Poll: How Many People Flush The Toilet with The Lid down?

Logdenvilleoutlet on 13/08/2020 - 19:31

Who here cares about the faecal bacteria in the toilet that gets sprayed around the bathroom whenever the toilet is flushed with the lid open? do we flush our toilets lid-down or not? Do we even care?

I've always been somewhat of a (well not a clean-freak) but very germ-aware.

It all started when I had severe acne as a teen, where I became very strict on bacteria-triggered pimples and would wash my hands and bring sanitiser with me everywhere. Then, I worked briefly in healthcare as a dental assistant where I had to work with infection-control and cleaning procedures between patients.

Ever since, let's say I run a pretty tight ship around my apartment (e.g. alcohol spraying my phone whenever I get home because it is actually dirtier with bacteria than the average toilet seat).

P.S People also think that covid-19 can be spread through our poo which is nice and super disgusting
https://theconversation.com/we-dont-know-for-sure-if-coronav…

Poll Options

  • 558
    I flush with the lid down
  • 495
    I flush with the lid open
  • 16
    I don't even have a lid on my toilet
Health & Beauty Toilet

Comments

    • swimmingtoad on 13/08/2020 - 20:55
      +14

      Animals don't flush causing particles to rapidly shoot into the air (the same air you breathe)
      "80% of particles that escape from fecal matter into the air can be prevented by closing the lid when flushing"

      • ozbjunkie on 14/08/2020 - 15:41
        +5

        So 20% can't be. That's hectic.

        • youknow on 19/08/2020 - 08:45

          Fully hectic!

  • jjjaar on 13/08/2020 - 19:42
    +16

    I think the toilet location differs.

    A separate toilet and I would leave it open. But if the toilet is in the bathroom, with toothbrushes, then I would close it.

    • PeterSnoot on 14/08/2020 - 08:37
      +2

      In recent years I have stopped leaving my toothbrush out in the open and store it in the cabinet to avoid catching airborne baddies.

      • wizzlesticks on 16/08/2020 - 00:25
        +55

        I started putting mine in a toiletries case after I saw a cockroach mounted on a toothbrush in the bathroom in the middle of the night. I'd been doing this for many years. Then, a few months ago a live cockroach somehow crawled into my toiletries case when I left it open in my bedroom. It really must have licked my toothbrush.

        I've been getting therapy ever since.

        • topppbloke on 16/08/2020 - 12:54
          +8

          LOL!!! Mate, I had to login just to +1 your comment : )

        • ssquid on 17/08/2020 - 07:30
          +6

          Not surprising, cockroaches love moisture. Things like toothbrushes, kitchen sponges and wet towels are the roach equivalent of a Bunnings sausage sizzle - they can't resist.

        • Icecold5000 on 19/08/2020 - 10:03

          You can get tooth brush containers at woolies for a dollar.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/08/2020 - 19:43

    Down at night, up during the day.

    • chrisie on 13/08/2020 - 19:49

      Yes I do the same.

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 13/08/2020 - 19:51
    +14

    According to https://www.theplumbingauthority.com/blog/2019/february/myth…

    4 You should close your toilet lid before flushing

    Fact. When you flush your toilet with the lid up, a fine mist of bacteria filled water will fill the air. This is known as aerosolization, the process by which a physical substance is transformed into the form of particles light enough to be carried into the air (like an aerosol spray). Mythbusters did an episode about this process and confirmed, unfortunately, that when you flush a toilet with the lid up particles of feces will be almost everywhere in your bathroom, including your toothbrush.

    However, we should note that these particles are so small that the risk of becoming sick due to ingestion of these is very slim, unless the person using the restroom is sick.

    • saltypete on 14/08/2020 - 08:28
      +4

      Was with this until the final sentence - ‘they are so small that the risk……is very slim’ Fine particles stay in the air longer, and viruses are extremely small !!!!
      Seat down for us to minimise the amount of poo bits floating and coating…. 🤮

    • CandyMan on 14/08/2020 - 20:48

      Unless you are using a xiaomi self sterilising super fancy toilet

      • DashCam AKA Rolts on 14/08/2020 - 20:50

        This is known as aerosolization, the process by which a physical substance is transformed into the form of particles light enough to be carried into the air (like an aerosol spray).

