Forcing guests to close toilet lid before flushing

[MerryBlimminXmas]

In our house, we close the toilet lid before flushing. Reason being is that the poo/wee water spray will go absolutely everywhere if the lid is left open (lots of videos available online if anyone is interested).

The issue we have is that pretty much ALL guests don’t do this. Now, I don’t mind what people choose to do in their own homes and appreciate that the majority of the population are happy for everything in the vicinity of their loo to be covered in urine and faeces don’t bother to close the lid. However, I would much prefer it if they closed the lid before flushing in our house.

How can we make it happen? In a previous home, the flush button was literally behind the toilet lid, so it should have been easy to close the lid just to get to the button and people STILL left the lid up every time.

Don’t really want to put a sign up (would be annoying the majority of the time when we don’t have guests), nor to speak to people about it (cringe). Any ingenious ideas that could work? Surely we’re not the only people who prefer the lid closed - how have others made it work with guests?

I cannot believe that this is what people spend their lives worrying about. This is a humdinger even by Mumsnet standards

sweetie no one cares if you think how we use our loos is unhygienic.........

What if they flush then close the lid? How would you know they have still atomised the air with their bacteria?

I also know what would happen if I saw one of these little signs telling me to flush with the lid down, I would be reading it over and over while doing my thing on the loo mustnt forget mustnt forget, put the lid down to flush, put the lid down to flush, next thing I know, Ive turned and flushed it, without putting the lid down.

Its game over for me in OPs house

Depends on your definition of the term microbe. We are covered in microbes. We are riddled with microbes. If we weren't, we would be dead. Microbes are not in the main pathogenic (disease causing) bacteria so we need to come up against microbes all day every day just to tune our immune systems and our own biome which has more cells than we do.

This is why kids brough up on farms and next door to slaughterhouses are healthier than kids that live in sterile houses and have jam wiped off their grid every thirty seconds with an antibacterial wipe. We were designed to live on a cave floor and eat raw rhino FFS.

Worrying about some twonk about toilets creating aerosol conditions when we all walk outside, keep pets, drive through the countryside and go on holiday (thus meeting microbes we have never encountered before) is insanity and the toilet lid is not hermetically sealed anyway. The thing belches the terribly scary bugs out around the sides to get you in the knees.

Unless you have had a pathogen making you ill, it's just shite and piss and not to be afraid of.

Is that why Ive got a bad knee?

Happy to see it’s not just us, but there really doesn’t seem to be any definitive idiot-proof solution to the issue…

No we don’t want to have a conversation about toilet flushing with every visitor who uses our loo - its impractical and if this thread is anything to go by, would make a lot of people think we’re odd / judgemental of them

A sign would still cause that reaction in people’s heads and also would still be ignored by some visitors (eg kids)

Special toilets - there’s not actually anything on the market that’s just a normal toilet with this feature. We don’t need / want a washlet for example

We’re thinking about an automatically closing lid and some sort of non-easily accessible flush button that will basically delay the flush until the lid has closed of its of accord.

Going to be part of the exciting loo refurb planning!

I loved the pandemic when no one could shake my hand, walk into my house without shoes or use my loo 😛

well I've been surviving without putting the toilet lid down for many years when flushing.

Contact BA (or Ryanair take your pick) - they have on board loos that require the seats down before vacuum extraction :)

The correct thing to do is get treatment for your anxiety, or whatever it is that makes you search online for videos of people flushing their toilets. That or just don’t invite anyone over to your house, I’m sure you’d be doing them a favour if the alternative is to be harangued about the manner in which they flush the toilet.

Oh boy. Fruits are on the loose!!

I would never even think of that..altho have seen it written about on here before I think.
Never close the lid and touch wood rarely ill. Friend bleaches everything and anti bacs stuff and self...always ill.

Certainly will be very exciting.

I'm with you on this one OP! I'm a bit OCD about the toilet lid being down! A, it looks awful up, B it's more hygienic when you flush and C it means my cats don't drink from the toilet bowl 🤢 We've just had 2 bathrooms done and purposely had the flush plates hidden by the toilet seat so it has to be put down to flush. Recently spent a weekend sharing a hotel room with my best friend and discovered she's a lid up kinda girl 😂 May have to reevaluate our friendship 😛

It is more hygienic OP, but loads of people don’t do it (me included). I might not twig if a toilet seat is down that I should do the same, but wouldn’t be bothered if someone asked me/had a note etc - everyone’s got their own ways of doing things and this request isn’t really bizarre or anything.

One time when we had a virus in the house, I asked if everyone would put the seat down before they flushed and keep it down. This spectacularly backfired when one of my DC ran in desperate and just went, forgetting the toilet seat down bit. That was not my favourite evening.

The problem with those is that they'll only flush when OP's house is at cruise flight level so rather complicates matters.

I'm more bothered about them pissing on the floor! Men, that is.

Spring load an ordinary chunky toilet seat so that it self closes.
Add a latch or designated bung or cord that can be used for cleaning.

If you’re concerned about aerosol effect from flushing, then you really, really don’t want men standing up. That’s a much stronger jet with wider atmospheric effect than a standard flush.

My MIL and SIL have a sign by the toilet saying please close the lid....

Like other pp I'm always suspicious of a closed lid toilet in public toilets it often means you wouldn't want to go near that toilet! (With or without a toothbrush! 😉)

Ive seen programmes where people make homes out of all sorts of things, including jumbo jets.

OP could buy an out of service plane, a plot of land, refurb it and bobs your uncle, she can have the toilet she dreams of.

I always put the seat down before flushing wherever I am (I’ve seen those videos), but I really cringe when I’m at my elderly parents’ house as they have one of those risers on the toilet which means that you can’t close the lid 😬

I find the poo (especially if you have the runs) and water splashes the inside of the lid if you have it down and the lid becomes disgusting and dirty. So I have a strict lid UP before flushing, thank you! rule. Having the lid down is fucking gross.

Surely the clue is the fact that the lid is always down when they enter the bathroom. Every time they visit. You’d think leaving the bathroom as you found it is pretty standard?

"You’d think leaving the bathroom as you found it is pretty standard"
But that is not guarantee.

I flush, and then only after it's flushed and done, put the lid down. So that's no guarantee. I think people who flush with the lid down are absolutely blinking filthy and disgusting. I always flush first, and after, put the lid down. Otherwise it's unhygienic for the lid. And your back could be leaning against it.

Please don’t invite anyone.