The Uniform Plumbing Code requires all commercial seats to be open fronted for sanitary reasons. It is to keep urine and body parts (usually male) from touching the front of the seat.

Oh, something everyone wanted to know I am sure.

SOB Susie.

Learn something new every day.

Always learning. I thought this was going to be about why some seats are round and some are elongated, or why people (men AND women) don't close the cover before flushing, or who has a 'wash and dry' toilet!

Wildchild - what's SOB stand for? The only one I can think of is son of a ... but there are so many texting abbreviations and I don't know that one. Thanks

quilly, it means skip on by (if you don't like the post).

Actually, that is interesting to me! I've never really thought about that but it makes perfect sense!

Skip on by, Quilly.

And obviously susie, Salgal wanted to know or she would not have asked.

Interesting.

Scroll On By is what I think when I type SOB.

Actually, I think that is a very interesting question. Maybe should be for homes, also?

I wish everybody, everywhere also had raised toilets. Okay,okay, jmop. :0)
{{gwi:1587494}}
Sue

*Disclaimer* This is a Joke! *Disclaimer*

It was invented by a drunk, to keep the seat from hitting him in the neck ;)

JK of course lol!

jmop LOL Is that Just my own p?

I think I know what you meant to type Sue but that is funny. I'm warped.

Me? I want wall-hungs in my house.

I really did want to know...and just knew there had to be a logical explanation out there. The KT once again comes through for me!

Thanks wildchild!

"It is to keep urine and body parts (usually male) from touching the front of the seat."
But that really doesn't always keep "body parts" from touching the toilet,so it really doesn't make sense.
Sue-I'm in favor of taller toilets also.We had them put into both bathrooms at home but don't have them here and it makes a big difference.Especially if you have back and knee problems.
I was in the restroom at Wal-mart the other day and someone came into the stall next to me.I heard the noise of splashing liquid,looked down and my shoe was being sprayed! I'm glad it was a little chilly that day and I wasn't wearing my usual sandals! Sorry if this is TMI for some of you but just a warning to watch your feet! LOL

Thanks for deciphering "SOB" I should have remembered that one!

And thanks for explaining the design - I'd never even thought about the difference before. I'm another one who likes the taller seats.

I never, ever sit on a public toilet seat - ewwww .... just gross to think about. However, the reason for the difference is interesting.

I always wondered. As a female, I have perfected my bathroom squat so that NO part of my anatomy ever touches the seat. I do check to see if I've left any "sprinkles." And I always flush. And wash my hands afterwards. One of my pet peeves is other women who don't do these things. Isn't it gross to enter a public bathroom where a menstruating female has forgotten to flush? Sorry if that's too graphic.

Suzieque, I keep a couple of the Travel Johns in my go bag for those times when I encounter a truly sketchy restroom where even hovering won't do.

I first saw a 3 pack at Walgreens some years back. Couldn't find them again in local stores so I ordered the 18 pack online. Since I only use them when really necessary it's lasted a long time. They're great for outdoor use, in porta-potties and in skanky stores with wet floors and soiled fixtures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Travel John

Jannie, I do all of those things, too. I can't stand to go into a stall and see a wet toilet seat or anything left in the bowl. Uck. And Wildchild - wow - I like those! For emergency only, of course, but what a good idea.

My, what an informative thread was created out of that simple question asked by Salgal. I really want to get some those Travel Johns. Some of the restrooms you have to use while traveling are just beyond disgusting. I'm going to check at the local Walgreens here and keep some in the car.

Had never heard of the Travel John, so had to check it out. Did you know they will gift wrap it, too????!!!!

Gift wrap....Laughing Out Loud...!
I am seriously looking out those Travel Johns. Reading some of the reviews, how exactly does one use it discreetly if there is no bathroom? Or in the car?
Inquiring minds want to know??

You could always keep a laundry detergent bottle handy... :)

Interesting thread. I like that Travel John too and one of the reasons we travel in a Motorhome is that it has a bathroom. TJ would be smaller! LOL. Nanny

Is this crowd getting more squirrelly day by day?

Or am I becoming too straight-laced?

This inquiring mind (more or less) needs to know.

I've thought for a long time (and sometimes said) that I thought that civilized men should sit down to P.

ole joyful

Gentlemen AND Ladies should sit. (Sorry, ladies who have 'hovered' before me without raising the seat only made matters worse. What do you think you could 'catch' from a toilet seat -- more likely if it is WET.)

Gentlemen and Ladies should also ALWAYS close the lid before flushing if there is a lid. It's not only sanitary, it eliminates the need to nag a guy who doesn't sit about lowering the seat!

Chisue,
I've been consciously trying to remember to close the toilet seat before flushing. Mentioned it to dh, as it's been said that the splashes can carry 6 feet or more.

He checked the toilet lid after flushing and it wasn't in the least bit wet from any splashes. I did the same thing. So makes us wonder how anything can travel if there was no dampness on the underside of the lid.

Chisue-I have wondered the same thing and have also done that experiment!LOL So much talk about how germs from the toilet can travel 6 feet after a flush and land smack dab on your toothbrush!!!LOL
I hate when someone closes the lid! Yes,put the seat down when you are done but don't close the lid please! I'm always in a hurry and sometimes can't make it if the lid is closed!LOL I know,TMI!!
OJ-I taught all my boys to sit when they P but I know they don't always.I agree with that one.

elevator buttons are 40 times dirtier than public
toilet seats!

