While it was also found to make the droplets larger and more concentrated with bacteria, the broad consensus among scientists is that it's more hygienic to flush with the lid down.
The lid was designed to keep germs where they belong, in the bowl and down the drain! If you leave the lid up when you flush, those germs can float around your bathroom, landing on any available surface, including towels, hairbrushes or even toothbrushes.
Should the toilet seat be up or down? It should always be down along with the lid. Not only is it common courtesy, it also traps germs in while flushing.
But there's one thing that not everyone may be on the same page about—whether you should close the lid before flushing the toilet. As it turns out, research suggests that we definitely should be closing the lid before every flush, no matter how clean your toilet is.
It keeps everything much better contained,” Dr. Roberts says. “It's not perfect, but it certainly is better.” A 2021 research review published in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research found that flushing without closing the lid leads to surface contamination of the toilet.
The research found that putting the toilet lid down reduced the number of both visible and smaller droplets during and after flushing by 30-60%. However, use of the lid also increased the diameter and concentration of the bacteria in these droplets.
Females should always sit on the toilet seat while peeing. Male employees should always stand a little close to the toilet seat to avoid dripping. Never forget to use flush once you are done. Check the toilet seat for unwanted stains or substance.
#4 You should close your toilet lid before flushing
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.
' Researchers say flushing with the lid up releases a so-called 'aerosol plume' – a big cloud of vapour particles that carry bacteria and other pathogens. Some of these particles can zoom straight into your face, land on your skin, or even come into contact with objects around the bathroom - including your toothbrush.
When you flush the toilet, do you close the lid? If you don't, you are likely releasing a “toilet plume” into the air — which is essentially an aerosol spray filled with bacteria. All that bubbling, swirling and splashing can aerosolize fecal waste, sending tiny particles airborne.
I also assume people pee 6 times a day and poop 1 time per day. Seat Down means everyone puts the seat down after they use the toilet. Leave as Used means that if you put the up, you leave it up. If you put the seat down, you leave it that way. Seat Up means everyone puts the seat up after they use the toilet.
Common germs on the toilet seats
To name some of the common germs that one can get affected with from toilet seats are, the fecal borne E. Coli bacteria, Shigella bacteria, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and influenza.
However, even if there are fewer of them, you may still encounter various germs on your toilet seat including fecal bacteria, influenza, streptococcus, E. coli, hepatitis, MRSA, salmonella, shigella and norovirus.
To protect yourself from these harmful germs, it's important to always shut the lid before flushing. This simple step can significantly lower your risk of exposure to dangerous microbes. After flushing, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, as germs are still on and around the toilet lid.
But the filthiest culprit in our homes is the kitchen sponge or cloth. According to Gerba, there are about 10 million bacteria per square inch on a sponge, and a million on a dishcloth. In other words, a kitchen sponge is 200,000 times dirtier than a toilet seat, and a dishcloth is 20,000 times dirtier.
Public bathrooms may be teeming with bacteria, but the toilet seat is probably safe for sitting. But the toilet seat is actually the cleanest part of the bathroom, one expert says.
What is the cleanest part of your house? Surprisingly, the cleanest part of your house is likely to be your toilet pan. While the bathroom is wrongly thought to be a hothouse of bacteria in your home, the toilet has been proven time and time again to carry fewer bacteria than certain areas of your kitchen.
The primary purpose of the seat is to maintain hygiene, but it hasn't been working very well. Some people needed to be reminded that they should lift the seat up before urinating in the bowl to keep it clean. That doesn't happen very often, especially in public toilets (everyone wants their home to be clean).
Clean the Toilet (And Give an Extra Flush)
Before you leave on your trip, give your toilet bowl a quick clean. Then, sprinkle in a bit of baking soda and give it an extra flush to make sure there's no lingering debris in the pipe.
The U-shape was meant to give ladies plenty of room to wipe without having to stand up or touch the seat directly. That's especially helpful for those of us nesters who like to put down a layer of toilet paper on the seat before we pop a squat.
Studies have shown that the average bowel movement takes 12 seconds. Sometimes it does take longer, however, so at maximum, you should not spend more than 10 minutes on the toilet. “If your child doesn't go within the first few minutes, you're better off to try again later,” said Dr.
"Urine is normally sterile as a body fluid. Even if you have a urinary tract infection with bacteria in your urine it would be inactivated with the chlorine levels in the public water supply," he said. "So there's really no known disease transmission with urine left un-flushed in the toilet."
How often you have to urinate is a good indicator of your body's overall state of hydration. It's considered normal to have to urinate about six to eight times in a 24-hour period.
Leaving pee in the bowl instead of flushing it away seems gross and unsanitary to some. However, the science says that flushing every time actually spreads more germs. Yup. Meet 'toilet plume' – the spray caused by that blast of water when flushing.