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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to ask people not to poop in new under stairs cloakroom?

482 replies

keepswimming38 · 17/05/2026 20:46

We are just having a new cloakroom installed downstairs. AIBU to put a sign up saying ‘no poo loo’ or ‘if you plan to do a poo do it in the upstairs loo’?

My DH thinks it’s not reasonable. I just down like the idea of people doing a poop in there and then the macerator having to … anyway AIBU?

OP posts:
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WhyamIinahandcartandwherearewegoing · 19/05/2026 06:52

ToKittyornottoKitty · 17/05/2026 20:51

Daft to police where people can poo. Totally stupid to put up a naff rhyming sign up about it

StarlightLady · 19/05/2026 07:25

ThatBlackCat · 19/05/2026 03:56

It's a cloak room! You don't have toilets in a cloakroom, so what's even the point of this thread?

“Cloakroom” is estate agent and building regs speak for downstairs loo.

Magpie50 · 19/05/2026 07:34

I don't think the OP is BU. They aren't telling people not to poop, just to use the toilet least likely to block. Surely it would be more embaressing to block someone's toilet rather then just nip upstairs?
I know I'd rather do that (I regularly block my toilet coz I apparently have the bowels of a cart horse!)😂

Bjorkdidit · 19/05/2026 07:39

Dontlletmedownbruce · 18/05/2026 23:16

Are menstruating women allowed? What about flushing tampons? What about bowel issues where someone doesn't poop but has bad flatulence. Is that allowed? I think you'll need to be very specific in your sign.

I'd have never thought that there were still people who needed to be told that it was not OK to flush tampons, but apparently so.

KitsyWitsy · 19/05/2026 08:46

grumpygrape · 18/05/2026 22:13

Well, obviously your shit smells of violets and roses 🌹💐

I'm concerned about all these people whose shit smells so awful that a fan can't get rid.

Mine doesn't stink like theirs due to how little I eat maybe. There isn't the quantity either. In any case it's my house, I paid for it, and them's the rules.

KitsyWitsy · 19/05/2026 08:48

AWeeCupOfTeaAndAnIndividualFruitTrifle · 18/05/2026 22:15

I presume you mean visiting men and not other householders? Otherwise, how is the stink and girth of their turds so much worse than yours, if you eat the same things?

Also, we all know exactly how this would play out (and rightly so) if somebody started a thread saying "My husband monitors and restricts what standard toilet functions I'm allowed to complete in one of the toilets in our house and says that only he can fully and freely use it".

We don't eat the same things as it happens. I am much healthier. I don't eat anywhere like as much as they do either. Anyone gets told, no number 2s in the downstairs toilet!

LordofMisrule1 · 19/05/2026 09:19

Fascinating thread to see the differences of opinions.

I feel that deliberately pooing in close proximity to others, especially when you're a guest at someone's house, is really rude. If there are other toilets available of course you would go to one a bit further away! Who wants to be enjoying a nice dinner party or games night and then smelling someone's shit??

TinkersBelle · 19/05/2026 09:31

Probably lt cause downstairs toilets don’t have an extractor fan & some don’t have a wi dow to let the smell out! My DIL use to 💩 in mine all the time & I clearly asked him not to for the above reasons but he was a pig of a man who liked to piss on the floor too he was that way inclined!

AWeeCupOfTeaAndAnIndividualFruitTrifle · 19/05/2026 09:41

LordofMisrule1 · 19/05/2026 09:19

Fascinating thread to see the differences of opinions.

I feel that deliberately pooing in close proximity to others, especially when you're a guest at someone's house, is really rude. If there are other toilets available of course you would go to one a bit further away! Who wants to be enjoying a nice dinner party or games night and then smelling someone's shit??

It is indeed very clear that some people see pooing as an inherently aggressive, shameful, antisocial act - and they establish all kinds of rules, moral codes and restrictions around what you can do and when; whilst others just see it as a mundane fact of life for all of us - and if you're sitting on a purpose-designed toilet behind a locked door, you're free to get on with whatever standard private toilet-based requirements as needed.

The way some people react with horror at the very idea of somebody pooing in a toilet when there's the remotest possibility of anybody else realising what they're doing, you'd think that some dirty bugger was just randomly grunting and curling one out on the living room carpet.

