Toilet Lid Etiquette/Sanitation: Lid Down to Flush!

[azstonie]

I was reading the Sunday New York Times and the etiquette/advice column by Philip Galanes discussed whether or not to leave the toilet lid closed or down when flushing, and then, should a host tell guests to make sure to flush with the lid closed.

I did not know that you should have the lid closed when flushing!

Did you guys know about this?

Here's the skinny:
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Besides etiquette, another reason to close the toilet lid is for health. Flushing with the lid up lets the bacterial aerosols release into the air. Gerba, Wallis, and Melnick studied bacteria and virus levels in the bathroom after a toilet flush and found that the invisible cloud of bacteria and virus mist traveled up to eight feet up and out settling on surfaces throughout the bathroom including walls, floors, ceilings and other areas around the toilet including toothbrushes. This bacterial mist could stay in the air for about two hours after each flush (Gerba, C.P., Wallis, C., & Melnick, J.L., "Microbiological Hazards of Household Toilets: Droplet Production and the Fate of Residual Organisms," Appl Microbiol, 1975 August; 30(2): 229-237).

So, keep the toilet lid down when flushing!
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So that closed lid, its going to have all that aerosolized bacteria and crud on it, so do you just have handy the antimicrobial wipes and wipe the lid off when each flush is over?

 

[HollyS]

Top down when flushing.
Germs and bacteria (and feces particulate) can definitely be airborne.
I absolutely hate those open air super flush johns in restrooms. Talk about sending crap into the air . . . Yikes.

 

[Calliecake]

This story makes me want to never set foot in a public restroom again!

 

[momhappy]

Um, I don't have a problem with flushing with the lid down and it's fine to ask family members to participate, but asking guests too??? Good grief, no!!!!!!!

 

[azstonie]

Yes, I'm old school regarding the guest part of the question.

I just had no idea regarding putting that lid down!!!! Its like finding out you've been walking around with toilet paper trailing your shoe!!! I always thought I was pretty meticulous when it came to *cleanliness*.

 

[House Cat]

This is why you never keep your toothbrush out in the open in your bathroom.

 

[azstonie]

LOL, re the toothbrush, whenever I stay in a hotel and I'm expecting housekeeping to come in to clean the room, I always pack up my toothbrush and hair brush/comb and put them in my carry on in the closet. I don't want the hotel maid to have to juggle those and the cleaning supplies, etc, or have an accidental fall into the toidy

So you people who knew about the close-the-lid practice, do you clean off the lid after each flush? I think you would have to, given what is known about the flush process...I'm buying more Scrubbing Bubbles toilet wipes now.

 

[missy]

I did know about that but when you raise the lid doesn't all that stuff then get into the air? YUK.

 

[momhappy]

I have to wonder how much "harm" it actually causes to flush with the lid up? I mean, yes, I get that it's more sanitary to flush with the lid down, but it's not like we're all dying because we flush with the toilet lids up. I just think that while it's gross, there are much nastier things in this world to worry about and again, I certainly wouldn't berate my guests for flushing with the lid up. Quite frankly, I don't care to know what goes on in the bathroom behind close doors - with guests or family

 

[swingirl]

I did know about that but when you raise the lid doesn't all that stuff then get into the air? YUK.

Of course it would it the microbes stay airborne for 2 hours. Not to mention the ones that sneak out from under the toilet seat!!

However, after flushing with the lid up for 60 some years, I don't feel like I've been ill more or less than anyone else. Living a germ-free life is not so good for you anyway.

 

[momhappy]

I did know about that but when you raise the lid doesn't all that stuff then get into the air? YUK.

Of course it would it the microbes stay airborne for 2 hours. Not to mention the ones that sneak out from under the toilet seat!!

However, after flushing with the lid up for 60 some years, I don't feel like I've been ill more or less than anyone else. Living a germ-free life is not so good for you anyway.

Yes, this is what I was implying too - flushing with the lid up does have a gross-factor, but I doubt that it's causing much harm in the grand scheme of things.

 

[House Cat]

I knew about this because my late step father had OCD and he told all of us about it. He also washed the entire bathroom down with rubbing alcohol many times per day. He warned about the toothbrushes.

I have recently been told that chlorine aerosols from the toilet, creating Unhealthy air quality in the home. To take it one step further, Dr. Mercola says on his website that the most important water filter installed in the home, if you only install one, would be in the shower, due to the large amounts of chlorine one breathes and absorbs from the shower.

I don't wipe down my toilets daily. I use vinegar to clean my bathrooms, not harsh chemicals. I worry those chemicals would do more harm than the bacteria they were trying to kill.

 

[ame]

Um, I don't have a problem with flushing with the lid down and it's fine to ask family members to participate, but asking guests too??? Good grief, no!!!!!!!

Yea agreed. You can't expect your guests to do that. Yes it would be delightful if they did, but good luck with that.

 

[mary poppins]

I do know about that and raise the lid with toilet paper between my hand and the lid. I don't worry about what may be coming out of the toilet when I raise the lid, and I don't clean the lid more often than I clean the bowl and seat.

I don't tell guests how to use the bathroom.

Many studies and reports say that cell phones are dirtier than toilet seats. I need to clean my cell phone more often.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Health/story?id=2273311

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/this_is_what_the_bacteria_that_lives_on_your_cell_phone_looks_like

ETA: I'm probably more skeeved out by hotel remote controls and bedspreads that I am by other items listed in my initial post.

 

[Jambalaya]

I'm skeptical about this. I've heard of it before, recently. I've always had small bathrooms and rarely put the lid down when flushing. Not only am I still here, I have rarely had any kind of bug or stomach upset, and am in rude health. Maybe the extra germs are why.

