# Do You Courtesy Flush? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146 "2010-06-14T15:37:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/1 "2010-06-14T15:37:15Z")
For those unfamiliar with the term, the courtesy flush is the act of intentionally flushing the toilet while one is still in the process of dropping off the kids at the pool (evacuating his or bowels). Typically done in a public restroom, the idea is that the flush sucks down much of the odor and cause for the odor, making the restroom less unpleasant for fellow restroom visitors. While I truly appreciate those of you that courtesy flush, I must admit that you’re all better men than I am. My selfishness results from my particular pet peeve of not wanting cold, dirty water drops sprayed onto my bum. Commercial toilets are notorious for powerful flushes that send water everywhere. I know others who will temporarily stand up during the courtesy flush. Unfortunately, this often leaves water drops on the seat, onto which they must once again sit. Also not my cup of tea. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/2 "2010-06-14T15:38:14Z")
I do it 2 or 3 times unintentionally if it is the automatic flushing toilet ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/3 "2010-06-14T15:42:07Z")
Huh, I always thought the purpose was to mask the _sounds_, not the odor. Submerged feces wouldn’t stink, I think, and I question the efficacy of a flush sucking down pungent odors in the air. I’ve never done it, but I don’t like using the stall when there are others in the room anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/4 "2010-06-14T18:04:16Z")
Never. Unnecessary waste of water. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/5 "2010-06-14T18:08:37Z")
Waste of water and totally ridiculous. If you believe the fragile psyche of your coworkers can’t abide the thought of another person pooping, you have more problems than the courtesy flush. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/6 "2010-06-14T18:21:13Z")
Yep, waste of water. It’s not like everybody doesn’t poo. Of course, I am such an undelicate flower that I will sit on a public toilet seat unless it is _truly_ foul. I think I’ve hoverpeed only a handful of times in my life. And I will poo in a public bathroom as well; if I gotta go, I go! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/7 "2010-06-14T18:27:30Z")
Good lord, no. I can’t think of any reason to think anyone’s not going to expect the smell of poo in a restroom. Ours has an exhaust fan anyway, and I do run that if I stink up the place. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/8 "2010-06-14T18:31:24Z")
Every once in a while at work I encounter someone who flushes about once every twenty seconds. What is going on there? btw, I generally don’t “courtesy flush” unless I’ve got a serious mountain down there. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/9 "2010-06-14T18:36:49Z")
I courtesy flush but more because I am embarrassed/ashamed of what I am doing. Yes, I know everyone poops. Yes, some of them even poop in public/at work. Yes, I know my friends & coworkers will never mention it. This is my hangup and I’m OK with it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/10 "2010-06-14T18:43:25Z")
Never heard of it before. So, no, I’ve never done it, although of course I’ve experienced those impatient automatic flushers that don’t wait for me to finish. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/11 "2010-06-14T18:56:19Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > btw, I generally don’t “courtesy flush” unless I’ve got a serious mountain down there. Yeah, this - I don’t want to be the one to plug our crappy (pun intended) plumbing or streak up the bowl or something. Alternately, I will also be occasionally “courtesy flushing” if someone is using a bathroom stall like it’s a telephone booth. Listen lady, I really don’t want to hear your/your mom’s health problems being shouted over a crappy cell phone connection and echoing off the tile walls in here. I just wanted a little peace and quiet to do my business. Because I can’t have that, your conversation is going to have a couple flush sounds coming through to the person you’re talking with just so they clearly know that you’re on the crapper while talking. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/12 "2010-06-14T20:01:57Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Huh, I always thought the purpose was to mask the _sounds_, not the odor. Submerged feces wouldn’t stink, I think, and I question the efficacy of a flush sucking down pungent odors in the air. > > I’ve never done it, but I don’t like using the stall when there are others in the room anyway. Sometimes it’s not all submerged. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/13 "2010-06-14T20:04:32Z")
No, and I would think less of people who do. What a waste of water. ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/14 "2010-06-14T20:23:34Z")
I had never heard of it before this thread. It seems like a huge waste of water for the sole purpose of trying to make a bathroom not smell like a bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/15 "2010-06-14T20:23:50Z")
Only if the toilet is one of the early low-flow kind that clog way too easily. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/16 "2010-06-15T11:41:33Z")
I’m with **Brother Cadfael**. Our house has really bad water pressure coupled with low flow toilets. If you take a big 'ol dump in our house, you’re probably gonna clog the toilet. So, please, courtesy flush so I don’t have to come in with the plunger. Either way, that toilet is getting flushed at least twice, so just do it. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/17 "2010-06-17T09:10:49Z")
Never heard of “courtesy flushing” before. What a waste of water. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/18 "2010-06-17T09:25:24Z")
I do it so that I don’t have to smell my own shit. I don’t really give a fuck about others. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/19 "2010-06-17T09:29:42Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > I’m with **Brother Cadfael**. Our house has really bad water pressure coupled with low flow toilets. \*\*If you take a big 'ol dump in our house, you’re probably gonna clog the toilet. \*\* So, please, courtesy flush so I don’t have to come in with the plunger. Either way, that toilet is getting flushed at least twice, so just do it. This was the case in our former home. It was built in 1916 and it had the original plumbing. Our older son, as a teen, developed a reputation as the guy who clogged toilets.At the time, I did not even know the term ‘courtesy flush,’ but that was the strategy we developed. It was either that or make him go in the bushes outside. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/20 "2010-06-17T16:13:36Z")
Well, you expect a bathroom to smell like shit, but wouldn’t it be nice if it didn’t? Or at least less like shit? I usually drop the main deuce, flush, then drop a few more and I’m done. Flushing the big part away takes care of not stinking up the entire bathroom. Any residual smells are to be expected. Maybe I just stink more than normal? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146.md?page=2)