      • saltypete on 15/08/2020 - 08:33

        We have a pretty basic bidet seat and love it. Apart from the immediate benefit of avoiding paperwork, ours is heated. No ‘ring of ice’ during the Southern winter.
        Not sure if a warm air dryer type would spread poo particles around though…🤔

        • CandyMan on 15/08/2020 - 11:31
          +1

          I think the bidet would cause more aerosolisation than the toilet flush

  • try2bhelpful on 13/08/2020 - 20:15
    +35

    Lid down, you savages.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/08/2020 - 20:34
    +5

    Up, dont have time for no lid down flushing

    Pure savage who has no lid at all 👍👍

  • knightslay2 on 13/08/2020 - 21:10

    Only for taking dumps.

  • TheBilly on 13/08/2020 - 21:15
    +16

    Where is the poll option - "I don't flush" ?

    • ssquid on 14/08/2020 - 00:41
      +11

      Found the poo jogger.

  • Donaldhump on 13/08/2020 - 21:35
    +16

    i spend 5 minutes in awe looking at by bogs
    then flush and watch it scrape in circles against the porcelin

  • poboy on 13/08/2020 - 21:39
    +51

    Being frugal, I generally only flush when the contents are piled high enough to touch the seat.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/08/2020 - 22:30
      +5

      Hmm. That will still be every dump for some.

      • Donaldhump on 13/08/2020 - 23:19

        we've all done a double flush once at least

    • Dlw on 13/08/2020 - 23:21
      +3

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD0k7cnj384

      The goal should be at least one hundred courics.

    • rambao9 on 15/08/2020 - 17:41
      +2

      Username checks out

    • Scope on 16/08/2020 - 15:19
      +2

      And you still haven't answered the question. When the contents of the bowl are high enough to touch the seat, do you flush with the lid open or closed?

      • poboy on 17/08/2020 - 21:23
        +4

        Lid open mate. Too frugal for a dunny brush, so I have to dip the guns in to my elbow to give it a swirl. Being a nail biter, it's the gift that keeps giving.

        • ssquid on 18/08/2020 - 07:51
          +3

          Your username is missing an o.

  • dapt on 13/08/2020 - 23:14
    +11

    Eat cheap, highly processed foods with little dietary fiber, and watch your highly dense stools torpedo right into the sewage system without the need for flushing! Save money on food, water and be more hygienic.

    • WT on 14/08/2020 - 11:38
      +6

      ahh, the fabled ghost poop

      • snackerjoe on 16/08/2020 - 10:58
        +2

        I thought a ghost poop was when you wipe and there's nothing there. TIL.

        • Melong on 18/08/2020 - 09:23
          +2

          This should be next poll

  • subywagon on 14/08/2020 - 00:08
    -3

    I don't lift the lid in the first place…

    • John Kimble on 14/08/2020 - 06:55
      +1

      I don't get it? You piss/shit on the toilet lid? Or you don't use your toilet at all and just flush it for fun?

      • subywagon on 17/08/2020 - 14:47
        +2

        Groan. Y'all no fun…

        • John Kimble on 17/08/2020 - 15:16

          I'm plenty fun, just didn't get your comment/joke on this occasion…don't be disheartened, it happens to the best of us.

    • kaleidoscope on 16/08/2020 - 00:12
      -1

      lid … not the seat

    • ratman on 17/08/2020 - 15:26

      Cracked me up! Here take +1

  • SnowDragon on 14/08/2020 - 08:39
    +22

    If you close the lid how are you sure that the fecal matter has disappeared?
    You don't want the next person to come along, lift the lid and discover the monster you left behind.
    But then if you lift the lid you expose yourself to an aerial assault.

    Schrödinger's crap?

    • ssquid on 14/08/2020 - 09:43
      +7

      Great, now you've given xiaomi a semi-legitimate reason to add a camera to their next toilet seat. "Ability to check bowl contents without lifting lid."

      • SnowDragon on 14/08/2020 - 09:44
        +2

        Why not just a glass toilet seat lid? Then you can see in :)

        That or a lid with a screen that displays what's inside. Similar to how some fridges have internal cameras.

