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To break up over toilet hygiene (or lack thereof)?

313 replies

wobblychicken · 05/01/2025 17:44

Name changed for this one.

So I've been seeing a new chap for several months - my first relationship since divorcing over three years ago, and with a lot of dead-end online dates in the interim. I.e. quite a big deal for me to have entered into. Lovely chap, very like-minded, considerate high-achieving professional, seems into me, etc. - and the relationship is exclusive.

I need a sense of perspective on this issue - not the only emergent niggle in the relationship, but the most "in your face" (as it were) in recent weeks.

Most of our "sleepover" dates are at mine for various reasons. I've noticed bad toilet hygiene at mine in terms of weeing on the seat / leaving poo stains, which I wasn't overly impressed with, but didn't say anything at the time. Last week I was at his - not the first occasion, but this round time the toilet / bathroom was pretty grim. Not Trainspotter bad or anything - but think piss and pubes caked into the ceramic and bristles / toothpaste residue all over the sink. The rest of his place is cluttered but clean enough.

I was again due to visit him at his today, and - after some agonising on the subject - sent a message during the week that he'd need to give the bathroom a once over first, to which he replied already on the list. And he did clean up, and even made a point of asking me if it was acceptable when I arrived.

Later that afternoon, we were taking it to the bedroom and I made a quick pit stop - only to find massive poo stains down the pan and wee over the seat from a visit he'd made in the meantime. It's hard for me to address these things directly, but I basically came out, said it was a massive passion killer and that I didn't expect to find the toilet like this at his or at mine, and if he wanted bedroom activity he'd need to factor in bathroom activity. He did clean it, apologised (blaming not having his glasses on - he did have his glasses on) and said my views were fair enough. I left soon after without re-initiating any sexual activity.

It's not the mess in itself that bothers me - I'm not a clean freak, and have literally used some of the worst toilets known to man in my time. It's the lack of respect it indicates - especially coming from someone so otherwise clearly intelligent / senior, etc. and not otherwise seemingly unhygienic. And the fact that I'd already pointed this out once before coming round - which is already unattractive enough to have to do towards a grown man. In his shoes I'd personally be dying of embarrassment, not making a mess of things that very same afternoon. Unless he was doing it deliberately to make a point right back to me, but that doesn't seem like him at all.

Either way, whether deliberate or just obliviousness, it's not attractive. I made a vow at the end of my last relationship that I wouldn't tolerate man children / incompetence (whether strategic or otherwise), so maybe I'm overthinking this one - but yeah it's irked me a lot.

Please do tell me if I'm being unreasonable on this one! I wouldn't end things "only" cause of this, but genuinely not sure if I'm just being a massive priss on this. TIA!

OP posts:
SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 05/01/2025 18:24

This is too much especially after you warned him. If you're sharing a toilet with anyone at all you need to make sure you leave it clean each time. It's basic manners.

DailyEnergyCrisis · 05/01/2025 18:24

Really horrible. I’d be worried he’d leave shit on other people’s toilets when introducing him to friends and family- I couldn’t handle the embarrassment of even the thought of it.

Dterun · 05/01/2025 18:23

Why have none of the 7% who voted you're being unreasonable commented? Come on 7% please tell us why.
Edited: now 6%

comedycentral · 05/01/2025 18:22

Absolutely foul 🤢

Cattery · 05/01/2025 18:21

imagine the pants, the dressing gown, the sheets. Just a thought… and why did he clean the loo before your visit then leave poo stains down it once you’d got there? It’s like marking his territory but even cats cover up their business

2025uk · 05/01/2025 18:20

It’s not just the toilet is it? He would not be clean enough for sex if he had just made that mess.

Some people do have awful toilet habits and horrible hygiene (men in my experience.)

username0763 · 05/01/2025 18:20

I think you're completely reasonable to dump him over this. It means that if you ever lived together you'd need to clean up after him and he doesn't respect you enough to clean before you come over.

wanderlustwherever · 05/01/2025 18:19

TomatoSandwiches · 05/01/2025 17:58

I would no longer find him attractive at all so there would be no point continuing this.
He probably hasn't been washing his hands either 🤢

Or wiping his bum thoroughly if he’s sloppy with the things other people have to see 🤢🤢

Welshwhales · 05/01/2025 18:17

Yuk, I wonder what his underwear is like 🤢

Cattery · 05/01/2025 18:16

SevenMoon · 05/01/2025 18:08

How did he get wee on the seat AND shit stains in one 'sitting'? Does he shit standing up?

Ha ha ha ha 🤣🤣🤣

cannaecookrisotto · 05/01/2025 18:16

Reading these replies is making me very thankful my OH doesn't leave shit stains on the sheets or drip shitty sweat on me. How are these men raised?! Jfc.

OP, you have 2 options really.

  1. Tell him that his shitty toilet is giving you the ick and you're thinking of ending it unless he improves.
  1. Throw this one back and find one with a clean bog.

