# An ode to ass gaskets — are they beginning to disappear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2024, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384 "2024-12-31T08:20:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/21 "2024-12-31T20:17:45Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > (Which made possible the jokes about coming back to the restaurant table: “look, I found a lobster bib in the bathroom!” My favorite was going into a bathroom at the zoo, and someone had written “Free Disposable Cowboy Hats!” on the dispenser. We’ve got them at work (I work in a city hall), but I’m pretty sure that’s institutional inertia as much as anything else- the dispensers are there, the line is in the budget from last year, so they keep getting bought, albeit in reduced quantities I’m guessing. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/22 "2024-12-31T21:30:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Upon the seat, you gently lay, > A barrier 'twixt the flesh and spray. > Though some may scoff, or turn away, > You’re the hero in the fray. Ah, Darren, your prompts delivered. Goods job, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/23 "2024-12-31T21:33:57Z")
I personally prefer the haiku. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/24 "2024-12-31T21:38:18Z")
Yes, the haiku is nice, but something about calling the decision to use a public toilet a “fray” just tickles me. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/25 "2024-12-31T22:09:45Z")
Darren’s ChatGPT work was mostly grin-worthy for me. But I laughed hearty at this bit: > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I think that broke it. It was so curt and so deadpan after the flowery Pig Latin. It just hit home and hit hard. Human wit still defeats machine-generated humor. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/26 "2024-12-31T22:11:56Z")
> [@bump](#): > > My favorite was going into a bathroom at the zoo, and someone had written “Free Disposable Cowboy Hats!” on the dispenser. When I was a kid my Dad called them “Texas Tuxedos”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/27 "2024-12-31T22:18:59Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Per my OP, I would like to stay focused on the question of whether or not the paper covers remain as widely available as they used to be So we’re just giving up on this, I take it? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/28 "2024-12-31T22:24:06Z")
People are coming to the realization that they are mostly useless, and also business see no reason to pay for them. So, yeah, getting more rare. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/29 "2024-12-31T22:32:23Z")
Paper ass gaskets are still in wide (sorry about that) use in the school district I work at, and I have to replace them on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/30 "2025-01-01T01:15:51Z")
> **Hidden, off-topic** > > > [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > > > As long as we are on the subject, informal poll: Does it bother you to set on public toilet seats? I realize they are probably not the cleanest thing around, but I’m not a germaphobe. Given the nature of my work, I’m forced to use “strange” toilets frequently. Honestly it’s just not that big of a deal to me. I shower every day. > > I always have wet wipes (the kind with the alcohol), so whenever I have to use a public loo, I wipe the seat down before putting my delicate derrière in contact with the seat. But, then, I live in China. I refer to public restrooms here as _crime scenes_. On rare occasions, when there’s no “western toilet” available, I have to sue the "squatter\*. It’s still a crime scene. I spread a few wet wipes around the surrounding floor because I don’t want my shoes to be in contact with, shall we say, the previous user’s evidence of the crime. In some of the larger shopping centers, the cleaning crew keep the “western” stle stalls stocked with those paper seats. The dental clinic I go to has the get-up **kenobi\_65** posted. Aside: **FinsToTheLeft** ’s term (“plastic condom thing rolled around the seat”) cracked me up. I thought I’d coined a term years ago when I started calling the plastic sheaths department stores in Japan and South Korea have for umbrellas when the customers come in out of the rain. I call those sheaths _umbrella condoms_. @Darren_Garrison What? No iambic pentameter? I got the following from GetLiner (one of ChatGPT’s competitors. It’s a fortuitous name, though; isn’t it?) > In stalls where fears of germs reside with dread, > The ass gasket stands, a papered shield so fair. > With every fold, a soft and tidy spread, > It guards our health in public’s troubled air. > A simple choice, yet mighty in its grace, > ​It grants us peace where caution is the rule.​ > So here’s to thee, unassuming embrace, > The humble cover, hero of the loo. And another in Ubbid Dubbi: > UbIn pubublubic stuballs, yuboubu shubiubeld uboubur subight. > Wubith ubevubery cubuddlubed fubold, uboh hubow yuboubu shubinube, > ​Yuboubu hubush thube guberms, yuboubu mubakube ubus fubinube.​ > UbIn cubububiclube chubaubos, yuboubu brubing ubus pubeubacube, > UbA suboft ubembrubacube, uboubur wuborrubiubes cubeubasube. > Tubo yuboubu, dubeubar gubaskubet, wube rubaubisube uba chubeuber, > Fubor ubin uboubur tubimube ubof nubeubed, yuboubu rubeubappubeubar. And finally, when I go on vacation, the wife and I fly. Sometimes we take a Korean flag carrier, sometimes a Chinese flag carrier. The Chinese carriers never have ass gaskets in the airplane’s toilets; the Korean carriers always do. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/31 "2025-01-01T12:53:09Z")
