What a rimless toilet is
A rimless toilet has no closed rim under the edge of the bowl. On a traditional pan that rim hides a channel for the flush water, and limescale builds up in it, with bacteria and other residue, out of reach of a brush. A rimless pan has no such channel. The flush water runs directly over the bowl surface, so the inside of the bowl is open to a cloth or brush and easy to see.
The suites on this page are rimless pans in the usual formats: back to wall, in-wall concealed and close coupled, with a few bidet suites as well. The buying guide on the main toilets page covers the measurements every toilet shares, such as set out and inlet.
Rimless in the words of a consumer guide
CHOICE describes a rimless bowl as one with no rim for dirt to hide under, so a sponge can clean the whole surface. It says rimless bowls splash less and need less cleaner, which means fewer chemicals in the wastewater, and that they cost more depending on the brand. A retailer guide agrees on cleaning and names close coupled and back to wall toilets as the common rimless formats. None of these sources gives test figures. The practical case for a rimless pan rests on what you can see for yourself: an open bowl you can wipe in one pass.
Do rimless toilets flush as well?
They use the same water. A 4 star rimless suite uses 4.5 litres on a full flush and 3 litres on a half flush, the same as a comparable rimmed suite, and the listings on this page state those figures. What differs is how the water is spread over the bowl. A Wellsons guide lists the trade-offs from the retailer's side: water may splash during a flush because there is no rim, and parts for a newer design can be harder to source.
Two methods are common. A direct flush pushes water through one or two angled ports to coat the bowl. A tornado flush uses angled jets to spin the water in a spiral. The tornado flush toilets have their own page. Caroma's Cleanflush is a separate rimless design, a bowl and flush system developed and patented in Australia, and the Caroma Cleanflush page collects those pans.
Reading the flush type on a listing
Rimless describes the bowl. The flush describes how the water moves in it, and each maker has its own name. Cleanflush is Caroma's name for its Australian rimless design. Tornado flush is used by several makers for a swirling flush. Orton Baths describes it as a swirl of water in the bowl, separate from a rimless pan but often paired with one. WhisperFlush is Turner Hastings' name for its rimless flush, which the listings describe as a tornado-style rinse with minimal noise and no splashing. The noise and splash claims come from the makers and sellers, and none comes with a figure. The WELS rating and the flush volumes are stated on the listings, and those are the numbers you can compare.
Is rimless better than a box rim?
For cleaning, yes, and the reason is physical. There is no hidden channel to clean, and limescale shows early enough to treat before it builds. The open bowl can be wiped or brushed with a non-abrasive cleaner. A smooth glaze helps, though no glaze removes the need to clean. The Bao Elegant listings, for instance, state an easy-clean glaze that runs from the pan through the trapway to the neck, where staining usually starts.
A box rim pan has a glazed rim and trap. The Caroma Luna wall faced suite is a box rim pan, and the Luna Cleanflush is the rimless version of the same range. Both are listed, so read the description of the one you want.
The downsides of a rimless toilet
There are four. The most common complaint is splashing, since there is no rim to catch water, and Cleanflush describes flow channels designed to limit splashback. A wall hung rimless pan needs in-wall plumbing and a support frame, which makes installation more involved. A back to wall suite can make the plumbing harder to reach for repairs, so plan an access panel. And spare parts for newer designs can be harder to find, which is a reason to note the brand and model of the toilet you buy.
Choose the format with the room in mind. For wall hung pans see wall hung toilets.
The rimless pans on this page, make by make
The Caroma pans use the Cleanflush rimless bowl. The Luna Cleanflush suites have a 395mm pan height and an S trap set out of 60 to 205mm. The Urbane II Cleanflush wall faced suite has a 440mm pan height, a 655mm projection and an S trap set out of 60 to 200mm. The Contura II Cleanflush close coupled suite is 440mm high with a 655mm projection, the Riviere Cleanflush close coupled suite is 435mm high with a 660mm projection, and the Liano Easy Height suite is 435mm high with a 655mm projection. The Caroma Cleanflush page collects the whole family.
