Shut the toilet lid before you flush!!!

[ShinyHappyPurpleSeveredHeads]

..or you will be sending a fine, invisible aerosol spray of faecal matter (etc!) high into the air, and it lands on your towels, toothbrushes () and in fact everything!

Saw it on TV the other night.. they used an ultra violet light to show up where the aerosol spray landed each time somebody flushed without shutting the lid. Blleeeuuughhhh...

I had read about this before so already shut the lid.. but am now making everyone obsessed about it..

Just imagine.... no.. don't! [puke emoticon]

I think a well put post DG (and thanks for the parcel - the hat fits DD).

Ok.. I'm being pedantic here so humour me...

We cannot do anything about the [bleeurrggh] raw sewage apparantly residing in our drinking water..

We cannot easily rectify the problem of bedbugs in our mattresses unless we go to great lengths on a frequent basis..

However... [drumroll]

..regarding airborn faecal particles landing on our toothbrushes and similar.. guess what!! WE HAVE TO POWER TO PREVENT IT!!

And how?

..By shutting the lid!!

Those with cast iron constitutions who never ever get stomach bugs like the rest of us weaklings and who no doubt have not an iota of desire to block out the psychological connotations associated with poo pieces wafting about in the air.... need not shut theirs!!

How about that?

i will be removing my toothbrushes from bathroom immediately-and will remember to close lid of toilet-i promise!

I think the point is that Mythbusters di show that even the control toothbrushes in the kitchen under a cover still had the same levels of poo. There was plenty of handwashing going on so seemed little point in worrying about position of lid, might make me feel better though .

But Shiny..., my point is this - we live healthily enough with the faecal matter floating around. Yes we can prevent it (not sure how effective it would be to put down the lid as there is always a gap between the loo rim and the seat anyway, so I suppose the faecal matter could still burst out through that gap - (now have visions of Mners sealing the gap with cling film before flushing!) but, there is no need to prevent it! It does not make us ill.

Sealing the faecal matter in the loo, however, (even supposing it is possible to do) just might. I am sure it has been shown that people who try to seal themselves off from common germs actually end up compromising their immune system. Has anyone hard of Howard Hughes? We need day to day contact with germs to keep our immune systems working properly.

Oh and btw Shiny..., I may have a cast iron constitution, bt I can assure you I have every bit as much desire as you or anyone else to prevent illness in my family. I am an emetophobe, living in constant daily fear of stomach bugs in me or those around me. I haven't reached OCD preventative measures yet though, thank God.

Never thought about shutting the lid, tbh. Hardly any tummy bugs in this house either, but will bear it in mind!

Does anyone follow my motto for saving water - as we are talking about loos?

If it's yellow let it mellow
If it's brown flush it down

It's also good feng shui for saving money. I never used to bother (have seperate loo so no pooey toothbrushes ) but started to keep the lid down after reading about feng shui and within 6 weeks had 3 incidents of getting unexpected dosh.

Now for that turquoise, I might change the habits of a lifetime and put the lid down!

Aw jode thats taking it to far .

So you shut the lid ensuring that the lid gets spattered with 'faecal matter'

then you lift the lid with your bare hands, then you pull down your pants and you sit on the loo ... then your back (clothes) are very near to the lid upon which you have sprayed dried faecal matter if not brushing against it

then you go downstairs and sit on a couch

oh fgs .. cannot believe people would care about this .. 99% of the population do NOT shut the toilet lid I'll warrant .. and people are still alive

Okay, faecel matter or not, toilets just look tidier with the lid down!!
I hate walking into somebody else's house and have the toilet wide open greeting me...

And before anybody calls me 'anal', we have plenty of germs floating around the house, the dog is allowed on the furniture, muddy feet on the carpet don't bother me and as a family we are hardly ever ever ill....

Well the blokes on the programme stated that people can and do get gastrointestinal bugs from this very source. They went to great pains to discover how these three flat mates were getting puke bugs so often.. and the source was found to the bathroom...a and the airborn poo particles. They grew the germs in petri dishes in the lab from samples taken from in and around the bathroom as well as compared to samples from other parts of the house..

Did nobody else see this? It was late last Thursday night..

The inside of the loo seat can be wiped in about 5 seconds!

Yes I remembered you were an emetophobe DG. If I could have hazarded a guess I would have thought that any way to keep the puke at bay would have been of interest to you.. not that I'm criticising, just commenting.

Thing is, with emetophobes, don't they learn to control the impulse to be sick? I saw a programme on that too, once.. So could it be that you have had stomach bugs over the years, but have managed not to be sick regardless?

"Toilets look tidier with the lid down"

PMfeckin'SL .. I have honestly never thought of it before .. honestly

In fact if I'm honest .. I actually had no idea what the point of the lid is apart from to hold in the fumes of bleach

am rolling in the aisles ...... 'tidier'

or just keep a clean loo

twig - it is to sit on with a glass of wine in hand while your kids are in the bath. Those of us who live in modern box houses have very small bathrooms that will not accommodate a chair.

So every time you use the toilet you wipe down the lid first

And your children do the same

And your partners do the same

OMGoodG

oh and what proportion of people is it that don't even wash their hands after a visit to the loo??

ahhhh Bozza .. now you know my bathroom has a big wicker armchair in it .. and many shelves for wine restage

Well they shoud Twiglett. If they don't they are minging.. and that's NOT obessive! Ugh. All the 2 year olds I have ever come in contact with know to wash their hands after using the loo even if they need prompting.

And the point of the toilet seat, is I imagine, to minimise the wafting of germs..

Hasn't this become boring?

Off to ice a cake...

ooo-errrr get you ... did you just get rattled?

I suppose if one was to become anal about anything, the toilet is perhaps the most appropriate

geddit?

Quick shut the lid

Not rattled exactly.. [laughing despite myself]..

Just sort of incredulous. Only on Mumsnet could you post a comment on housekeeping (rare for me) and then end up debating with people who are of the mind of 'Oi! I love my poo particles..!! You leave them be...'

LOL