I admit it. I’m a bit of a germaphobe. But cheeze! Guys are pigs!!! The next guy I see peeing on a toilet seat is going to get a cupfull of piss right in his car seat with a note that says, “you pee on my seat, I pee on yours.”
But this isn’t the pit. It’s a serious question about those toilet seat covers. I know they are pretty thin and have holes and toilet seats are supposed to be clean anyway. But come on! No way do I want to sit in anyone’s refuse, no matter how “sanitary” it’s supposed to be. If the tissue covers are too thin, I’ll just just put on 2 or 3 or 4 of them.
But even this won’t do any good because THE FREAKING THINGS ARE ALWAYS THE WRONG SHAPE!!! It’s like they make them for home toilets!!! But who in a house uses toilet seat covers? Yes, I see residential toilets in small offices like banks and some small restaurants like Subway, but they never have the toilet seat covers.
The only places that provide the covers have the commercial toilets with the giant toilet seat, and the covers never fit right. They are always too round and too small. I have to put TP on the seat anyway so I just don’t bother with the toilet seat covers anymore.
Do they actually make toilet seat covers to fit normal public toilets or are they just lazy? Do they THINK these things fit? Does the designer of these things actually ever use them? What were they thinking? I have NEVER seen a seat cover made to fit a commercial toilet. Have any of you? If they do make seat covers for commercial toilets, are the people that buy the seat covers just too cheap to buy seat covers that fit? Are they that much more expensive?
What’s the straight dope on commercial toilet seat covers?
What’s the point of putting toilet paper on the toilet seat? Toilet paper will just absorb the piss on the seat and you’re going to end up sitting in it anyway. I wouldn’t expect toilet paper to work as any kind of germ barrier, or much of anything else.
Aren’t the toilet seat liners something like waxed paper or thin plastic that prevents them from absorbing whatever’s on the toilet seat?
I’ve managed to live for 35 years and only sat on one public toilet seat, and I did use one of those liners that time, but this was a while back and I don’t remember exactly how it worked…and before anyone asks, I’m talking about totally public, specifically a bathroom at a truck stop, not semi-public toilets at work or school.
I don’t understand what you are talking about regarding the size thing. Commercial toilets and residential toilets are NOT different sizes. The plumbing companies only make them in the basic round and elongated oval sizes, and both commercial & residential ones use those sizes. No difference!
There are items like urinals and troughs which are hardly ever used in residential settings, and they do make ‘commercial grade’ fixtures, but those are designed for heavy duty use and easier cleaning – the basic size of the seat is not different.
Okay, let’s be snarky here and argue about semantics.
I am an Architect and I also do side work for a plumber friend of mine. I can tell you that there are commercial toilets and the seats do come in more than round and oval. My home toilet is elongated and it is smaller than the commercial ones. My Dad’s seat in his retirement community apartment is a completely different size. They also make toilet seats for bariatric patients.
But even if what I say is not true the question remains. There are still more than one size/shape of toilet seat. The only one I have ever seen is the one made for round toilet seats and I am telling you that it does not fit the toilet seats I find at the mall, Fry’s, Target, or the many public toilets I find around town.
So if you can’t understand the question, let me rephrase it. Do they make toilet seat covers for oval shaped seats?
And I’m not a complete moron. I freaking wipe off the piss before I lay down clean TP. Doy.
I don’t use these but it occurs to me the opening needs to be large enough to accommodate your two main orifices, and the whole thing needs to be wide enough to overlay the seat. I don’t quite understand how the length of it correlating with elongated open or closed seats figures in. Is it the case that you urinate on the cover when the seat is elongated? If so, is it just a matter of practicing how to place it? Or is it that the coverage does not extend to the very front of the elongated seat and so you find yourself contacting skin to seat when the elongated seat is too long?
If the latter is the case, I offer no solution except to assure you that back of the thigh skin to seat contact is pretty benign. The idea is to keep fresh germs away from mucosal areas more than plain old skin. If, like my Dad, the OCD in you is too great to accept that, I suggest folding an extra one across the front part of the seat to provide a complete barrier. However it’s pretty complicated to show up in public and never get public germs on your skin. Since we dress ourselves, open the doors and touch a number of other things prior to washing (for those that do wash) pretty much all surfaces are crawling with assorted germs, including and most especially things like the toilet paper mechanism and the door locks. Said germs are transferred from touched surfaces to your clothes and skin despite your best efforts. You are likely filthier than you hope, and probably not much less filthy (germ type-wise) than the local bum who peed on your public toilet). At the same time, for the most part it’s unusual for said germs to find their way past normal defenses if you aren’t ingesting/inhaling or mucosally contacting them.
As a last resort, there are a number of devices which allow women to urinate standing up if they don’t like simply straddling the toilet. They are essentially variations on a chute which fits over the vulvae and channels urine out into a stream. It would not surprise me if disposable ones exist but I have not had occasion to look into them. Try camping suppliers.
As you may be aware, women’s need to urinate while sitting down is part of the Curse, so blame Eve. It would certainly bring my golf game to a halt to have to find a shelter in which to pee, so I am thankful every day the Original Sin was not Adam’s.
Yes, it is, at least in someone who doesn’t have a urinary tract infection or urethritis or vaginitis. It is, however, an excellent culture medium, and many germs that may be already present on the toilet seat will multiply nicely in urine.
It’s sterile because it’s formed inside the urinary system, which is sterile. If some bacteria do get into it by ascending from the end of the urethra, one hell of an infection can result (pyelonephritis).
The people that responded to this question previously must be totally out of the loop.
This was a great question.
I’ve searched and searched for commercial disposable toilet seat covers to provide for for my business facility for years. I even used to sell these supplies to businesses. I can’t find any supplier for these that are sized correctly. They all are always too small for the default commercial size toilet seats that by code are to be elongated and have an opening at the front.
There are some consumer supplies that are available that are larger, but not B2B solution I’ve found that a business could provide in a dispenser normally available on the market for economical dispensing.
Unlike those that don’t use public toilets, I do use them and have for most of my 63 years. As a youngster, my mother never traveled without a can of Lysol and I would have to take it with me to use a public toilet. I remember using it only once or twice. Other times I would wipe the seat off with TP, an ass gasket or a paper towel, sit on the seat bare assed and do my business. I still do this today and I have never had any diseases of any kind as a result. The skin on your butt is some of the thickest and toughest body armor we own, the chance of catching something is pretty slim. I have a cousin that refused to use public toilets and she suffered through a number of urinary tract infections and still has bladder issues to this day. All I know is, there is no way I will risk crapping myself just to avoid a public toilet. Any port in a storm!!!
May I suggest you carry the packets of cleaning wipes, wipe down the seat [after drying the pee off it if needed] then air dry briefly, then sit and use.
They certainly used to make them, and they even had dispensers for them in those public restrooms. But I concede that it’s been several decades since I’ve seen this; the managers of such restrooms probably decided it wasn’t worth the expense.
No idea if they might still be made, but if they are, they are probably even more expensive than previously, because the market is so small.
I personally think you should seek counseling for your phobia. It will save you in the long run. Unless your ass has lesions and open sores on it, it is highly unlikely you will ever catch anything from a public toilet.
Ok, first off this zombie pinged my germaphobia. (:))
I carry a small bottle of spray sanitizer for just these occasions. I rarely have these occasions because I havn’t past the doorway into a public restroom in, Oh, I don’t know 18 years or so. The lil’wrekker had to pee in a Walmart. I was horrified.
But, wadda ya gonna do?. Baby needs to pee so you handle it.
Moms. Out there on the front lines. I tell you what.
ETA: with COVID news and all, I like to say: Told you so!