# Do you close the lid on your toilet when it is not in use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418 "2011-11-19T04:07:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/21 "2011-11-19T07:00:13Z")
I always keep the lid up for one reason: Many years ago I had a medical emergency and was in the hospital for 2 weeks. Since I wasn’t in constant contact with family, and was unemployed at the time, nobody missed me. My cat was alone in my apartment, and survived by eating houseplants and drinking from the toilet. If the lid had been down he may not have survived. Even now, my partner is often out of town, and we’re not always in contact. I keep the lid up just in case. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/22 "2011-11-19T07:08:40Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Once I read Cecil’s article about toilet water being aerosolized on flushing… I would swear there was an episode of Mythbusters where they tested both a toothbrush kept exposed in a bathroom with one kept in its packaging in the next room and they BOTH had an equal amount of fecal matter on them. Here it be: [http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/db/human-body/fecal-matter-on-toothbrush.html](http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/db/human-body/fecal-matter-on-toothbrush.html) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/23 "2011-11-19T07:08:49Z")
Always close the lid at our house. It’s just always been done. It’s nicer when you are walking in to just wash your hands or something. There’s the whole aerosolizing thing. Bleah! Plus, if you always close the lid, you cannot forget to put the seat down. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/24 "2011-11-19T07:09:08Z")
Yes, especially after the time Maggie fell in. That was not fun – she hates being picked up under normal circumstances. Having to give her a bath probably qualified as donating blood. Stupid cat. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/25 "2011-11-19T07:29:59Z")
No, it’s the only way my cat will drink water. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/26 "2011-11-19T09:09:11Z")
Did you ever drop either the seat or the lid, and notice what a **LOUD BANG** it makes??? That’s why I keep the lid closed. Otherwise, if I leave it up, I’m afraid it will get knocked down in the middle of the night by a mild earthquake or poltergeists while I’m laying in bed half asleep, and scare the bejabbers out of me. So I keep it shut. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/27 "2011-11-19T09:18:36Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > We have cats, so of course. This! ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/28 "2011-11-19T09:26:03Z")
Not now, but normally I would. My currant toilet doses not have a lid. I was going to buy one but $25 has been hard to come by for a nonessential. Also I would need to get written permission to make any changes to my room. I prefer to have the lid down to keep things from falling into the toilet and for aesthetic reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Laalune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Laalune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laalune)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/29 "2011-11-19T10:26:52Z")
“Yes, because I have a cat” should be a poll option. 🙂 Mine likes to sleep on the lid. ---
**Author:** ![Bibliothecarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bibliothecarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliothecarius)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/30 "2011-11-19T12:02:16Z")
Yep, always. Don’t like getting sprayed with toilet water and/or having to wipe it up off the seat. And my shower is next to the toilet, separated by the shower wall on which I place my toiletries and I don’t really want to knock my shampoo into the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/31 "2011-11-19T12:11:00Z")
> [@Laalune](#): > > “Yes, because I have a cat” should be a poll option. 🙂 Mine likes to sleep on the lid. Yes, because I have four cats. This is also the reason why we have the toilet paper unrolling from the back of the roll, instead of the front. The cats enjoy unrolling the paper if it unrolls from the front, and they haven’t figured out how to unroll it from the back. Even if I didn’t have any animals, I’d keep the lid down. There’s the plume, and then there’s the whole knocking things off the vanity problem. And I think that having the lid down just looks nicer. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/32 "2011-11-19T12:37:13Z")
Yes, my sweetums and I always put the lid down because we are attractive and intelligent, and we have a cat, Hoot the Bad Kitty, who likes to marinate his toys in the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/33 "2011-11-19T12:44:18Z")
I can’t even get my husband to put the seat down, much less the lid. I tried for a long time, but now I just don’t care anymore. Plus, both our cats seem to prefer the toilet for water instead of the bowl we provide. So it is almost always up around here. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/34 "2011-11-19T13:12:27Z")
I live alone. Who cares? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/35 "2011-11-19T13:32:22Z")
Yes. I have a little half-bath in the short hall leading from the front door, and I not only keep the lid on the toilet down, but the door to the half-bath shut. 1) who wants to see the toilet to the side of the hall when you come in the door? and 2) I feel, vaguely, it has something to do with feng shui. Flush the toilet and it’s swirling down all your luck, or whatever, that comes in through the front. If I had a dog, I’d leave the seat up so he could get a drink, though. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/36 "2011-11-19T14:07:25Z")
Yes. Cats. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/37 "2011-11-19T14:18:18Z")
I have cats and if they use the toilet they better shut the lid when they are done! I think a closed lid looks much neater, not to mention it contains the vapors and the flush spray. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/38 "2011-11-19T14:26:46Z")
Yes. All my life I’ve had pets ranging from cats and dogs, who regard the commode as a large water dish, to birds who can dive bomb into a toilet and drown if you’re not paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/39 "2011-11-19T14:29:05Z")
Yep, also cats. Now I can’t help but close the lid after I use public toilets. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/40 "2011-11-19T15:04:58Z")
I keep it up. I’m a lady-type and I don’t want to accidentally sit on a closed seat at 3 AM. My now-ex-roommate, a dude, always put it down because he was deathly afraid of spray. Only problem was that he would take these huge dumps, shut the lid and run away. Then I would go in the bathroom and lift the lid only to find the remnants of his huge dump that severely needed a second flush. He never knew he needed a second flush because he closed the lid and ran away. It made me want to puke every time and it’s reason #2 why he’s my now-ex-roommate. Yuck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418.md?page=3)