The Bao Elegant universal rimless suite has a 410mm pan height, a 640mm projection and a set out of 100 to 200mm. Its raised height version has a 440mm pan height and a 670mm projection. Among the Indigo suites, the Cali has a 410mm pan height and a 620mm projection, the Ridge a 410mm pan height and a 665mm projection, and the Cali II raised height a 450mm pan height and a 675mm projection. The Lafeme Catania rimless bidet suite is 870mm high, with a 440mm pan height and a 655mm projection.
The Fienza tornado flush suites are rimless as well. The Lillian has a 400mm pan height, a 680mm projection and an S trap set out of 90 to 160mm. The Koko P trap suite has a 425mm pan height and a 660mm projection. The Turner Hastings Fino WhisperFlush suites have a 440mm pan height, a 680mm projection and a set out of 100 to 190mm. See tornado flush toilets and Turner Hastings Fino whisperflush toilet suites for those. Projection varies a lot, from 500mm on the compact Urbane II pan to about 700mm on the longest bidet suite, so compare it with your room.
How to tell a pan is rimless
Read the description. The listings here name the bowl as Cleanflush rimless, a rimless bowl, or a glazed box rim and trap. Don't assume it from the format, because one range can contain both. The Indigo Cali, for example, is described as a rimless bowl in a close coupled suite that sits back to the wall, and the Bao Elegant raised height suite is an open rimless design with a 440mm pan height and a universal trap.
What each family says about its bowl
Each listing describes the bowl in its own words, and the wording tells you what to check. The Bao Elegant listings describe an open rimless bowl with no pan lip and an easy-clean glaze that covers the pan, trapway and neck. The Indigo listings describe a rimless pan that suits S or P traps. The Caroma listings describe the Cleanflush rimless bowl, and some also name GermGard on the seat. Fienza's Lillian, Koko, Tono and Aluca listings describe a tornado rimless flush, and the Turner Hastings Fino listings describe WhisperFlush. The Studio Bagno Milady listing names a Cleanmax nanotech anti-bacterial surface glaze. That is the maker's description, with no test figures behind it. Read all of these as descriptions, and compare the numbers that follow them: pan height, projection, set out and flush volume.
Fit, seat and set out
A rimless pan still has to match your plumbing. The Bao Elegant lists a universal trap with a set out of 100 to 200mm. The Caroma Luna Cleanflush lists S trap set outs of 60 to 205mm and a P trap set out of 185mm. Pan heights on this page run from 395mm to 450mm without the seat. A standard toilet sits around 400mm and a comfort height is around 450mm, which suits taller users and anyone with limited mobility.
If you plan to replace the seat, measure the fixing centres first. Most pans use a 380mm fixing spacing, so most seats fit, but a European profile pan may not suit a generic seat. See toilet seats for replacements.
Seats on rimless pans
A rimless pan takes an ordinary seat, and most suites here include one. CHOICE says soft close lids close quietly and put less stress on the pan, and that quick release seats come off without tools for easier cleaning. That helps on a bowl which is easy to reach once the seat is off. The box lists differ: the Indigo suites list a soft close quick release seat, the Bao suites a slim seat and cover, and the Fienza Lillian offers a thick or a slim seat. When you replace a seat, measure the pan and the fixing centres, not the old seat. Toilet seats explains how.
Looking after a rimless toilet
Clean with a pH neutral cleaner, and avoid bleach, ammonia and abrasive pads. In a hard water area, descaling belongs in the routine. The cistern's flush and inlet valves are worth servicing every five to eight years, depending on how hard the water is. A householder can replace a seat. Work on the flush valve or the drain connection should go to a licensed plumber.