    • anonymous01 on 16/08/2020 - 15:34
      +2

      Wait for the flush to finish. Then open the seat?

    • exulted on 21/08/2020 - 12:09

      It's fine, the missus and I practice our aim next time we go for a wizz

  • OzHunterNSW on 14/08/2020 - 10:22
    +2

    You must cover the toilet with cling wrap prior to any flush

    • Jackson on 16/08/2020 - 08:19

      And then turn the toilet into a fecal slip n slide for the next person

  • Austaurean on 14/08/2020 - 12:36

    So you close and open the lid that gets poo spray, get more poo on fingers after wiping your bum, then wash hands putting poo onto the tap handles, turn said taps off getting poo back onto your fingers etc and then dry your hands putting poo onto the towel.. but i guess 80% less poo floating in the air..

    • ozbjunkie on 14/08/2020 - 15:53
      -2

      My thoughts exactly. Less time spent touching the toilet seat the better. Surely more of a contamination issue than the minute amount of aerosol produced with flushing.

  • HeWhoKnows on 14/08/2020 - 15:17
    -8

    Whta a complete WASTE OF TIME !

    And NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

    • smartazz104 on 17/08/2020 - 22:07

      Someone’s shit the bed.

  • the Unforgiven on 14/08/2020 - 15:34

    I have to flush with the lid down,
    as I have a water dispensing fridge in the same small room

    • ozbjunkie on 14/08/2020 - 15:51
      +5

      Where are you? Like the most cushy prison cell imaginable?

      • the Unforgiven on 14/08/2020 - 16:13

        In my small house,
        the other dunny room has a bath in it

        • ozbjunkie on 14/08/2020 - 19:05
          +7

          Ahh rite, I didn't realise you in the small house, it kinda sounded like you were in "the big house".

          • the Unforgiven on 14/08/2020 - 19:26

            @ozbjunkie: It was the only place I could place my fridge so I could connect it to water,
            it would have been too hard to do it in the kitchen

            I didn't know they had fridges with water in the big house,
            let alone dunny seats on the porcelain steering wheel

            • ozbjunkie on 14/08/2020 - 21:55

              @the Unforgiven: Hehe well I thankfully know very little about prison. But if I ever make it as the head of a Ponzi scheme, or a disgraced investment banker, or as a politician for hire, I'd hope that they'd find a way to accommodate me.

              • the Unforgiven on 15/08/2020 - 11:46
                +1

                @ozbjunkie: I have never been either, but people used to always say I was, as I used to smoke White Ox all the time.
                My brother was in there for awhile, but I disowned him before he did the ultimate crime

                What did they say growing up?
                Oh yeh, don't throw matchsticks down the dunny as crabs can polevault

  • exulted on 14/08/2020 - 16:53
    +2

    I flush while I'm sitting on the toilet. I guess lid open?

    • nismo on 16/08/2020 - 09:27
      +7

      Yeah, partly open with a half-arse seal?

    • DarwinBoy on 16/08/2020 - 10:14
      +1

      Seems like the best of both worlds.
      Don't need to touch the seat for up and down.
      Keep the poo particles in their place.
      So win win

      • smartazz104 on 17/08/2020 - 22:09
        +1

        Plus if your flush is powerful enough it’s like a quasi-bidet.

    • SnowDragon on 18/08/2020 - 10:48

      Sounds like a poor man's bidet.

  • Oofy Doofy on 15/08/2020 - 17:26

    Only if trying to flush more quietly… Though that's rarely needed, usually if that's a concern I'll not flush and just wait until my partner or kids are up and out of bed.

  • kev98 on 15/08/2020 - 17:30

    Where’s the option for “I don’t flush”?

    • AustriaBargain on 17/08/2020 - 01:04
      +2

      I heard Elon Musk won't flush his own toilet. He just leaves it there for his housekeepers to find.

  • Ononono on 15/08/2020 - 17:33

    Doesn't matter, there are poo particles everywhere anyway. Do you also walk around wearing gloves and goggles outside?

    • kev98 on 16/08/2020 - 19:36

      Yes

  • AddNinja on 15/08/2020 - 17:53
    +2

    How often do you get gastro? If more than once every few years, perhaps worry about poo particles in the toilet flying about. Otherwise, it clearly doesn’t do any harm.

