# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**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, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/41 "2014-05-05T19:40:18Z")
This ass wiping while standing thing is just fucking nuts to me. I have enough room between my ass and the toilet edge to drive a toy Tonka fire truck through, if I wanted. ETA: Like [this](http://www.frugalcouponliving.com/2012/09/04/tonka-mighty-fire-engine-35-shipped-from-65/) one, for example. ---
**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, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/42 "2014-05-05T19:43:20Z")
I stopped doing that when I was 4. Apparently a Tonka could plug the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/43 "2014-05-05T19:43:50Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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. Indeed it is; it’s highly dependent on the individual toilet and auto-flush valve involved. Some years ago auto-flush units were installed on all the toilets at my place of employment. The ones on the sit-down toilets in the men’s room were extremely annoying, as they would flush at the slightest provocation, spraying your nether regions as though you had dangled them above Niagara Falls. In short order, it became routine to enter a stall and see that a previous user had forcibly twisted the flush unit so that the sensor was staring at the wall instead of your back, effectively making it a manually-operated push-button flush mechanism. The facilities management people finally got the message, and the auto-flush units had their sensitivities tweaked so that they reliably waited to flush until you dismounted. ---
**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, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/44 "2014-05-05T19:44:26Z")
I’m in a squat I guess. Supported only by feet, torso forward enough for balance. Ass clear of the seat. ---
**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, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/45 "2014-05-05T19:47:42Z")
also ass wiping is done easier on a high rise toilet seat. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/46 "2014-05-05T20:26:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > This ass wiping while standing thing is just fucking nuts to me. You know, there is a whole world of people out there doing things different than you. Imagine! The whole Arab world “left hand and a bowl of water” thing is even more “fucking nuts”. And, bidets just seem like the “solution” is worse than the problem. Wasteful of water, with the risk for the clumsy or uninitiated of spraying aerosoled poop everywhere. And the less we talk of the three shells, the better! Maybe it’s the whole “we don’t talk of that” when it comes to bathroom behavior? What adult would ever ask another, effectively, “how should I wipe my butt?” So we all get by, but every day we risk exposure to the world that We Don’t Wipe Correctly! Not even blatant errors like little white flecks (oh those ignorant bears!), but just not even being in the correct approved position! O, the whole world is passing judgement! How will I ever face anyone again? (Good thing they don’t know about my prehensile rectum!) > [@](#): > > I have enough room between my ass and the toilet edge to drive a toy Tonka fire truck through, if I wanted. Well, good for you! You must be so proud! I never knew there was a Tonka truck standard measurement for ass-to-seat clearance. Learn something every day. ---
**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, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/47 "2014-05-05T20:52:27Z")
dogs were the earliest domesticated animal for a reason. ---
**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, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/48 "2014-05-05T21:06:07Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > dogs were the earliest domesticated animal for a reason. Are you sure they were? I thought it was useful (milk/meat) herd animals such as goats & sheep. ---
**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, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/49 "2014-05-05T22:12:14Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > This ass wiping while standing thing is just fucking nuts to me. I have enough room between my ass and the toilet edge to drive a toy Tonka fire truck through, if I wanted. > > ETA: Like [this](http://www.frugalcouponliving.com/2012/09/04/tonka-mighty-fire-engine-35-shipped-from-65/) one, for example. Ladder company 33, 10-100, repeat 10-100. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501/50 "2014-05-06T03:55:30Z")
Have you ever seen an auto toilet with NO manual flush? Now that’s stupid. The auto flush toilets I’ve seen have a delay between flushes, so they don’t flush a few times in a row. I’ve heard the auto faucets actually save water. They seem to be taking over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-toilet-flushing/687501.md?page=2)