Cleaning a rimless bowl in practice
The routine is short. A weekly clean with a mild, non-abrasive bowl cleaner and a soft brush covers most pans, and the open bowl lets the brush reach the whole surface. Scouring pads and steel wool can dull the glaze, as can a wire brush, and a cleaner left to soak on the surface can mark it. Keep bowl cleaner to the inside of the bowl, and wipe splashes off the seat and hinges, and the buttons, straight away. Keep in-tank cleaners and chlorine drop-ins out of the cistern, since they can damage the flush valve and the rubber parts. Care guides disagree about soft abrasives and bleach, so the care sheet for your model has the final word.
Scale is the one thing a rimless bowl does not escape. Hard water leaves deposits that block the rim holes and trapways on pans that have them, and it can mark the bowl surface on any pan. Treat scale early with a cleaner made for hard water deposits and the glaze stays smooth. Where a listing names GermGard, it describes an antimicrobial surface treatment, and that does not replace cleaning.
What a rimless pan does not change
The fit rules are the same as for any pan. On an S trap the set out is the distance from the finished wall to the centre of the waste outlet. On a P trap it runs from the finished floor to the centre of the wall outlet. CHOICE notes that the existing set out usually decides a replacement. The inlet is back, bottom or universal, and a back inlet needs a plumber. Rimless suites come in every format, so a back to wall suite, a close coupled suite, a link suite or a wall hung pan can each be rimless. Choose the format for the room first, then pick a rimless pan within it.
Water use doesn't change either. A 4 star suite in this collection uses a 4.5 litre full flush and a 3 litre half flush, and WELS rates a toilet from the water used by four half flushes and one full flush. The usual minimum is 4 stars for a new home and 3 stars for a replacement, though local rules may differ, so confirm what applies to your project. The formats where rimless pans are most common are on in wall concealed toilets and close coupled toilets.
More views on rimless bowls
A plumbing contractor's guide leans on the CHOICE buying guide for the view that rimless bowls are easier to clean and remove the channels that hold grime. It says the benefit is greatest in family homes and rentals, or in households sensitive to mould or allergies, and smaller in a single-person or low-use powder room, where flush coverage matters more than whether the bowl has a rim. A retailer buying guide also calls rimless bowls more hygienic and easier to clean. It notes that most rimless models are back to wall and that they cost more. Neither gives test data, so the case for rimless stays practical: fewer places for residue to sit, and an open bowl you can reach. A plumber's view on that is worth asking for if the household has a hard water supply, since scale marks any bowl surface.
The retailer guide treats bowl shape as a separate choice. Elongated bowls look more stylish and are generally more comfortable but take up more space, and round bowls are shorter. Shape matters when you replace the seat, because the seat has to match the bowl. The guide also says flush performance matters most, and that a good flush clears waste in one push, so test a model where you can. For that reason, read the flush volumes and the flush type on each listing, and don't stop at whether the bowl has a rim.
Rimless and the wall behind it
A rimless pan fits any format, but the format decides the install. The rimless back to wall and close coupled suites on this page need no frame. A rimless wall hung or wall faced pan with a concealed cistern needs the wall opened and an access panel built in. A plumbing contractor's guide puts the cavity depth for a concealed cistern at 120 to 150mm or more, in a wall able to carry the pan and the user. The rimless in-wall options here are the Bao Elegant in-wall pan, the Turner Hastings Fino and Claremont pans and the Caroma Invisi Series II suites, and each lists its own projection and set out. Check those figures and the inlet against your wall before you choose a bowl.
Elongated or round, and why it matters for a rimless pan
A retailer guide says elongated bowls are generally more comfortable and look more stylish but take up more room, and that round bowls are shorter. The pan fixes the seat shape, so settle the shape before you shop for a seat. The listings here name the seat in the box, and a replacement has to match the pan. That is why toilet seats tells you to measure the pan, not the old seat. In a tight room, read the projection on each listing first. The longest bowls on this page project about 700mm and the shortest 500mm.
Colour and brand
For a softer finish, matte white toilets are collected separately. If you already know the make, the rimless pans on this page come from several makers, including Caroma toilets, Bao toilet suites, Indigo toilets and Fienza toilets.
