Clear plastic toilet stools Our DIY stool (left), made from a $50 acrylic display case and grip tape, has a similar aesthetic to the Proppr Acer in Clear (right) for about half the price (and five minutes of effort). Rozette Rago/NYT WirecutterBecause the translucent Proppr Acer reminded us of an acrylic display shelf, we tried to prop up our feet on one of those, too. Despite being roughly the right dimensions (8½ inches tall, 13½ inches long, and 9 inches deep) and around half the price, the homemade shelf lacked nonslip grips on the bottom, which can be a danger both to floors and to bodies. However, when we put a few cents’ worth of grip tape around our DIY version’s perimeter, we were able to create a beautiful clear “toilet stool” for under $55 total. Compared with the Proppr, though, the modified display case is bulkier (because of its depth) and not as versatile (because of its uniform height).If you’re looking for a shorter acrylic toilet stool (the Proppr ranges from 8½ inches to 9½ inches in height, and our display-shelf DIY stool is 8½ inches tall) or one with a cutout to fit around the base of your toilet, the Squatty Potty Ghost is 7 inches high. But it sports a bulkier profile overall and has many grime-collecting ridges.Opaque plastic toilet stoolsIntended to be both a height-adjustable toilet stool and a step stool, the Mr. Siga Toilet Stool performs neither job very well. It didn’t sit flush against a standard-size test toilet, and the junction between the two pieces quickly accumulated dust and grime.Our previous budget pick, the Step and Go Toilet Stool, has a wider footprint than our current picks — and almost every other model we considered. That may be a beneficial feature for people who would like to be able to spread their legs wider for stability or comfort. However, we found the newer and similarly priced Squatty Potty Simple to be a better fit for most bathrooms.The Tushy Arc is a narrow, curved, plastic toilet stool that resembles an upside-down hospital bedpan. It comes in a variety of muted colors, but it isn’t as comfortable to use or as aesthetically pleasing as our top picks.Wooden toilet stoolsThe Squatty Potty Slim Teak, our previous top pick, is still a nice toilet stool. But at 7 inches, it is shorter than our folding pick from Squatty Potty, and it has conspicuous branding. It also has a larger footprint and many grime-catching crevices. Furthermore, the large Squatty Potty sticker on the one we reordered in 2021 left behind an impossible-to-remove sticky residue.The rustic-looking bamboo Step and Go comes in two different heights (7 inches and 9 inches). But it was difficult to put together, and it has conspicuous branding as well as grime-catching crevices.The Squatty Potty Bamboo Flip, which can be switched around for different heights (7 inches and 9 inches in the same stool), was difficult to assemble. And some of the wood had rough spots. This stool also has conspicuous branding and grime-catching crevices.This article was edited by Tracy Vence and Kalee Thompson.
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