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Original poster

To put paper on the seat when using the loo in public?

223 replies

BrownEyedGirlv2point0 · 20/02/2018 18:31

I've had people argue that it is ridiculous to do this. I, personally, feel more comfortable. I know it wastes more paper but it's better than squatting to avoid actually touching the seat. Plus, if someone has left a mess there before me, I'll know. They say you can't catch anything from touching a seat but it still creeps me out. What do most people do?

OP posts:
treaclesoda · 21/02/2018 17:19

I once accidentally touched the door handle in a public toilet. I was so horrified that naturally I amputated my own and and wrapped the bloody stump in bandages dipped in neat Zoflora.

I mean, it stung a bit obviously but it's basic hygiene.

Eolian · 21/02/2018 17:27

Yet another lunatic germ-phobic MN thread Hmm You do know that there are bacteria everywhere, right? You can't see them and you can't really avoid them. They are in your kitchen, all around your house, on your pets, on your children. Bum disease GrinGrin.

waterlego6064 · 21/02/2018 18:37

I'm pretty sure door handles have as many germs, if not more, than loo seats, and we use our hands on those.

LemonysSnicket · 21/02/2018 18:40

I just sit. If it were dirty enough to harm me I’d notice pre-pee

Whitecurrants · 21/02/2018 18:42

Not again? This was done to death a few months back. Hovering is a filthy habit that leaves the seat disgusting for the next person unless you're going to spend time cleaning it up afterwards. As far as I know, there are no documented fatalities from sitting on a loo seat.

SaskaTchewan · 21/02/2018 18:47

I find it a bit worried that some women seem to have so much problems with their ..aim.

If you were in the middle of nowhere, and had to squat down to relive yourself, you wouldn't pee all over your own shoes would you? Why do you think all hoverers make a mess everywhere?

waterlego6064 · 21/02/2018 18:50

Actually Saska, I have managed to slightly piss on my shoes whilst weeing in the countryside. Maybe I have a bad aim, or a badly behaved urethra. Vulvas can be quite complicated, especially after childbirth, so I think that can complicate matters. Sometimes, if my bits are arranged in a particular way, I get a spray effect.

I think I should namechange now.

SaskaTchewan · 21/02/2018 18:58

May I suggest a shewee? That might help!

Iprefercoffeetotea · 21/02/2018 19:06

The loo itself might be horrible but the loo seat is usually ok. I always sit down.

I think I might have hovered in one about 2 years ago which may or may not have had poo on the seat. OK I drew a line! But I needed to go.

But as others have pointed out, hovering is not good for you.

And you're doing well if you can get more than one sheet of loo roll out at a time.

JassyRadlett · 21/02/2018 19:13

If you were in the middle of nowhere, and had to squat down to relive yourself, you wouldn't pee all over your own shoes would you? Why do you think all hoverers make a mess everywhere?

Observation.

One of the basic building blocks of rational evidence-based decision making, now that I think about it...

JassyRadlett · 21/02/2018 19:16

NB: I only just noticed that you had (innocently and ingenuously, I’m sure) slightly changed what people had been saying from ‘mess is made by hoverers’ to ‘all hoverers’.

I’m sure I don’t need to go down a #notallmen style path here, but belt and braces!

hotsouple · 21/02/2018 19:56

Just sit and go? What doesn't kill us makes us stronger

Louiselouie0890 · 21/02/2018 20:30

I'm sure I read somewhere that this is actually dirtier than just sitting down

BattleaxeGalactica · 21/02/2018 21:07

As a result of this thread I'm considering investing in a she-wee.

No hovering. No nesting. No piss-wiping. Just shake yer peg and go.

Summerlovin24 · 21/02/2018 21:40

I always put paper down. Can't bear to sit where a stranger sat before me. Yuk.

HesterShaw · 21/02/2018 22:12

Presumably the people whose buttocks and thighs never touch anything anyone else's buttocks and thighs have ever touched never touch anything with their hands, ever?

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 21/02/2018 22:31

Those who won’t sit on a toilet with bare legs probably won’t have

  • sat on a changing bench in their swimming costume
  • sat/laid on a sun lounger in a bikini

Utterly ridiculous grown women, scared of sitting on a toilet!

SaskaTchewan · 21/02/2018 22:34

ever heard of towels GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat?

greensockbluesock · 21/02/2018 22:38

Sorry if it's been said but why don't you all just buy toilet seat covers and take them in your bag?

Job done...

itsalldyingout · 21/02/2018 22:47

Hoverers DO make a mess! Read on...

Nothing pisses me off (pun intended) than getting to a disabled toilet (yes, I HAVE to use them), and finding that someone has managed to squirt shit all over the back of the toilet, onto the seat and up the back of the tank/lid/wall.

I can't see how anyone other than a person hovering could possibly make that kind of mess.

And then they obviously haven't bothered to wipe it up for the disabled person who is unable to hover. Selfish twats!

What's even more annoying is I've walked in after the cleaner has just signed off and they haven't cleaned it up either.

Okay, it's disgusting and no one should have to clean up after pigs like this, but at least they have the equipment to do so. I don't but have been so desperate to use the toilet that I've actually called them back and asked them for supplies to clean up myself and then been refused on health and safety grounds.

Several letters to store/restaurant management have been written, zero replies received.

People who sit on a seat don't make a mess like that as it's all contained under the seat by their body sitting directly on it. Toilet-type germs don't live long enough on a cold, DRY seat to be passed on (a fact I learned at uni on a field trip). If you still don't find it acceptable to sit directly on the seat, use paper - but let's face it, if you're that fussy just get on Amazon and buy a disposable cover or a small spray (or both).

When it comes down to it, you're a lot more likely to pick up toilet germs from paper dispensers/door handles/taps etc.

Anyway, the next time you dodge into a disabled toilet just to have a crap and then leave it filthy for a wheelchair user, please, PLEASE at least try to clean up a bit.

Oh, and for the sake of public information: I'm aware of one woman that used a public toilet with broken lighting who, when she pulled her trousers up after finishing, realised - in the worst possible way - that some horrible pig of a woman had daubed shit all over the front of the outside of the pan.

Check the FRONT of the toilet before you go. Just in case.

CrispsForTea · 21/02/2018 23:10

Just wanted to add:
Toilets are made so that bacteria slides right off them. However, if the toilet is flushed when the lid isn't shut, bacteria flies out of the water and lands on the loo roll next to the toilet, where it stays. So it's really much more hygienic just to sit straight on the seat (plus, if there are drips on the seat, surely they'd soak through the loo roll anyway?).

CrispsForTea · 21/02/2018 23:10

Just wanted to add:
Toilets are made so that bacteria slides right off them. However, if the toilet is flushed when the lid isn't shut, bacteria flies out of the water and lands on the loo roll next to the toilet, where it stays. So it's really much more hygienic just to sit straight on the seat (plus, if there are drips on the seat, surely they'd soak through the loo roll anyway?).

CrispsForTea · 21/02/2018 23:10

Just wanted to add:
Toilets are made so that bacteria slides right off them. However, if the toilet is flushed when the lid isn't shut, bacteria flies out of the water and lands on the loo roll next to the toilet, where it stays. So it's really much more hygienic just to sit straight on the seat (plus, if there are drips on the seat, surely they'd soak through the loo roll anyway?).

CrispsForTea · 21/02/2018 23:11

Oops sorry - computer was being slow so accidentally posted twice.