Personally, I'd go for option 2 because once I've got the ick it would be game over.

nonbinaryfinery · 05/01/2025 18:15

HoundsOfHelfire · 05/01/2025 18:04

Be honest with him, give him a chance to change

Let's face it, he would make an effort for about a week, and then revert to old ways. He's a man not a child.

roses2 · 05/01/2025 18:15

Jojimoji · 05/01/2025 17:51

The type of person who's careless enough
to leave shit stains and pubes on full view in the bathroom will be careless in other areas of their life too.

Exactly. My first thought would be sex is off the agenda until he’s had a thorough shower of all his crevices!!

LatteLady · 05/01/2025 18:14

I have a friend who broke off her engagement because of skid marks on the sheets, which were the final straw...

He also tried to take the washing machine when he left, but that is another story...

FeralWoman · 05/01/2025 18:14

And I'm not a clean freak, I've just read about too many manky men dripping sweat mixed with shit onto their partner during sex 🤢

Jesus, I've made myself queasy just typing that.

@AMurderofMurderingCrows That’s disgusting. Is that a thread on here somewhere?

Hankunamatata · 05/01/2025 18:14

I'd tell him by text what you told us. If he is good in every other way and has half a braincell he can sort this. He has just bene super lazy

murasaki · 05/01/2025 18:14

curious79 · 05/01/2025 18:09

He’s probably too used to living on his own. And potentially the glasses thing is a real issue. My DH seems to leave faecal Jackson Pollocks in the loo. I have tried to encourage him to wear his glasses and look behind once he has gone.

He did address it when you bought it up, though it is somewhat embarrassing that you did need to bring it up

Faecal Jackson Pollocks is a genius phrase.

hattie43 · 05/01/2025 18:13

That's horrible OP. I'd worry what's to come down the line when he's not needing to make new date efforts

CocoapuffPuff · 05/01/2025 18:12

I'd be assuming his body hygiene is lacking too, and wouldn't touch him. No. I would not accept that. It's disgusting.

wobblychicken · 05/01/2025 18:11

TomatoSandwiches · 05/01/2025 18:09

No, he should already have the standard to not piss on the seat everytime and he should want his own toilet to not have caked on pubes and shit marks in it. That aside op should have only had to mention it once for him to change which she has done.

Stop giving these filthy bastard men second and third chances! They don't deserve it.

He did have a chance. Then shat all over it the same afternoon.

OP posts:
Murpe · 05/01/2025 18:11

From my own experience, I've not seen that men with these standards do actually permanently change, as the will to do so isn't there. He's doing it (a bit) currently to keep you happy, but he doesn't believe it's actually necessary, hence not being at all ashamed when you've said something. He doesn't care.

wobblychicken · 05/01/2025 18:10

FeralWoman · 05/01/2025 18:08

Considerate and high achieving but he still pisses on the seat like a 5 year old boy and leaves skid marks like a teenage boy? Gross. No thank you. If he was considerate he’d check the seat and bowl before he left the room.

Good on you for speaking up initially about the bathroom and then again when he’d dirtied it, and following through by leaving and not having sex with him. If everything else about him is good then I’d probably give him another chance to show that he can use a toilet like a grown up.

WTF does he eat to leave shit stains in the bowl so often? Does he need more fibre? Less fibre?

I eat a fibre-rich plant-based diet and believe you me can cause some serious fucking carnage in the toilet department. The difference being I clean up after myself - whether someone else is present or not!

OP posts:
olderbutwiser · 05/01/2025 18:10

Stick to your vow to yourself; no compromise this time round.

Tell him exactly what the problem is and that it’s a dealbreaker for you.

cocoloco23 · 05/01/2025 18:10

AMurderofMurderingCrows · 05/01/2025 17:58

It would make me think about how clean he is. Does he wipe fully. When he washes does he clean his penis properly.

That would worry me for any P in V action.

And I'm not a clean freak, I've just read about too many manky men dripping sweat mixed with shit onto their partner during sex 🤢

Jesus, I've made myself queasy just typing that.

Yeah, this.

I’m not a clean freak at all, but I had an unpleasant experience with someone I was seeing a few years ago, and it made me sensitive to this kind of thing. The guy I was seeing clearly wasn’t wiping properly because I found really nasty shit stains on my lovely sheets. It really put me off him. If you’re ill, that’s one thing - but don’t get into my clean bed and not even mention stomach issues!!

My current partner is extremely clean and always smells fabulous. That feels like consideration and respect.

cannaecookrisotto · 05/01/2025 18:10

AMurderofMurderingCrows · 05/01/2025 17:58

It would make me think about how clean he is. Does he wipe fully. When he washes does he clean his penis properly.

That would worry me for any P in V action.

And I'm not a clean freak, I've just read about too many manky men dripping sweat mixed with shit onto their partner during sex 🤢

Jesus, I've made myself queasy just typing that.

What?! 🤮 🤢