# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/21 "2010-06-17T16:40:39Z")
Ridiculous. If you want to dissipate the smell, just carry a book of matches with you. Light, blow out, toss into the pot, flush - no evidence whatsoever. In fact we keep a matchbook at each lavvy for this purpose at home. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/22 "2010-06-17T17:00:29Z")
I was not introduced to this concept until well into my 20s. I still hold the same opinion of it now as I did that: an idiotic waste of water. In a toilet with low flow, I may do a flush mid-way to clear the way during a particularly prodigious poop, but that’s not the same as a “courtesy flush.” A courtesy flush, as the name states, is done as a courtesy to other bathroom users. Its purpose is purportedly to help eliminate some of the odor associated with said plop. I am very skeptical of its efficacy. I have never noticed any difference. A mid-poop flush to avoid backing up the toilet, on the other hand, is perfectly reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/23 "2010-06-17T21:38:46Z")
Waste of water. I might flush before wiping though, if I feel the toilet will clog from the added load of the poop and paper. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/24 "2010-06-17T21:43:16Z")
My low flow toilets from the mid-1990’s in my house practically _require_ me to courtesy flush for myself if I have a particularly dirty bum after a squishy poo, unless I want to be plunging or overflowing the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/25 "2010-06-19T04:06:39Z")
If you’re worried about the smell of air, use an air freshener. ---
**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 19, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/26 "2010-06-19T12:21:00Z")
“Mmmmmm, it smells like somebody took a dump in a field of lavender!” ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/27 "2010-06-19T16:07:18Z")
I don’t get people that like the stink and like to leave it for others. In Walmart they put in electronic eye toilets that flush automatically and there is one type that over rides them on purpose? I don’t get it? Why not flush? Is this a mental disorder of the pooper ego? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/28 "2010-06-19T16:20:34Z")
I’ve never heard of it and it’s a weird idea. I’ve also never heard of anyone pooing so much that they could clog the toilet! Blimey - that must be horrible! ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/29 "2010-06-19T22:12:07Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > I’ve never heard of it and it’s a weird idea. > > I’ve also never heard of anyone pooing so much that they could clog the toilet! Blimey - that must be horrible! By the use of “blimey”, I assume you are a Brit (ok, I admit I cheated and looked at your profile). Most posters are from America. American toilets clog very easily. I would say that we suffer from this about once a month, which is approximately fifty times more frequent than when I lived in England. We may be shit at football, but English crappers are best for shit-disposal. Can we have a World Cup for that? It might be the only way we can get one. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/30 "2010-06-19T22:17:11Z")
I do it, to cover the sounds of the pre-poo fart. I embarrass easily, what can I say? ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/31 "2010-06-19T23:58:13Z")
Honest, never heard of this little courtesy before. I’ll be using it in the future! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/32 "2010-06-20T00:12:54Z")
I stayed with a former classmate and his wife for a few days. He, ever the perfect host, explained to me how I should use the toilet - one flush halfway thru, one when done, and one to handle the “paperwork.” :rolleyes: I don’t know what he and his lovely wife eliminated, but I found that my usual single flush worked just fine. No, I don’t waste water. Altho there are several commodes at work that have low flow or an oddly-shaped bowl - it may take 3 flushes just to clear the paper! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/33 "2010-06-20T00:18:06Z")
Nope. Going to the toilet is often a smelly and noisy phenomenon - no excuses needed. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/34 "2010-06-20T01:29:55Z")
I always thought it was weird that some people flushed while sitting on the toilet, but to find that most of them want me to as well is even weirder. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/35 "2010-06-20T01:54:42Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > 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! Oh thank goodness, I’m not the only one. That tiny, thin, waxy, useless piece of paper seat cover is pointless and those hoverers make a mess for everyone. Unless there’s some solid matter caked on the seat, just siddown already. (Undelicate flower. At last I have a name for myself!) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/36 "2010-06-20T14:29:43Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > By the use of “blimey”, I assume you are a Brit (ok, I admit I cheated and looked at your profile). Most posters are from America. American toilets clog very easily. I would say that we suffer from this about once a month, which is approximately fifty times more frequent than when I lived in England. > > We may be shit at football, but English crappers are best for shit-disposal. Can we have a World Cup for that? It might be the only way we can get one. We are number one at disposing of number twos. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/37 "2010-06-21T12:36:18Z")
Yeesh. What a waste (hah!) of water and effort! Now, if I’m having an extended session due to “distress”, I might flush midway through the visit simply because I’m worried the system might get overwhelmed… ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/38 "2010-06-21T14:48:18Z")
No. If I have to sit in the stench, so do you. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/39 "2010-06-21T15:10:20Z")
I’ve never felt the need to courtesy flush. After the article about the “toilet mist” the occurs during the flush, I even feel less need to atomize my ass. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146/40 "2010-06-24T11:26:02Z")
My goodness! I joined this site just in time (yesterday)! I can’t believe we’re on page 2 and no one has mentioned the **Sound Princess**. Toilets in Japan have their very own [Wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilets_in_Japan). Scroll about halfway down for info on man’s greatest invention, the Sound Princess, a button you push to produced canned flushing noise. Volume is adjustable. Because EVERYONE HERE courtesy flushes. yup. Even while doing numero uno. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-courtesy-flush/543146.md?page=3)