Mumsnet users share their experiences of public loos with Domestos

[EllieMumsnet]

This activity is now closed

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

[GooodMythicalMorning]

Everytime we go out be it to pop to the shop for an item someone always needs the loo. Spotting them can often be difficult, especially in an unfamiliar place. We usually end up asking someone. Not a lot of shops have them it seems. Superstores are useful as they are usually a reliable toilet source.

[Headfullofdreams]

I always need the loo and it's usually when we are in the middle of nowhere so a bush has to do! Hate public loos is except the nice ones in m and s and department stores.

[OhMyGodTheyKilledKenny]

I tend to know where the nearest loos are in the regular towns and cities I go to but find it a nightmare in strange places. I think there should be more signs showing you where the nearest public toilets are.

I have to say though that it's not too bad in the UK as we've struggled abroad to find toilets without going to a cafe and buying coffees etc (Spain, France, Germany and Belgium to name a few recent experiences) or, at best, paying for the privilege.

[Mamabear1986]

I have 3 little boys. 2 who are now toilet trained. We spend a lot of time locating toilets whenever we are. The majority of public we have used have been pretty good. Especially our local shopping centres toilets. They are exceptionally clean. I do think however that more shops need toilets. We have been to quite a few stores where toilets are not accessible by the public.

[Theimpossiblegirl]

I get very nervous in the computerised public loos as I worry the door will open mid-pee! The same goes for train and plane toilets.

[Beach11]

Public toilets in my experience are usually disgusting. With everything dirty, no toilet pAper, soap or hot water. Most are inaccessible with a push chair & don’t have a baby changing area.
When out and about try to plan toilet visits to facilities I know are clean.

I don’t think there are enough public toilets available & that are accessible

[claza93]

I try to avoid them as much as possible but my children always seem to need to go! We use the ones in Debenhams when in town as they are clean.

[TrollTheRespawnJeremy]

I have ibs so have to use public facilities or I’d never leave the house. It’s usually pretty unpleasant although cinemas tend to have the best-kept ones.

I hate having to walk for ages to find a toilet because when I need to go I feel ill. It’s quite stressful. I think provisions are better in the US for toilets.

[HIRJH]

I lived previously in Germany and the toilets there are pretty nice, even the ones within a shop have an attendant and you pay 50 cents after you've used them.

The toilets I despise are the ones mostly found in car parks or in underground toilets in the middle of town. You know them, the ones with the big metal basin with rubbery black strips that act as the 'seat' and when it's winter they are so cold to sit on you can hear the gasp as the toilet claims its victims. Then they have the automatic hand wash in the wall that dispenses a piddly bit of water, then soap if you're lucky but it's no where near to where your hands are so you miss it, then more water and then some kind of air that falls out with no force behind it someone may as well be paying a mouse to fart my hands dry.

Toilets need seats, sinks need soap and it should be illegal not to have a freshmatic type air freshener/dettol in every public loo.
I have three boys so they're at the age that they come into the ladies with me and I really love the ones that have a slightly smaller toilet and a lower down sink for kids. Some even add some novelty soap so they actually wash their hands without arguing which is a nice touch.

Asking to use the toilets is tricky sometimes in shops that don't have customer toilets like clothes shops for example. When my eldest was potty training he suddenly couldn't hold it in Next and we were refused the toilet and he ended up leaving a huge puddle on the floor! They weren't impressed but apparently it's health and safety that Customers are covered insurance wise on the shop floor but not in designated staff areas.

[LassoOfTruth]

More public loos would be great, and they should all be accessible.
In my small town, the only true public toilets are too cramped to get my (not huge) baby buggy in. I use one particular supermarket one a lot because it also has a separate lockable baby change room WITH a toilet inside - I need to wee too sometimes ! Too many disabled cubicles (where the baby change often is) are really poorly cleaned for some reason.

[lovemyflipflops]

I go by the 'fragrance' of a public loo - if there is a strong smell of stale urine - I am totally uneasy about using it. If there is a smell of beach/disinfectant, an air dryer and clean sinks with nice smelling soap - I am a happy mummy.

[Montydoo]

I am not generally OCD, but when out and about ALWAYS have a pack of domestos toilet wipes (for the seat and door handles) whilst the toilets may be clean - the person using them last may well not be. I will give the seat or changing table a quick 'once over' and then use a tissue over my hand for opening the door. If a loo smells of bleach or disinfectant I am encouraged that is it clean - a loo may be old, a little scruffy, but clean. I totally dislike visiting a loo when it is quite clear that no-one has been to clean it since the morning (loo paper everywhere - no drying towels and rubbish on the floor). After all it's a room we all visit when eating out or staying for a long period of time.

[Bumblebeans]

We're going though the whole potty training experience atm. I look up where toilets are in advance so I know where o dash in an emergency. I haven't had to use any grim public loos yet. I think living on a city with large shops with toilets has helped. We've found that they're all really clean and nice.