[Moderating] The OP specifically stated right off the bat that they didn’t want this to be about individuals’ personal preferences as to whether they use these things. Accordingly, I have hidden the off-topic posts. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/32 "2025-01-01T13:41:26Z")
I’m going to decline paying the $2,300 for the full report but this site suggests that toilet seat covers is still a growth market and that covers using less paper but impregnated with disinfectant is the hot new thing > **[Disposable Toilet Seat Covers Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast...](https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com/market-report/global-disposable-toilet-seat-covers-market/108929/)** > > Global Disposable Toilet Seat Covers Market is expected to reach US$ 1030.40 Mn. by 2030, at a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period. [This one](https://www.businessresearchinsights.com/market-reports/disposable-paper-toilet-seat-cover-market-110814#:~:text=DISPOSABLE%20PAPER%20TOILET%20SEAT%20COVER%20MARKET%20REPORT%20OVERVIEW,2.3%25%20during%20the%20forecast%20period.) suggests a lower growth rate but that it’s still an expanding market (I think this one only covers paper seat covers but the above link includes the auto-feeding plastic and vinyl covers which helps explain the different growth rates as well) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/33 "2025-01-01T14:00:18Z")
Great cite. Thank you! I wonder how much the global market expansion is due to increasing use in countries fairly new to the idea of germ-worry and/or still-growing populations. I could certainly imagine ass gaskets just now becoming the norm in e.g. Viet Nam even as the market is slowly declining or even cratering in the USA or the EU. Another point is that the industry seems to be selling increasingly sophisticated covers with disinfectant, the automatic rolling plastic condoms, etc. Which may well mean a market expanding as measured in money while declining in piece count. ISTM the OP’s question was implicitly about piece count, or about number of locations where available which would probably also track with piece count. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/34 "2025-01-01T14:17:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > as the market is slowly declining or even cratering in the USA or the EU. I found a couple of similar report previews but all gave ~5% growth into 2030 and all suggested that North America would be the primary market even as they looked for new global markets. N. America growth may be slowing but it doesn’t seem to be collapsing. I’m sure you could get a lot more detail out of the 220 page PDF if you have a few thousand dollars to spare 😃 Edit: I see the OP already dismissed such market research previews but, when they all seem to roughly agree with one another, I think it’s the best you’ll get for evidence without access to Kimberly Clark’s internal reports. Better than anecdotal “We built a bathroom and didn’t buy a dispenser” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/35 "2025-01-01T14:33:28Z")
@kenobi_65 is a marketing pro and might have no-cost access to some such reporting. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/36 "2025-01-05T15:03:55Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I ask because I have a vague perception of their decline. A few decades ago, it seemed they were everywhere, always offered for use. Every restaurant, every airport, every library — you go into the toilet, and there’s the cover dispenser on the wall above the shitter. I don’t know if the availability has changed - but I do know they have never been anything close to universal in my life. I think I’ve mostly seen them in airports and highway rest stops. Maybe some malls- but not at any of my jobs or most restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/37 "2025-01-05T16:30:54Z")
> [@bump](#): > > My favorite was going into a bathroom at the zoo, and someone had written “Free Disposable Cowboy Hats!” on the dispenser. I used to annually go to Las Vegas the week after Thanksgiving, which was leading up to the National Finals Rodeo the next weekend. So there a lot of cowboys and country music shows just before I left. I saw several dispensers with “Free Cowboy Hats” written on them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/38 "2026-05-01T18:13:23Z")
I thought about this today. In Canada, I’ve never seen supplied gaskets in any public or private washroom. On my few travels to the States, they seemed to be much more common. Was Freud correct? In university, I had a roommate who did not enjoy using public toilets and would make efforts to minimize use. Apart from this, don’t think I’ve heard anyone discuss it. I never really think about it TBH. When you gotta go… But today, I came across a “nest someone had built in the wild”. It has been decades since I had seen one in Canada. Gross, but it made me laugh. Perhaps the dodos are still around. At least I didn’t see any eggs. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/39 "2026-05-01T18:39:57Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > In Canada, I’ve never seen supplied gaskets in any public or private washroom. I’ve seen them supplied by at least one of the (Canadian) banks I’ve worked for, but not recently. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384/40 "2026-05-01T18:52:51Z")
My wife had an ass gasket literally disappear recently. She was preparing to use a vault toilet and carefully placed said gasket on the seat. It was a blustery day, and a strong gust came up just before she sat. The wind must have blown across the top of the vent chimney just right to suck the ass gasket off the seat and down into the vault. She was surprised, to say the least. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ode-to-ass-gaskets-are-they-beginning-to-disappear/1012384.md?page=3)