In the vast majority of houses I've been to the person living there has something on the top of the tank to their toilet, items on their counter, and/or some sort of shelf or storage container above the toilet. Because of all of this, I am surprised at the number of people who leave the lid of their toilet up. Do these people never drop or knock anything off from one of these locations into the open toilet?
I will grant that having the seat down makes the hole smaller. But the hole is still there. Because of the number of times I have knocked items off of the counter or tank, or dropped things I was retrieving from the over-toilet storage into the bowl, I always insist on a closed lid. On top of this, human beings have a wide variety of excretory issues that can complicate the cleanliness of the bowl and not everyone cleans their bowls regularly. So having the lid closed is also good to help the overall look of a bathroom to the casual guest (or simply the inhabitant), prior to next use/cleaning.
And, frankly, if the lid is down, the seat is down. In households with a woman, that means the seat is always in her preferred position, another benefit. Yes, she has to lift the lid to use the toilet, but that seems fair... most women prefer men to lift the seat to minimize the chance they urinate all over the seat anyway. This way, both sexes have roughly equal amounts of work; she has to lift the lid and he has to lift the lid and seat (which can be done in one action). Fair's fair, after all.
Lastly, many areas have water issues that cause stains on the bowl, water discoloration, and even scum growth or animal issues. Leaving the lid closed keeps these unsightly issues from view immediately upon entry into the bathroom, and can help keep creatures out of (or inside!) the toilet in those specific cases.
In the end, the bonuses to leaving the lid down seem to outweigh the one advantage to leaving it up. I don't understand why so many restrooms I have visited always have the lid up.
Yay! Someone else agrees with me. The dropping things factor is enough for me that I always close the lid. Add a child to the mix, and the increase in dropped items makes it worth it.
ReplyDeleteSome people don't like to lift the lid though!
It's unsightly to turn right at the end of my hallway to face an open door to the bathroom -- and stare into the hazardous waste disposal site! Closing the lid is the least any user can contribute to the bathroom's appearance.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who changes the toilet paper roll in the guest bathroom because she's prefers her toilet paper to unroll from the "over" position, while I prefer the "under." In your own bathroom, do whatever you want, but in my bathroom: you're a guest, so leave it the way I want it!
And this issue arose because ... ?
*fache
We always do lid down and the lid goes down before hitting the flush because part of the really gross problem with toilets is that the flush being activated often sprays all the stuff that just went IN the toilet back up and in to the air, on the seat, floor, person standing flushing, etc.
ReplyDeleteThat is also why in public restrooms I never flush with my hand and only flush with my foot - no leaning over heavy duty flushing toilet just used for me!!