LordofMisrule1 · 19/05/2026 09:52

AWeeCupOfTeaAndAnIndividualFruitTrifle · 19/05/2026 09:41

It is indeed very clear that some people see pooing as an inherently aggressive, shameful, antisocial act - and they establish all kinds of rules, moral codes and restrictions around what you can do and when; whilst others just see it as a mundane fact of life for all of us - and if you're sitting on a purpose-designed toilet behind a locked door, you're free to get on with whatever standard private toilet-based requirements as needed.

The way some people react with horror at the very idea of somebody pooing in a toilet when there's the remotest possibility of anybody else realising what they're doing, you'd think that some dirty bugger was just randomly grunting and curling one out on the living room carpet.

I think it's just about basic respect for others. Being aware of how your own actions can cause discomfort to others. It's similar to being aware not to douse yourself with strong perfume before a flight, not speaking loudly into your phone on speaker on a bus, not playing loud music on a train, etc. just basic manners. It being a bodily function doesn't really change that imo, we accept that sneezing and coughing are bodily functions you can't help and still expect people not to do it into somebody's face, we expect to cough into a tissue or elbow.

If there is no other option then sure, go for it. But with all things equal if you can avoid your poo aroma being inhaled by others, why wouldn't you? Each to their own but it's just simple manners and consideration for others I feel.

Squarehairbear · 19/05/2026 09:54

This is such a weird thread. I cannot believe there are people who think it's ok to dictate where others can/can't poo.

loislovesstewie · 19/05/2026 09:55

Or maybe open the window /, use the extractor fan, and/or a bit of air freshener.

Ginburee · 19/05/2026 10:03

Seriously???
I wouldn't want people upstairs and this is weird.
I have IBS and have emergency no warning poos, I would feel so uncomfortable in your house.
You wouldn't be my type of friend though.

KilkennyCats · 19/05/2026 10:06

LordofMisrule1 · 19/05/2026 09:52

I think it's just about basic respect for others. Being aware of how your own actions can cause discomfort to others. It's similar to being aware not to douse yourself with strong perfume before a flight, not speaking loudly into your phone on speaker on a bus, not playing loud music on a train, etc. just basic manners. It being a bodily function doesn't really change that imo, we accept that sneezing and coughing are bodily functions you can't help and still expect people not to do it into somebody's face, we expect to cough into a tissue or elbow.

If there is no other option then sure, go for it. But with all things equal if you can avoid your poo aroma being inhaled by others, why wouldn't you? Each to their own but it's just simple manners and consideration for others I feel.

None of those antisocial acts are in any way similar to shitting in a toilet 😆
Using a toilet for its intended purpose is a perfectly normal thing to do.
if you choose to install a loo in a tiny windowless cupboard, you’ve created the associated problems yourself.

AWeeCupOfTeaAndAnIndividualFruitTrifle · 19/05/2026 10:12

LordofMisrule1 · 19/05/2026 09:52

I think it's just about basic respect for others. Being aware of how your own actions can cause discomfort to others. It's similar to being aware not to douse yourself with strong perfume before a flight, not speaking loudly into your phone on speaker on a bus, not playing loud music on a train, etc. just basic manners. It being a bodily function doesn't really change that imo, we accept that sneezing and coughing are bodily functions you can't help and still expect people not to do it into somebody's face, we expect to cough into a tissue or elbow.

If there is no other option then sure, go for it. But with all things equal if you can avoid your poo aroma being inhaled by others, why wouldn't you? Each to their own but it's just simple manners and consideration for others I feel.

I get that, and I agree for the most part; but if a purpose-designed toilet in a private room/cubicle isn't the appropriate place to have a poo, where is?

It isn't going to kill anybody to walk past a just-used toilet and notice that there's a bit of a pong. Babies poo into their nappies, which obviously stinks until they can be changed, and parents take them out in public all the time. It's fine; we can survive it.

PlainSkyr · 19/05/2026 10:28

would you like to hear the story of how a visitor did such a hard poo in my downstairs toilet that it wouldn’t flush at all? Never mind…GrinGrinGrin

yabu to put up instructions of any kind

Dolphin78 · 19/05/2026 10:31

Totally agree. We have a downstairs loo just off/in our kitchen and EVERYONE knows the no pooh rule. (I sometimes have one when nobody is here but me 🤐)

AWeeCupOfTeaAndAnIndividualFruitTrifle · 19/05/2026 10:51

Dolphin78 · 19/05/2026 10:31

Totally agree. We have a downstairs loo just off/in our kitchen and EVERYONE knows the no pooh rule. (I sometimes have one when nobody is here but me 🤐)

So everybody know the rule, but you're the only one who breaks it? Or maybe other people do too, when they're at home alone (or at least when you are out)... so there's effectively no actual rule at all?!

grumpygrape · 19/05/2026 11:12

TinkersBelle · 19/05/2026 09:31

Probably lt cause downstairs toilets don’t have an extractor fan & some don’t have a wi dow to let the smell out! My DIL use to 💩 in mine all the time & I clearly asked him not to for the above reasons but he was a pig of a man who liked to piss on the floor too he was that way inclined!

