Mumsnet users share their experiences of public loos with Domestos

[EllieMumsnet]

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Trying to find a loo when you’re out and about with your kids can be challenging. How many times have you asked if your DCs need to go before you leave the house and then they are demanding a toilet not even five minutes into your outing? We’ve all been there! Which is why at Domestos we want to know about your experience of public loos.

How often do you need to locate a loo when you’re out with your family? And how difficult are they to find? How do you feel when you have to go in and ask staff to use the loo in a pub? Or a café you weren’t planning on buying a coffee from? Or do you even ask? Are you ever met with resistance from staff when you ask to use their loo? What would you change to make this experience easier?

Here’s what Domestos have to say: “Domestos believe everyone deserve access to a clean, safe toilet. In the UK the problem is locating a public toilet when we’re out and about, in other countries the problem is far more serious. Domestos is committed to providing solutions, and have an ambition to help 25 million people around the world get cleaner, safer toilets by 2020.”

Whatever your experience is with public loos, post them on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

The public toilets around my area are looked after, they are clean and don't smell. They are locked up when the park gates are closed to stop people misusing them overnight.

I try to avoid at all costs but recently went to the loos under the Notre Dame in France and they were amazing - they were looked after and it was €2 for a wee but well worth it. If we had more attended then I wouldn't be holding it in so often

dont like using them and would do almost anything to avoid one, dont mind pub / cafe loos and they are usually ok

I must admit that I hate public loos. Generally they are clean but I am just super fussy so I always line the seat with toilet paper!

I would like to give my experience with public loos however this is getting impossible as most councils seem to be closing them down. There were two public loos in Dudley, West Midlands, one very good one not so good. They have now both been closed down so I think if you want to visit Dudley you better be prepared to cross your legs

I find that the ones in shopping centres are mostly ok but trying to find one outwith this is usually not easy

I'm not impressed with public loos on the whole. We try to visit ones in shops, shopping centres or restaurants/cafes. Most town centre public loos are dirty, smelly and I don't like taking my kids in there. They're also not good for taking a buggy/pram into due to lack of space.

In large towns and cities I think medium and large stores should all provide public toilets. It is surely in their interest to keep customers in their stores happy and comfortable. For small businesses I can see this would be costly and difficult to provide.

I dread going into most public toilets as they are dire. Dirty, smelly, often without loo roll, they are just "the pits".

Not enough places have changing areas for babies and toddlers. My kids are older now but I haven't noticed an improvement in changing facilities locally over the years (which is shocking really) if anything it has got worse since places like BHS & M&S have closed resulting in a loss of toilets and baby changing areas.

I also think the general public could do more to make public toilets better. FLUSHING THE TOILET would be a start for some people, not leaving toilet paper lying on the floor for others to stand on, telling attendants if the loo roll is finished, disposing of sanitary towels etc appropriately.

Our local council have considered closing all public toilets in a bid to save money...

I went online and bought some flushable seat covers which I put over public toilet seats when I'm out with my children.

The cleanest toilets I've ever seen are at my gym...they are absolutely spotless...probably cleaner than my own

Urgh, public loos are often not a particularly nice experience. I always need the loo when out so have sussed out where most of our local WCs are. I also use coffee shop loos at times without always buying anything but I hate doing it as I feel like a CF. Public loos seem to be becoming more of a rarity and it’s not often they seem clean. There was a public loo by the side of a main road near me that was always beautifully clean, it was a random council one but often had fresh flowers in and had cleaning signs up everywhere saying things like ‘use only blue/yellow etc cleaning cloths for this area’ which I thought was genius as the thought of the same cloth for cleaning the sink and the loos is pretty grim (although I suppose it does happen).sadly that loo has since been closed, probably with government cutbacks. There have been times I’ve had a cheeky wee behind a tree rather than use a public loo as it’s been so grim. And the soap, there’s never any soap in these places either.

I hate them, they are never kept clean! Wouldn't have dreamed of using one of the changing mats in them either. I think they are easy to find in city centres but difficult elsewhere and I feel embarrassed to go in a pub, cafe etc to take little one to the toilet. I also found it mainly impossible to get in with a buggy as they are so small

I absolutely hate public loos. They've become a necessity since having children. They are used more readily by drunks and drug users in our town and I always close my eyes when walking in wondering what I'll see. Always find toilets in shops to be absolutely fine. I've actually purchased a radar key online to use an accessible toilet because of the fear of finding someone overdosed in the public toilets.

I love sailing past the men's toilets and up 72 flights of stairs, rolling through a flaming hoop and offering a blood sacrifice to find a women's toilet usually with no paper and no sanitary bin the air freshners often trigger my asthma which is great if I'm the 20th woman in the queue coughing whilst trying not to wee myself and then I have to wash my hands under a 3 second dribble of cold water or boiling hot water. Having a fully functioning door is a bonus but if you're lucky someone with a big coat might take pity on you.
My university have replaced the women's toilets with gender neutral ones of course the mens ones are still there and the sanitary bins have been removed because of people stuffing general rubbish in them
Having just returned from Amsterdam I'm reeling from the memory of sitting on a pavement crying because I needed a wee as DP floated leisurely in and out of the public urinals.

My son will not use public toilets unless he is really, really desperate, he would rather hold on until we get home.

I hate the fact that there are hardly any public toilets around and I hate going into cafes to use their facilities as I get embarrassed if I am not buying anything. Luckily some of the department stores have toilets now so at least I know where to go to find one quickly if the kids need to use one and they are always nice and clean more so than pub and cafe toilets usually are at least in my experience.

Will only use them if absolutely necessary, I despise them

It's always difficult to find a public loo, nearly impossible to find one that isn't rancid ... although John Lewis toilets are always of a high standard and very clean. I was once in our local computer shop when my little boy needed a wee. They kindly let him use their toilet. It was then that I realised that this was a shop run entirely by men (boys) and let's just say it was an interesting experience and we needed to go through the nuclear decontamination unit afterwards.

It's a hit and miss: some toilets are surprisingly nice but the vast majority are just ok, if not bad. What saddens me the most is if the baby changing rooms are is unhygienic and you have no choice but to change your baby there.

I try to avoid public toilets as much as possible unless desperate. I have found though that the ones you pay for are a bit cleaner!

I would share my experiences if I could find one! last week we went shopping and the only toilets are in the main shopping centre, not good with little ones when you are the other end of town

I think one of the big problems is that lots of the toilets in cafes now have codes to get in that are only printed on receipts. So sometimes we struggle because I tend to throw receipts out.

The youngest is also terrified of public toilets because she's scared of getting locked in the cubicles so half the time we'll go into a public toilet and if she doesn't like the look of it then we have to find another one.

try and avoid them!

I tend to head towards a big chain store or Mcdonalds or similar when feeling the need when out. I have found that public conveniences can sometimes charge for usage and it is stressful when I don't have the available change.

I think it would be great if loos were signposted, with distance and cost mentioned.

As for cleanliness... there is a massive variation between places.

We often need to find a toilet when out and about and I find it really irritating that public toilets are so difficult to find. It shouldn't be necessary to use the toilets in shops/cafes etc all the time. When we're in the city we have to drag the DC up to the top of the department stores, which always seems to take ages.
In our village the public toilets near the play park were taken over, leaving only the toilets the other side of the village. Now the children all wee in the bushes.

I’ve had a gluten intolerance that I thought was irritable bowel so I’ve needed to rush to the toilet a lot.
Tourist season toilets are horrible. I think they need to clean them more often, but generally most of the time they haven’t been that bad. Perhaps I’ve just been lucky!