If Teflon is the ultimate non-stick material, why is it not used for toilet bowls, oven shelves, and other things we regularly have to clean?
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Because it only stays non-stick if you treat it with ridiculous care. No scratchy pads, no scrapes from the bases of other utensils etc. and even then it doesn’t last forever. Plus it is expensive and polluting to produce. Worth it for perfect fried eggs maybe, but not just to wipe down a sticky shelf. The toilet bowl idea is interesting though!
Simply being non-stick doesn’t mean that things do not need to be cleaned. When Teflon is applied, it prevents things from sticking to it, primarily due to the carbon-fluorine bonds. It’s mostly nonreactive so in cookware, it tends to prevent food from sticking by preventing the bonding of the debris to the surface. However, Teflon (or PTFE) is one of the PFAS compounds now known to be highly difficult to eliminate. Applying it to substances usually involves high temperatures or high pressures, which can damage the products you would want to apply it to. PTFE is available in lubricant sprays that dry to a film, but that isn’t the same as applying a coating to something like a toilet.
Oven shelves are often stainless steel, which can usually withstand the high temperatures of the ovens. However, self cleaning ovens can reach temperatures of >600F, which is approximately the melting point of PTFE, so it wouldn’t be practical.
PTFE (Teflon is a brand name) isn’t the ultimate non-stick surface. It has very low friction, but so do many other materials.
Its popularity comes from its low cost *compared to other non-stick surfaces* , but it’s very fragile *as a coating*. Compare a Teflon coated pan to an enameled pan. The enamel will have similar non-stick properties but be more durable and heat resistant. *PTFE becomes unstable at around ~~300~~ 500^o F, enamel at around ~~500~~ 800^o F which is past the point of catastrophic failure for PTFE* *Had some conversions Mixe up*
Your toilet is made of glazed porcelain, which is almost as non-stick as PTFE, but about 1,000 times more durable.
Edit: grammar
EDIT 2: clarifications italicized
Re: toilets:
Teflon by itself is softer than a plastic cutting board. (~~White cutting boards I restaurants are Teflon~~ edit- yes I’m an idiot, they’re HDPE, not PTFE).
You don’t want soft and easy to cut/mar where there’s poop. You do want slick, but you also need a slick nonporous surface that could last a hundred years or more.
Ceramic is the trifecta of hard, slick, and durable.
In addition to the other answers I just want to add that Teflon has recently come under fire for being forever chemical (look up PFAS) and being pretty detrimental to the planet and humans. They don’t break down easily.
It’s starting to become a problem as it has been found in drinking water, animal breast milk, and in nearly ever part of the globe including the arctic.
So the less Teflon we use, the better.
Edit: My info on [Teflon toxicity](https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/is-teflon-coating-safe) was wrong as I was grouping it with other forever chemicals. It is a forever chemical that hangs around, but isn’t a big health risk.
People are talking about Teflon cookware and using that as an explanation. Lots of things are made out of solid Teflon. It’s not used for oven shelves because the oven gets too hot and not used for a toilet because it’s not economical or practical to make a plastic toilet. Teflon cannot be injection molded so making things out of it isn’t as cheap as plastic you can injection mold.
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Teflon used to contain PFOA. That was replaced with a similar chemical HFPO-DA. Both of which are on the 28 chemical PFAS analytical test.
The difference between PFOA and HFPO-DA (aka gen x) is the length of the carbon chain.
We know the Carbon8 PFOA compound is toxic, but toxicity studies are not complete on the HFPO-DA Carbon6 chain.
It is suspected to be less toxic: but the thresholds are not conclusive yet.
Not that it stopped DuPont from fucking up the Cape Fear watershed by discharging it from its Gen X manufacturing facility in N. Carolina.
In summary, speaking as an environmental regulator…Teflon can fuck off and die and should not be on the market, if we EVER want to solve the PFAS issue.
I’m glad ovens arent made with teflon, i have parrots and if teflon gets over like 400° it kills birds within minutes. bird owners would have a lot more trouble making their homes bird safe if oven shelves were teflon
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