is the lid is really heavy and slams down if it slips out of your hand when closing it so it wouldn't be suitable for young children I don't think

Definitely soft close. So much quieter and safer than the slam types.

We put in our Totos 15 years ago and they survived three kids. The seats are still original and good as new. They're firm and don't move at all. I can't imagine what would cause some to break after just a few years.

We use the Bemis High Density Molded Wood Soft Close on two of our toilets and the toilet for grandkids is fitted with the Next Step built in potty seat. That will be changed out when the 3 year old turns 5.

And they still make wood veneer toilet seats if you're interested.

Veneer
Wood

[Solid Wood[(https://www.houzz.com/products/toilet-seat-elongated-solid-wood-dark-oak-brass-hinge-prvw-vr~15028706)

What is unsafe about not having a soft close lid?

My grandson's little cousin was standing on his potty stool and aiming into the toilet, when suddenly the toilet seat came down and hit his 'hanging parts' as it slammed down! He was very bruised and sore, but luckily everything healed well. They immediately purchased a child's soft seat that fits atop their toilet, and he now sits down whenever he has to go.

Other than accidental injuring of hands or privates (Yikes!) I'm not sure what else could occur, except maybe a wood toilet seat cracking the porcelain rim, if it slams down too hard. All of our toilets now have slow close, so we never hear that sound of a slamming seat, lol!

Wow. Had no idea! Lord knows a lot of us did not have soft close available growing up in the old days though!

One of my oak toilet seats is actually veneer. I don't know how many years I've had them--a long time--but the veneer has become discolored and the other has lost some of its finish.

My downstairs toilet is a Toto, but it didn't come with a seat. When I bought it, the salesperson gushed, "Oh, your friends will be so impressed that you have a Toto!" I told her I was sure my friends didn't pay any more attention to toilet manufacturers than I did. I actually like the flush on my upstairs Kohler much better. Possibly this is because my Toto came from the lower end of their line.

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone!

klsevard - to loosen the nuts and bolts, spray liberally with WD40 and wait awhile, then try to work it, slowly. Might have to repeat, but it should eventually loosen.

A feature I'd look for on a new toilet seat is -- how solid is the lid? I tend to stand on the closed lid to change light bulbs instead of hauling out a ladder. To spiff up our old house to sell, we bought new seats and the lid was flimsy plastic. Very disconcerting when I hopped up to replace a light bulb, lol! It didn't break, but it felt like it was going to buckle under me.

Pickyshopper, wow, I had no idea how scary a toilet could be to a little boy. Ouch!

Standing on a toilet can damage the wax seal, if one was used.

Wood toilet seats are in every store that sells them. They are not wood colored they are white just like any other seat. Coated with a white protective coating. Brand spanking new toilets come with good high quality white wood toilet seats maybe some just did not realize that it was wood.
[toto solid wood brand new[(https://www.houzz.com/products/toto-ss304-polished-brass-hinges-maple-softclose-toilet-seat-prvw-vr~8531755)

lots of them to pick from right here

Yes, I've always had wood toilet seats, and most of them were white. I haven't completely ruled out wood, but I thought plastic would make more sense this time around.

That's a beautiful Toto seat--and a fat price tag! But it's not as expensive as the bidet seat I saw that comes with its own remote. :-)

During the cold months, my wood seat was intolerable.

I switched to a cheap plastic one and no longer dread those "wake up" calls.

I would have thought the wood would be warmer!

I replace wood toilet seats often....in my own house and in the rentals. It's a way to spruce things up. This is the go-to one I buy

My oldest boy came running out of the bathroom crying, "The toilet bit my penis!" Hard to hide the snickering while consoling him. He's 40 now, wonder if he remembers?

Well, the price is certainly right, Nicole! :-)

I'm going to check out Home Depot when I go to town on Thursday. I need to see some models in person.

Nicole, if you care, round toilet seats (and round toilets) are a big negative for many males. Oblong is the way to go. I check in advance when booking hotel rooms for US travel (foreign toilet seats are typically larger). Round = go somewhere else for me.

Round seats are too small from stem to stern to use comfortably for all but the shortest (smallest) of guys.

Elmer....I didn't know! :0)

I like wooden ones, as long as they're white! We were given an oak wooden one and it looked so dated.

Our landlords replaced our toilet, it works better but it's the round style. I much prefer an elongated one.

I went to Home Depot today and bought this one because the seat was thicker than some of the others and felt more substantial. I bought just one to see how I like it before getting another.

Bemis toilet seat