Public Toilet Seats, Protection?

if it's dirty lookin' move over.

Otherwise, just sit my ass down

:D

:-)

Just so you know....

Where they swabbed all around different people's butt to make cultures to see just how much danger there was from toilet seats and found that it was more a psychological thing than anything else.

that in and of itself is a psychological thing...

They just filmed it.

I'm not.

It lets me know I still have it!!

:D

:hi:

The stall door lock and handle are much filthier than the toilet seat, for the simple fact that toilet seats get cleaned pretty often, handles get ignored, and people don't wash their hands before leaving the stall. (The door handle proper is also pretty nasty, because many people still don't wash their hand before leaving the restroom.)

If there is visible urine on the seat, I wipe it off; however, urine is sterile, so sitting in it is just aesthetically gross. It won't make you sick.

If there are visible feces on the seat, I find another toilet. If there aren't any, and it's absolutely vital I use a toilet now, that's when the best barrier method comes in. If there aren''t seat covers, then it's TP and hope for the best.

Just wonderin'
The Professor

didn't ya know?

don't get her started...

We write about cross-contamination issues fairly regularly.

I DID NOT KNOW THAT! The industry i work in is extremely deep into the active ingredients for cleaning products and disinfectants for personal and household care. I help them develop processes to be efficient, (faster, cheaper, better), and to minimize risk (environmental, worker safety, etc.). So, we're tangentially in the same field. Weird!

On the side, i teach chemistry and economics (actually econometric analysis), but that doesn't pay enough, so the professor thing is a sidelight.
The Professor

We can annoy Hedges at the next gathering by talking shop!

He damn near divorced me a couple of years ago over my interest in floor-finish-polymer chemistry.

:bounce:

a REAL potty mouth!

Bad! Bad pun! :toast:

And I DID enjoy meeting you and your other half.

:-)

I used to give my receptionist all kinds of grief because she'd go to the bathroom and wash her hands before coming back, carrying the paper towel she used to let herself out of the bathroom. She got pissed at me on more than one occaision.

Also -- you know what surface in a hotel room is the most contaminated?

It's not the toilet.

It's not the bedspread.

It's the remote control to the TV -- think about where your hands have been when you're in a hotel room. You may have been shaking hands all day, eating ribs, having sex, scratching yourself, whatever...do you wash your hands before hitting the remote? And, if you were designing a hotel-housekeeping program, would the remote be on your checklist? (I hope it would be now, :D)

what about a Federal Toilet Security force? White uniforms, checking out anyone coming into a toilet. Naturally they would profile toilet users, selecting certain types of individuals for more intense scrutiny. Risk factors for hazardous toilet behavior could include the obvious ethnicity, age, ethnicity, gender, ethnicity, class status, and ethnicity. Examinations of credit background, previous toilet visits, nature and outcome of the previous toilet visits would all add up to a complete risk profile.

Men are pigs and think nothing of pissing on a public toilet seat. I try my best to not have a sit-down occurrence in public, but sometimes you just gotta go and a wipe-down is in order.

To be honest, women are pigettes in the public toilet arena. Trust me on this one: I worked a few summers during college at a state park. The women's bathrooms were worse than the men's by a longshot.

They use no paper products, because most men don't wash after peeing (especially if they perceive the restroom to be unclean -- at least they know where their penis has been; they can't say the same for the water tap).

Women use toilet paper every time; they often have feminine-hygiene needs as well. They are more likely to have their kids in there with them, which means diapers, wipes, paper flung all over the place for fun. Women are statistically more likely to wash (though they're not great at it either).

There are just more variables in the ladies' room.

I have an article on "potty parity" if you're interested. (They pay me for this.)

I've seen the result of "the position" with regards to public restrooms.

Ever.