I think we can go overboard with hygiene. I hear people say that baths are dirty and skincream jars are unhygienic. About the bath, how dirty does the average shower-once-a-day office worker get during 12 hours? If you shower in the morning and then you fancy a relaxing bath in the evening, I just don't see how much dirt there could possibly be in the bathwater. Even if it's been 24 or 48 hours since you last showered, you're still pretty clean unless you've worked out hard. It's not like the early 19th century when there was lots of dust, unmade roads, and more mud everywhere, before asphalt. People were much dirtier back then, but I just don't see how the average person today can possibly get dirty enough in a few hours to make bathwater at all dirty. Unless your're a farmworker or a vet, or something.

I have also used skincare in jars and never had a problem. I tend to wash my hands before doing my skincare, anyway.

At the gym, people put handtowels on the seat of the exercise bike even though they are not riding naked. They are wearing (one assumes) clean underwear and clean workout pants. That's two layers. Why do you also need a towel between your butt and the bike saddle? That's three layers.

They also put towels on the handlebars. I can see that someone might not wash their hands after the bathroom and then use the bike, but all these incidental germs we come into contact with help keep us healthy and our immune systems were designed to deal with germs everywhere. Otherwise we'd all be dead, and you need some bacteria. If you're too clean, you start getting sick. Plumbers have good strong immune systems, for obvious reasons.

A good roll around in the dirt would do us all the power of good, if you ask me.

 

[azstonie]

That roll around in the dirt, science is showing its what we're missing out on now!

 

[arkieb1]

I put the lids down, we all do just out of habit. Having said that we have a new kitty that likes to jump into the bowl if the lid is up and then he has to be shampooed if he lands in the toilet

 

[lknvrb4]

We always put the lid down, now when my MIL comes to visit she leaves the lid up and it totally grosses me out.

 

[Gypsy]

We put the lid down. Dh had read about this years ago, so when he shared it with me, lid down became the standard when flushing.

As for what to tell guests. We have cats. So we do tell guests to please leave the lids down, just in case one of the cats gets a bright idea about the toilet water. No one has had an issue with it. I don't know if they lower the lid before or after flushing though. So all the towels get replaced after guests leave.

 

[Rhea]

Toilet seat down at all times. And we ask guests who are staying for a while to as well. Shock and horror!

My cat (now dead) fell into the toilet a couple times. That was fun. Recently we've been cat sitting off and on for some friends whose cat likes to play in the toilet. We just ask guests to please put the toilet seat down as we don't want to deal with a wet cat running around the house. Most of our friends have animals themselves and are pretty used to the toilet seat needing to be down to avoid having a pet in it.

 

[NOYFB]

I've always closed the lid when flushing, and do ask my guests to do the same. For 2 reasons, actually - 1) we used to have a cat that would use the toilet as a launching pad to get to the sink to drink water and didn't want her falling in, 2) because of all the germs/ickiness that come from the toilet and the fact that one of our guest towels is right next to the toilet (and yes, I change that towel every time after our guests leave, because you just never know how many people actually close the lid before flushing). And our toothbrushes are in an enclosed canister out of the way of the toilet.

 

[lambskin]

I'm lucky if my kids even flush the toliet!

 

[junebug17]

I'm lucky if my kids even flush the toliet!

 

[packrat]

We put the lid down. Tried to do it before the kids came b/c the dang cats would play in it. Then when I was pg I started demanding it be down all the time b/c I'd get up in the middle of the night and fall in-which isn't fun when you're as big as a house and not sleeping well to begin with-no way was I going to turn a light on or open my eyes any farther than I needed to. Then the kids came and wow was it fun to play in it like the cats or pull the tp to it and flush it to see how much would go down.

When I am at someone else's house, generally I see how the lid is when I go in-if it's up and I remember, I might leave it up..or else I forget and put it down b/c it's my habit. I'd rather it be down than up. Not even bc of germs, it just looks nicer.

 

[azstonie]

I'm lucky if my kids even flush the toliet!

they're going green, conserving water resources!

 

[azstonie]

I've kept the lid down to flush the past 24 hours. Nothing visible on the underside of the lid.

 

[momhappy]

I'm lucky if my kids even flush the toliet!

Ugh, me too!!!! Lid up or down - I'd just be thrilled if they flushed!

 

[asscherisme]

I put the lids down, we all do just out of habit. Having said that we have a new kitty that likes to jump into the bowl if the lid is up and then he has to be shampooed if he lands in the toilet

Ditto to the kitty thing. I always had trouble getting my kids to put the lids down until I got 2 kittens almost 5 years ago. The kitties liked to explore the toilet water Ick... so my kids finally got into the habit of putting down the seat!!

My grandmother I guess was ahead of her time because when I was a kid she told me to always put down the lid before you flush or it could get on your toothbrush. She always had the neatest house I have ever seen.

As for public toilets, the fast flush combined with the small space has always grossed me out because of what my grandmother taught me regarding the flush and germs. So I always wait until I open the door then flush and leave the stall quickly before the flush really gets started. Public bathrooms gross me out, but sometimes you gotta go!

 

[asscherisme]

I'm lucky if my kids even flush the toliet!

Ugh, me too!!!! Lid up or down - I'd just be thrilled if they flushed!

I would be happy if my sons actually got their pee to make it into the toilet (aka bad aim)

 

[swingirl]

Once someone in our house put the lid down (we always keep the lid up) and in the middle of the night I got up to use the bathroom in the dark, sat on the lid and...you guessed it!! You know that feeling --- once you get it in your mind that you are going to go and you release those muscles --- you just can't stop. I am more careful now.