# Do you flush when it's just urine? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257 "2015-08-07T18:41:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257/21 "2015-08-08T04:28:34Z")
I’m having a lot of fun imagining the Giraffe Board’s take on this thread. I think actually reading it would just disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257/22 "2015-08-08T07:27:01Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > We’re in a drought, so I follow the “if it’s yellow let it mellow; if it’s brown flush it down” rule. Except I always flush before going to bed. That stuff can get kinda stinky by morning. I have plenty of chance to flush anything stinky the two or three times I wake up to pee during the night. Ah, the joys of aging. ---
**Author:** ![SeniorCitizen007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@SeniorCitizen007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeniorCitizen007)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257/23 "2015-08-08T09:40:59Z")
The Romans used to clean their teeth with urine (the ammonia in it whitens the teeth). Many cultures valued their urine and flushing it away was considered a waste of a useful product ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257/24 "2015-08-08T11:25:46Z")
I flush every time. I don’t give a flying fuck about saving water or the environment; I don’t want anybody’s urine to come splashing back on me when I take a whiz. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257/25 "2015-08-08T12:22:17Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Embarrassed to say, water is insanely cheap where I live. Well, our water is cheaper.😉 Three bathrooms, two occupants. We each flush our own toilet’s urine every so often. The guest bathroom is always flushed, because it sometimes is only used once a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257/26 "2015-08-08T14:50:11Z")
Ew, yes, I’m a manic flusher. But then I live in the UK do water conservation isn’t normally an issue and my supply isn’t metered so the cost is the same regardless. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257/27 "2015-08-08T15:14:31Z")
When it’s just me, I don’t flush for only pee. And I keep the lid down, because the cats are disgusting and want to drink from the toilet bowl and then put their faces by mine. > [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Not at night time. > I lived with a big family, growing up, and flushing the can always woke one or more people. So how did you explain this when friends spent the night? My mom was of the “only flush if it’s poop” school, and damn, as a kid it was not easy to explain to friends why there was pee in the toilet all night. ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257/28 "2015-08-08T15:31:25Z")
Flushing the toilet can be a deeply ingrained behavior, often at OCD levels in people who don’t otherwise appear to be afflicted. There are people who flush before and after they use the toilet. There are people who flush multiple times while they are using the toilet. They are rarely persuaded to change in drought conditions. They need to do it. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257/29 "2015-08-08T16:53:02Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > So how did you explain this when friends spent the night? My mom was of the “only flush if it’s poop” school, and damn, as a kid it was not easy to explain to friends why there was pee in the toilet all night. Friends did not–no room. Huge family, remember? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-flush-when-its-just-urine/727257.md?page=1)