Yes, there IS a study on everything! LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: elevator buttons, dirty!!!!!!!!!

I found it interesting.

A young man had a project to do in school, he chose water testing. He found the water in the toilet bowl to be cleaner than ice from the ice machine.

Speaking of flushing. I absolutely hate those self flushing toilets that flush before you can barely (pun) get up.

So I carry few of those little post-it notes, the 1 1/4" size, and stick it on the sensor before proceeding. Then when I am all done and ready to exit I pull it off. I got the hint from a mom who posted on a thread somewhere that she used this solution for her child who was afraid of the self flushing toilets.

I am so glad that I opened up this thread. I learned so much. Wildchild I am glad to read about the post it notes.

Stacie

When taking microbiology we tested lots of areas in and around the building and our group swabbed the toilets and the drinking fountains, toilets were cleaner, less germs.

OJ..the worst thing a male can do for his water works dept,is sit down to p

Jasdip, when you and your husband checked the toilet lid did you check only for water/moisture, or did you check for bacteria? Bacteria doesn't need a water carrier to move around and I'm not sure how wet bacteria is anyway! :) The "spray" from toilet flushing isn't going to get you wet, since the concern isn't the *water*, but the *bacteria* from the toilet. As to the distance of course that's going to vary by the toilet and the room conditions. If you have a powerful flush it wouldn't surprise me for it to carry quite a distance. Some tests show it going 8-10', I even saw one saying up to 25'! (Personally I question that one.) Some tests of course suggest less distance. But it doesn't matter. AFAIC it's not the most pleasant thing to look inside a toilet and the seat down gives you a seat to sit on if you need it while using the bathroom for more than toilet purposes.

I'll add one other observation that convinced me there's substance to the bacterial spray: When my water softener died the one time I noticed a hard water buildup on the toilet plunger handle and even on the side of the vanity. Only one logical reason for it. Ever since that observation, the lid goes down.

And yes, many studies have been done about toilet seats being cleaner than many peoples' cutting boards, telephones, computer keyboards and other things. When you think about it, it makes sense. People are more cognizant of toilet sanitation and likely clean it more often than their telephone, keyboard or even cutting board! (How many people are talking on the phone while on the pot?) Many (perhaps most?) women's purses have more bacteria and filth on them and in them than if they soaked them in an unflushed toilet. And you set those things on tables and counters where food is prepped???

My ex-husband, my current sweetie and my step-father all sit.
Nothing living on your own and cleaning around the toilet to realize that sitting eliminates the splatter.

I remember seeing the metal towel-poles beside toilets and the lower portion would be rusty from splash-out.

Never thought of bacteria, Cynic, just moisture, so I figured nothing was escaping like we are led to believe.
We'd have to close to flush and remember to open, so the fur-kids can drink.

Ok, I'm now going to be pushing elevator buttons with my elbow!! LOL. Thanks Kat - I think!

Reminds me of a study that was posted here a few years ago about the filth and bacteria on the bottoms of our purses.

I've never understood women who "hover" to pee. It always leaves a nasty splatter for the next person. Why not just cover the seat with several layers of TP and sit down?

It doesn't always leave a nasty splatter. I rarely splatter - I'm a good hoverer. If I do happen to get a spot or 2 on the seat, I clean it off before I leave. I just consider that a common courtesy whether the next person is going to sit or hover ... who wants to look at a toilet seat with someone else's pee on it?

I don't understand women who leave the seat wet.

There is no health-related reason to 'hover', but if you insist on doing that, raise the seat first! (Use a piece of TP to touch it if you wish.)

Toilet bowl water may well be cleaner than the ice in an ice machine. (Lots of room for mold to grow in those things.) However, there's more than water in the bowl when you flush!

"I don't understand women who leave the seat wet."
Me either.Guess they don't want to touch where they just peed with the toilet paper to wipe it off,even though it's their pee! I always have antibacterial wipes in my purse and wipe the seat and that open space in the front with one before sitting down.I figure the toilet is no nastier than some of the places I touch in stores with my hands!
When I was a kid I remember my mother tearing off strips of toilet paper and folding it neatly to cover all the spaces my widdle butt might touch!

Researchers say that it is very unlikely that you will catch an STD from a public toilet seat. Many of the organisms that cause STDs can't survive outside the human body for long and need a particular environment in which to thrive. These environments cannot be found on a toilet seat. Crabs and scabies pose the biggest risks to those who sit on an infected toilet seat and, even then, the risk is infinitesimal.
Herpes is, perhaps, people's biggest concern over contracting STDs via toilet seats, but again, the risk is extremely small because the virus can't survive long outside the body.

Me too, lilliepad. Several layers of TP, sit down and there's no chance of splatter or my putting my butt where someone else's butt has been. :)

Susieque, I wasn't talking about you hovering, just people in general. Hope it didn't come across that way. Didn't mean it that way.

I can't remember if it was on this forum or elsewhere I read that if you put your purse on the floor, especially in a public restroom, you carry away a bazillion germs with you. Then set your purse down on the kitchen table when you get home and...

Cheers,
J

I hope that your purse has a carrying strap ...

... that would let you hold it in your mouth, if there's no hanger (and usually the top of the T P dispenser is either too small ... or sloped??

ole joyful ... always/usually intereted in being helpful

oh, I forgot to add... I always thought that the
split in the seat was because men "dribble" and
in that spot a lot and that the dribble would fall on the rim of the bowl and not on the seat! LOL