# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/121 "2011-11-23T22:37:35Z")
Yes. I started doing it when cohabitant declared that I always left the seat up. Since she never puts the lid down, this alerts her to the fact that 99.9% of the time I not only put the seat down, but the lid as well. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/122 "2011-11-23T23:12:03Z")
> [@Madame\_Joy](#): > > Hey, what’s with this? Are you saying that you think it’s _normal_ to never clean one’s toilet, that we all have a crusty layer of fecal matter on the exterior surfaces of ours? Excuse me, sir or madam, but I clean all visible surfaces of my toilets at least weekly (more frequently for the seats and rims). Yeah, I’ll cop to rudeness. But I clean my bowl and the exterior surfaces. The issue, for me, so to speak, is that the undersides (“hidden” sides, if you like) are not typically cleaned as meticulously as the visible surfaces. Besides, if closing the lid mitigates toilet plume, where does the fecal cloud land? Ding ding! Right on the underside of the lid. Not touching it, me. YMMV, but YM is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/123 "2011-11-24T03:50:10Z")
At home the toilet and shower are separated from the sinks and cabinets by a door. So I don’t usually bother putting it down. At the dorm, where it’s all in one room? I put down the lid. And I’ve told my roommates about the spray-of-gross, so if they remember they hopefully put it down too. (It’s their toothbrushes, I suppose. I keep mine in the cabinet). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/124 "2011-11-24T04:53:38Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > Yeah, I’ll cop to rudeness. But I clean my bowl and the exterior surfaces. The issue, for me, so to speak, is that the undersides (“hidden” sides, if you like) are not typically cleaned as meticulously as the visible surfaces. > > Besides, if closing the lid mitigates toilet plume, where does the fecal cloud land? Ding ding! Right on the underside of the lid. Not touching it, me. YMMV, but YM is wrong. What was up with the fire breather line, then? ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/125 "2011-11-24T20:29:45Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > What was up with the fire breather line, then? Dunno. Those rarely-adequate lids need some powerful juju. And the good people who make it all happen. The magic. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/126 "2011-11-24T21:29:29Z")
I voted Barbarian, though there are times when the lid goes down, like if someone’s in the shower and flushing is delayed. No cats or dogs. The birds don’t go anywhere near the bathroom and the fish can’t get there. Me and the kid tend to stagger to the loo while trying to stay asleep at night, dealing with the lid would add an obstacle we don’t need. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/127 "2011-11-25T15:35:28Z")
I chose “Other”. Last weekend I replaced all the seats/lids in the house with the self-lowering\* kind. For some reason, closed lids makes the Missus happier. \*Upon finishing your business, giving it a slight nudge will cause the lid and/or seat to slowly and quietly lower to the closed position. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/128 "2011-11-25T15:47:43Z")
I voted other. You forgot pets. Have to keep the lid down or they use it instead of the water dish in the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/129 "2011-11-25T16:42:50Z")
I put the lid down after I use it. My boyfriend leaves the seat AND lid up, which normally I don’t care about–I’ll just close everything after I use it–but the hinges have become sticky, for some reason, so whenever I put the seat down now, the lid comes down with it and smacks me on the thumb. So now I close everything whenever I see it up, whether I have to use the toilet or not. ---
**Author:** ![geneb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@geneb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geneb)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418/130 "2011-11-25T18:52:31Z")
I leave the toilet as it is when I finish using it. Rarely this has resulted in the lid being down but it is as purely accidental as the seat being down or up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-the-lid-on-your-toilet-when-it-is-not-in-use/603418.md?page=6)