  • gimme on 15/08/2020 - 17:59

    anyone who leaves is up is an animal /close thread

  • geoffs87 on 15/08/2020 - 18:02
    +1

    How else do you build an immunity? May as well go outside in bubble wrap.,.

    • gimme on 15/08/2020 - 18:18
      +5

      I occasionally fart on my food. Pretty sure immuned to covid now

      • geoffs87 on 15/08/2020 - 20:51
        +2

        Now it makes sense why Russia has the first Covid vaccine!

  • Vote for Pedro on 15/08/2020 - 19:05
    +2

    If lid is down, how do you know it’s all gone ;-)

  • outlander on 15/08/2020 - 19:08
    +1

    I have run out of alcohol. I can't deal with this.

  • Ridiculous Panda on 15/08/2020 - 19:42
    +3

    I flush when the poop is half way out. This is to avoid clogging the toilet and also reduced the smell.

    • Hengis on 16/08/2020 - 08:42

      But splash damage on your posterior ?

  • [Deactivated] on 15/08/2020 - 22:37
    +2

    I've never even thought about closing the lid. I rarely get sick though it's been literally years since I've even had the cold. I don't think I've ever had something like gastro.

    Maybe it makes my immune system stronger.

  • kaleidoscope on 16/08/2020 - 00:14
    +3

    no preference… lid down if late night so make potentially less noise during flushing.
    the small amount of alleged bacteria floating around with lid open is welcome, it’ll make my immune system perhaps bit stronger.

  • Herbse on 16/08/2020 - 00:51

    I don't put the toilet seat down but all the toilets I've been to are seperate to the bathrooms. The only time I've seen toilets in the bathroom are hotels and houses in the USA.

    Out of curiosity, OP could you please take this questionnaire and report on the results..

    • ogdenvilleoutlet on 16/08/2020 - 12:26
      +1

      Got 14/24 - "Average"

      • Herbse on 16/08/2020 - 13:18

        Fair enough. Mine was 0 of them

    • dcash on 16/08/2020 - 17:55
      +3

      You clearly haven't visited the bathroom in many houses in Australia.

  • happirt on 16/08/2020 - 01:54

    Do you have a weaker immune system after being a germophobe?

  • Saver Scott on 16/08/2020 - 03:09
    -1

    Lid down. There are rules that prohibit toilets being next to food preparation areas in houses for this reason. No one wants to eat poo. Every house will have a room or a space between the kitchen and a water closet.

  • Mysterious on 16/08/2020 - 03:42

    TIL that flushing while the lid is down is a thing..

  • ProlapsedHeinous on 16/08/2020 - 03:46

    Lid Up. in bathroom tooth brushes out in open… Dgaf

  • Mosher on 16/08/2020 - 08:53

    I don't put the lid down!

    Then again I'm a bear and I'm also in the woods ")

  • Jugganautx on 16/08/2020 - 08:56

    If you live in your own place you have certain luxuries like leaving lid and door open.

  • subydooby on 16/08/2020 - 10:50

    It has a lid for a reason.

  • treeman on 16/08/2020 - 10:55

    All these people that apparently close the lid. I don't know if I believe it. Whenever we have guests down they always leave it up despite seeing that it would have been down in the first place.

  • baker bob on 16/08/2020 - 11:20
    +1

    I proudly kiss my cat so breathing in my own poo particles pales in comparison from a germ point of view, especially since cat feces can kill humans. Anyone else kissing pets are wasting their time being in the lid down camp but then, that very action confirms we are not germaphobic so care factor would be zilch in any case.

    I do wonder how much disease right now in the western world is due to this bubble wrapping ourselves from germs? Strange that locals do not get Deli belly huh?

  • b1ackmai1er on 16/08/2020 - 13:51
    +9

    With millenials eating ass, I don't think this is our biggest hygiene concern.

    • Herbse on 16/08/2020 - 14:13
      +2

      Anal bleaching and salad tossing was created in the 80s by horny boomers.

      • b1ackmai1er on 16/08/2020 - 14:28

        I have no idea what salad tossing is and am too afraid to google it

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