Building regs say downstairs loos must have either a window or a fan

grumpygrape · 19/05/2026 11:19

loislovesstewie · 19/05/2026 09:55

Or maybe open the window /, use the extractor fan, and/or a bit of air freshener.

Exactly this. In fact most builder/plumbers when installing a loo, whether a macerator or not, in a space with no window will link the mandatory fan to the light switch and the fan will continue for a while after the light is switched back off.

katepilar · 19/05/2026 11:20

AlmostAJillSandwich · 17/05/2026 23:25

My ex moved into an emergency shithole flat without viewing and only found out it was a macerator toilet afterwards. Odd set up, was an upstairs bathroom but in a house where it had been split vertically into two properties. He was in the front half with no back yard etc, so his bathroom was like an ensuite, no soil pipe, it connected to the neighbours soil pipe. It had no window, and a broken extractor fan. He had no idea he couldn't use toilet wipes with a macerator, or certain cleaning products, until i told him.

I HATED visiting him. As someone with toilet related severe OCD, i use excessive paper even for wees, plus i have IBS and typically need wet wipes so was taking immodium before every visit as the distance meant an overnight stay and i struggle even weeing in public toilets to go on the journey home. I tried that wype gel that makes regular loo roll into wet wipes, it did not work well at all. There were a handful of instances in the 18 months he was there that i just had to go, and the anxiety of it was awful. Including the fear of a power cut meaning no flushing loo!

I don't think the majority would intentionally use a downstairs toilet for a crap (minus my late grandma once at a family houseparty, it was, memorable) because it's obvious it will cause a stink that lingers, most would surely be more comfortable going upstairs where nobody will hear or smell their bowels, so i doubt a sign is neccessary.

You do need to accept though that it is going to happen sometimes. Your daughter should get a free pass really, plus it could be unavoidable if the upstairs bathroom is in use and someone really needs to go.

Not all downstairs toilets are this inconvenient. Some of them are perfectly ok to use without making the whole house stink.

AWeeCupOfTeaAndAnIndividualFruitTrifle · 19/05/2026 11:23

Probably lt cause downstairs toilets don’t have an extractor fan & some don’t have a wi dow to let the smell out!

I really hope that was a typo, and it isn't a common thing for women who have lost their husbands to have to spend their days living in somebody's toilet, frantically wafting out pongs, to be able to make ends meet Grin

PigletJohn · 19/05/2026 12:02

grumpygrape · 19/05/2026 11:19

Exactly this. In fact most builder/plumbers when installing a loo, whether a macerator or not, in a space with no window will link the mandatory fan to the light switch and the fan will continue for a while after the light is switched back off.

Some people have such an aversion to ventilation that they not only refuse to turn a fan on, they actually disconnect it, remove the fuse, or turn off the maintenance isolator.

BTW a typical modern extractor fan will run for about 100 hours on 22pence worth of electricity, and should be inaudible when the door is shut.

Newsunflower · 19/05/2026 15:38

Well this thread has given me a lot of belly laughs which is great, thank you! And on a more serious note, I’ve learned that this is one of those issues where people have very different experiences and since it’s not a topic that’s usually discussed in detail (!) we don’t realise that everyone is not like us! It seems that some people poo according to a schedule, and assume that everyone does the same or if they don’t it’s something a bit antisocial that is deliberate and could be avoided. Others poo whenever, when they feel their bowels are going to open then they go to the nearest toilet; and the idea of not doing this or of this being a ‘wrong’ thing to do is quite bizarre. I’m in the latter group; I’ve definitely learned something new about other people (although not sure if I really wanted to know that others are judging me for opening my bowels…!)

AWeeCupOfTeaAndAnIndividualFruitTrifle · 19/05/2026 16:41

since it’s not a topic that’s usually discussed in detail (!)

Are you new to MN?! Grin