[Tefiti2]

We are really limited with clean public loos where I live, even though you have to pay £1 for each use they aren’t cleaned regularly. The shops will let you use them but you often have to beg..!

[jacqui5366]

If it smells then I am not entering - I will look elsewhere, I tend to ask my children to wash their hands before we eat in a cafe and if the toilets are dirty/smelly/untidy - then I won't eat there, if their toilets are dirty, for me it is a reflection of their hygiene standards. I like a loo to have a bleach/disinfectant smell, and an indication that is regularly cleaned (a signed rota is always a good sign). I love the no touch dyson handdryers rather than paper towels.

[Goingovertosusanshouse]

I wish more parks had toilets. Sadly lots have been closed. Never really had a positive public loo experience. They usually stink and are filthy. I can’t believe how people leave them.

[JellySlice]

There's only one thing to say about public loos: yuck!

I've nothing against hoverers, but why don't they wipe up after themselves?!?!

[firehousedog1]

How often do you need to locate a loo when you’re out with your family? My son is five and he needs to pee like 7 or 8 times a day it seems. If we're out for anymore than two hours then more than likely we'll have to do a loo visit at some point or other.

And how difficult are they to find? I find a lot of public loos have been closed down, or have restricted opening hours. If we are caught short somewhere there are no public loos then we will call into a pub or cafe, make an excuse to buy something first and then take him to the loo. On the road we'll just call in at a petrol station who 9/10 have loos for customers.

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? Firstly, I can see why establishments don't like to open their facilities to the public because people can use them for drug abuse, etc. I would feel awkward about asking without buying something from the café or pub first, plus most places have a sign saying toilets for customers only so you feel somewhat pressured to buy something beforehand. I have seen some places reaffirm to families that the toilets are for customer's use only thereby forcing customers to buy something. Some pubs I would just not even consider taking my boy in if I know they are not a suitable hang out for children. In some towns the council work with pubs and cafes to encourage to businesses to open their loos for the public with the council contributing to costs. I think this scheme should be extended.

I always carry sanitising hand gel in my handbag because I have the thought of touching anything flush handles, taps, door handles, etc. In most public toilets I don't even suggest to my boy to wash his hands in the basin just going by the state of them. Rather he just rubbed some sanitising gel in all honesty. Oh and carry tissue paper too just in case public loo is short of paper. One thing I also get annoyed with public loos are those toilets where the seat is fixed to the bowl so it inevitably gets covered in wee. I carry anti bac wipes in my handbag so I will always wipe the seat before he goes. One thing I can't get bypass though is the smell in some public loos. Its a hold your breath exercise sometimes.

[Summerdays2014]

I’ve just started potty training my 2 year old and going out and about is a nightmare as he can’t use the ‘big’ toilets. I understand that they won’t have child sized toilets/potty’s everywhere, but in places that are geared towards children surely it would make sense?!?

[lovemyflipflops]

Having little ones we need to visit the loo more than most, I tend to pick high street stores (M & S, Asda and Sainsburys) as they keep their loos spick and span, I avoid loos in small cafes as from experience they are tiny, often only have cold water to wash hands and no changing table. When we go on holiday I have found airport toilets very good, and toilet facilities in Spain far superior to the UK, with tiled floors, being constantly cleaned and smelling lovely. My pet hate is going to a toilet which has been filled with toilet paper from the previous visitor, thin cheap toilet paper, and if it smells of stale urine - I am straight out of the door.

[CarolineForbes]

As someone with IBS, lack of toilets and places with not enough ladies facilities resulting in huge queues cause me a lot of anxiety. It does limit places I’ll visit. Wish it was more standard for shops and towns to provide toilets and even better if they were clean and maintained!

[sharond101]

My Daughter needs to per constantly it's a big bear and we often have to limit her juice intake to stop it when we go out. We recently went to a beach where you had to pay 30p to use the toilets which were disgusting. I believe if you pay it should definitely be clean and well stocked.

[EinsteinsArousedSausagesHCB]

In my experience public loos are mainly always dirty and can be really disgusting, they definitely need cleaning more often. And they never have any fecking loo roll or handwash, it's always empty.

[PickwickThePlockingDodo]

When I was a child there were public loos everywhere, but I think a lot of them got shut down. Nowadays there doesn't seem to be as many, except in restaurants/cafes etc, where you have to go and buy a drink just to use them

[ThreadKillerMonster]

ALL of them should have either just open doorways or doors that you can push open with your elbow to leave, no knobs, or handles - just a push to open. Because no matter how clean the toilets, cubicles, sinks etc - there are so many people who do not bother to wash their hands, you are collecting germs by the bucketfull if you have to touch a handle when you leave the premises.

And if anyone from the National Trust is reading - For pity's sake stop putting the gents in the easiest access place and the womens upstairs or out of the way!