# Automatic Toilet Flushing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501 "2014-05-02T14:13:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/21 "2014-05-05T13:16:37Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > It has never occurred to me to _stand up_ before wiping. Is this a thing with the youngsters these days? It would be physically impossible for me not to stand up before wiping, and I suspect that is the case for most dudes. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/22 "2014-05-05T13:33:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > … > > Plus, executives are allowed to get sick, I guess.🙂 Executives don’t have germs. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/23 "2014-05-05T13:50:26Z")
More likely to be in public places (like theatres or airports) because these are typically one-time users. If someone typically couldn’t be bothered to flush in an office, odds are the search for the culprit would narrow down fairly quickly. (I kind of wonder what sort of mentality would bother to not flush?) In an office it makes sense because yes, I suspect the costs from a continuous-running hard flush can add up very quickly? An airport or such probably has a full-time repairman on staff. Don’t know about some office towers. Huh? I would imagine (based on a sample of 1) that ALL guys stand and turn to wipe. (Can’t wipe sitting there’s something in the way) This results in one flush when you stand up and a second when you are done and leave to get rid of the paper (and often THAT has to be manual, with button on the side). So much for low volume flush. Some are sensitive enough that each time I throw a paper in, it flushes again… A restaurant I was involved with had these automatic faucets - wave your hand under it and it runs. They ran on a D-Cell battery that had to be changed every 2 or 3 months. yeah, it’s funny how Mahogany Row affects people. Ours was painted cider block with industrial fixtures, their’s had marble stalls and a marble-top vanity. I guess 20 times the peon’s salary wasn’t enough for them. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/24 "2014-05-05T13:51:24Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > It would be physically impossible for me not to stand up before wiping, and I suspect that is the case for most dudes. I don’t see how that would be the case. You can’t spread your butt cheeks while sitting down? You can’t reach behind yourself? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/25 "2014-05-05T13:56:03Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I don’t see how that would be the case. You can’t spread your butt cheeks while sitting down? You can’t reach behind yourself? You don’t know that guys have some external anatomy down there that gets in the way? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/26 "2014-05-05T14:35:50Z")
Oddly enough, I have seen men I’ve been intimate with successfully wipe their ass while still sitting. That is why I am puzzled as to why it is “impossible” rather than a preference. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/27 "2014-05-05T14:37:32Z")
Add “ass wiping” to the list of topics I don’t really care to discuss. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/28 "2014-05-05T14:39:31Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Oddly enough, I have seen men I’ve been intimate with successfully wipe their ass while still sitting. That is why I am puzzled as to why it is “impossible” rather than a preference. I don’t think it’s impossible, just inconvenient. Possibly those guys behavior changed when they weren’t being watched. It also depends on circumstances, sometimes things just need to be tidied up, sometimes you have to excavate. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/29 "2014-05-05T14:45:53Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > \*An acquaintance of mine, a plumbing contractor, had a fancy one of these installed in his house, just to have the newest & greatest plumbing installation. After his wife reached out from the shower to get her shampoo and triggered a flush (with corrosponding effects on the shower water temperature), he was told in no uncertain terms to get that damn thing removed post-haste! if a plumber had the newest and greatest plumbing installation wouldn’t it include a pressure balance valve or thermostatic mixing valve in the shower? maybe his story is all wet. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/30 "2014-05-05T14:48:31Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > if a plumber had the newest and greatest plumbing installation wouldn’t it include a pressure balance valve or thermostatic mixing valve in the shower? > > maybe his story is all wet. If he was a contractor he probably had a leftover toilet valve and just installed that. Ever seen a contractor’s house? No two fixtures, doors, windows, or anything else matching. Ok, they’re not all like that, but sometimes they are. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/31 "2014-05-05T14:57:03Z")
Let me go on the record now as saying that I could never, EVER, imagine having to stand to wipe my ass. In fact it would seem incredibly counterproductive to do so. My ass cheeks seem to, you know, close together when I stand. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/32 "2014-05-05T14:58:31Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Let me go on the record now as saying that I could never, EVER, imagine having to stand to wipe my ass. In fact it would seem incredibly counterproductive to do so. My ass cheeks seem to, you know, close together when I stand. 😕 Don’t stand up straight, bend over. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/33 "2014-05-05T14:59:22Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Oddly enough, I have seen men I’ve been intimate with successfully wipe their ass while still sitting. That is why I am puzzled as to why it is “impossible” rather than a preference. Maybe we just define _sitting_ differently. 🙂 The combination of the size of my hands and the presence of my dangly bits mean that I can’t go through from the front to wipe. And if my butt breaks contact with the seat, I no longer consider myself to be “sitting.” ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/34 "2014-05-05T15:29:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Oddly enough, I have seen men I’ve been intimate with successfully wipe their ass while still sitting. That is why I am puzzled as to why it is “impossible” rather than a preference. Maybe I have a hang-up about bathrooms and privacy, but I was surprised to find out (in conversation) after 10 years of marriage that my wife did NOT stand to wipe after #2. (we both do turn the fan on, but fortunately nothing hits it) I don’t think there’s enough room to put my hand in through the seat if I were sitting. plus there’s always one more drip, I don’t need that on my wrist. Ah, what a pleasant conversation topic. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/35 "2014-05-05T18:22:28Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > if a plumber had the newest and greatest plumbing installation wouldn’t it include a pressure balance valve or thermostatic mixing valve in the shower? Such a valve isn’t something that you can show off to potential customers, which is something that he seemed to use the plumbing in his house for. His place was typical of what TriPolar said, mismatched fixtures all over the hiuse. (Ever seen a bathroom with a pink tub, powder blue toilet, and mint green sink? His wife resignedly added towels, curtains, & rug in red, yellow, & purple and called it her ‘rainbow’ bathroom.) He also had the only urinal I’ve ever seen installed in a private home. He tried to sell it to customers on the basis of water savings. I did a quick calculation and told him I’d be an old man using a bedpan in the nursing home long before the reduced water bill would pay for that fixture. (Urinals are not consumer grade items, so are fairly expensive.) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/36 "2014-05-05T18:31:23Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Such a valve isn’t something that you can show off to potential customers, which is something that he seemed to use the plumbing in his house for. When I was a little kid, I saw my first bidet (I didn’t have a clue, so I held it till we got home). The homeowner owned a big plumbing company. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/37 "2014-05-05T18:38:49Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Maybe we just define _sitting_ differently. 🙂 Possibly… > [@](#): > > The combination of the size of my hands and the presence of my dangly bits mean that I can’t go through from the front to wipe. And if my butt breaks contact with the seat, I no longer consider myself to be “sitting.” Out of deference to younger and more sensitive readers I will endeavor to use witty euphemisms in the following reply: I am aware of the dangly bits possessed by men, it’s one of the things that make your half of the species interesting to me. That’s why I pointed out that it is usually possible for a human being possessing upper limbs to reach around _behind_ said posterior and deal with the problem from there. As a matter of fact, women are taught _not_ to approach the task from the front for fear of accidentally dragging Bad Things across the playground and possibly infecting the tunnel of love. Women are taught the reach-around-behind technique and we tend to assume it’s the default, at least until we start living with a man who doesn’t feel it necessary to shut the door when engaging in bodily functions we all do but some of us would rather not discuss. Now, being female and middle-aged there is no way to describe my buttocks as either small or dainty but I’ve yet to encounter a toilet seat so small that my ass forms an actual seal all the way around the edge. I always seem to have sufficient gap to maneuver any tools required to get the job done. Admittedly, though, I am not a large person in absolute terms so perhaps this is a problem for gentlemen approaching 7 foot tall or something. As my spouse is about my size he apparently does not have an economy sized backside either but maybe a hind region proportional to a giant would be a problem, I just don’t know. Yes, I can see where it might be advantageous to lean forward a bit to ensure adequate clearance when clearing debris, but seriously, how far over are you going? Yes, if you flop your torso forward and down to the point you can grasp your own ankles and inspect the bottom of the forward edge of the toilet seat you will almost certainly trigger the auto-flush mechanism. But if you’re grasping your ankles you clearly are not wiping your ass at the same time so that just doesn’t make sense. If small little me can hitch myself forward a bit for slightly greater clearance (just to be sure because, ugh, public toilets, ew, don’t touch _nuthin’!)_ without setting off the mechanism I would imagine a taller man with broader shoulders and torso would likewise be able to do that without confusing the mechanism. But hey, this is very much a Your Mileage May Vary situation. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/38 "2014-05-05T18:56:48Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Huh? I would imagine (based on a sample of 1) that ALL guys stand and turn to wipe. Turn? Usually a slight levitation (or lift one leg off slightly) is sufficient. A crouch if you need more axis, but never standing so that your spine is ~perpendicular to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/39 "2014-05-05T19:31:11Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > But hey, this is very much a Your Mileage May Vary situation. On this, we are in 100% agreement. 🙂 My general point is, and I can only speak for myself here, is that what you are describing sounds very much like squeezing my hand in between my still-mostly-sitting-down backside and the toilet seat, which is not how I, for one, go about it. Since I have to make room for my hand anyway, I just go ahead and stand up. Or at least mostly up. In the event of what I know from the sound and the sensation to have been an exceptionally messy, um, transaction, I will raise up just enough to access what needs cleaning. But I’m definitely in no way still what I would call sitting. Squatting, at most. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/40 "2014-05-05T19:36:38Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Turn? > > Usually a slight levitation (or lift one leg off slightly) is sufficient. A crouch if you need more axis, but never standing so that your spine is ~perpendicular to the ground. It’s a lot simpler to put the paper in the toilet when standing if it’s beside you… The last thing I want to do is miss slightly with the toss and leave a skid mark on the seat. besides often this means the roll is in front of you and you can use both hands - especially those stupid flimsy papers in public restrooms, where just pulling with one hand tears off half a sheet rather than turning the roll. You may need to roll the roll with the other hand. In home bathrooms, you have the opposite problem - trying to jerk of a length of paper may instead make the whole roll spin off a few more feet. Plus, some of use don’t always have firm, clean stools where wiping required is minimal. My mileage may vary a lot from day to day. Definitely an interesting conversation topic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501.md?page=3)