# Do you wipe sitting down or standing up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2017, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887 "2017-04-21T00:40:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/81 "2017-04-22T09:30:18Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > 1. I am mystified that it’s not a challenge for the sitters. I’m almost tempted to want to see a video of how this works, but then I realize that I don’t want that. I guess a pantomime demonstration with someone fully dressed would be the ticket. I’ll let someone else create that video. 🙂 > [@](#): > > 1. Ankles; this has never been a problem. It’s not like I am running an obstacle course while wiping though. Tru dat, but while the cleanup is often pretty straightforward, sometimes it’s messy and takes awhile. But I guess if you deal with this all the time, it becomes second nature to manage all that and keep your balance with your feet very close together. > [@](#): > > 1. First, let me note that there is an implication of your comment that I find interesting just because the whole idea of any part of my body going below the seat is taboo. Even when I’m cleaning the toilet, I hold the handle of the toilet brush above the rim. That whole area is a “no go zone”. It’s just air. And especially with the low-flush toilets these days, even the flushing is happening well below my nutsack. > [@](#): > > But to answer your question, if you can’t drop a small wad of paper through a decent sized opening from directly above without hitting the sides, you must be really terrible when it comes to wastebasket basketball. That’s like missing a layup or a dunk. If I played wastecan basketball with TP, I’d be pretty lousy at it. > [@](#): > > I mean, when you drop something gross, like the plastic wrapping that was around raw ground beef, into your kitchen trash, do you miss or do you get it right down the middle? I don’t miss there either. Yeah, but when I’m doing that, I get all the stuff together for the wastebasket, and I’m making damned sure that it all gets in, and nothing drips on the floor. I’m focused on it while doing it. While wiping my butt, I’m focused on wiping my butt, not where’s the TP going. Another thing: sometimes you think you’re done a couple of times before you really are. (Seems to happen more often now that I’m in my 60s than it did when I was in my 40s, let alone my 20s.) You start wiping, then your body says uh-uh, you’re not going anywhere yet. Do you stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, and finally stand up for real? Or does this just not happen to standers? It’s no big deal when you’re sitting down the whole time, but if I was standing up to wipe, it would drive me nuts. (Admittedly, that’s a short drive, but still. :)) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/82 "2017-04-22T09:53:57Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Another factor is those of us with back problems. I can’t twist around to reach the toilet roll dispenser in the wall while I sit, and I can’t bend to easily reach it when standing. So we leave the roll on top of the tank, which pretty much guarantees that anyone but a contortionist wipes while standing. Well, that’s just bad design. It’s been decades since I’ve been in a bathroom where the TP dispenser is behind you, rather than to one side of you. Compared to building a dungeon in your attic, this seems like a pretty trivial remodeling problem to solve. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2017, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/83 "2017-04-22T10:22:21Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Well, that’s just bad design. It’s been decades since I’ve been in a bathroom where the TP dispenser is behind you, rather than to one side of you. Compared to building a dungeon in your attic, this seems like a pretty trivial remodeling problem to solve. The dispenser is off to the side, but a little too far back for someone with back and shoulder problems to reach comfortably. Perhaps people were more limber back in the 30s when the house was built. Any remodeling would involve screwing up vintage tiling. Besides, I always stood anyway. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/84 "2017-04-22T11:23:45Z")
Of course I stand, didn’t realize sitting was an option until a couple years ago. Don’t know how I’d accomplish wiping whilst sitting. On top of the physical difficulties, you are literally putting your hand/wrist into the danger zone, how do you not rub your hand/wrist against the edge of the toilet seat. Unacceptable. Y’all got skinnier asses than I do. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/85 "2017-04-22T12:24:04Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I’m being whooshed here, right? Nobody \*really \*stands up to wipe, do they? That’s just crazy! I’m being whooshed here, right? Nobody \*really \* sits down to wipe, do they? That’s just crazy! ---
**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:** [April 22, 2017, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/86 "2017-04-22T12:35:20Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Neither- I have a bidet attachment, God’s gift to people who poop. Oh, yes. Still a sitter at work, but the Bidet is a gift from Heaven, for my poor hemorrhoids. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/87 "2017-04-22T13:12:53Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > how do you not rub your hand/wrist against the edge of the toilet seat. Unacceptable. Y’all got skinnier asses than I do. Why would you care if your wrist touches the toilet seat? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/88 "2017-04-22T13:19:29Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Are any of you north of six feet and 200 lbs.? Yes. 8 inches taller and 20 lbs. heavier. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > ``` > If so, what are the dimensions of your toilets? > > ``` Normal toilets. Actually, the master bath’s has the shorter bowl to allow the door to swing. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > ``` > And are you reaching your hand in below the rim while still fully sitting on the seat? > > ``` Yes. Just gotta scootch back a tad and move the junk out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/89 "2017-04-22T13:41:46Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Poop only. (Speaking of which, if I have to do both, I always pee before sitting down to poop.). Well, that’s just inefficient ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/90 "2017-04-22T18:03:35Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > If people wipe while standing, that’s fine with me. But it’s weird that it’s a challenge for them to wipe while sitting down. > > Two questions for the standers: > > 1. Where are your pants while you’re wiping? Whether they’re above your knees or down around your ankles, I’d be worried about falling over. > > 2. This means you’re dropping poop-laden TP into the toilet from well above the seat, instead of below it. How do you keep from occasionally getting it _on_ the seat? This is fucking weird. All these things I never considered people would be doing. Having their trousers around their knees. Having toilet paper dispensers in their homes. Next you’ll be saying some people just ball up the paper instead of folding it. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/91 "2017-04-22T19:08:24Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > No, I think those “colorful accidents” are from people who do EVERYTHING standing. Yes, great point. > [@diggerwam](#): > > Of course I stand, didn’t realize sitting was an option until a couple years ago. Don’t know how I’d accomplish wiping whilst sitting. On top of the physical difficulties, you are literally putting your hand/wrist into the danger zone, how do you not rub your hand/wrist against the edge of the toilet seat. Unacceptable. Y’all got skinnier asses than I do. Cosigned. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/92 "2017-04-22T20:23:21Z")
> [@](#): > > But it’s weird that it’s a challenge for them to wipe while sitting down. That’s what I thought (as a sitter who never thought of standing). > [@](#): > > I am mystified that it’s not a challenge for the sitters. I’m almost tempted to want to see a video of how this works, but then I realize that I don’t want that. I guess a pantomime demonstration with someone fully dressed would be the ticket. I think I tend to (completely unconsciously and without active thought or intent) bend over at the waist a bit, with my weight on thighs (right above knees, where they are resting on toilet seat), effectively lifting my butt into the air a bit so it’s facing more behind me instead of straight down. Also don’t sit all the way on back of toilet, generally, but I think that’s because my legs are short and I have a higher toilet so my feet would not be fully on ground if I did. That means there is more space behind me than if I was as far back as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/93 "2017-04-22T20:48:35Z")
I’m thinking…and surely there are many, many other things I could be thinking of, you know, better things…and I have dimly recolllected, because it’s been a long time, that when I was housebreaking children I told them to stand up and bend over so I could wipe. At a certain point you let them make their own arrangements. For all I know, all of them could still be thinking, “Well this is how you do it. Stand up, bend over…” I am not going to ask them. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/94 "2017-04-22T22:08:36Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Two questions for the standers: > > 1. Where are your pants while you’re wiping? Whether they’re above your knees or down around your ankles, I’d be worried about falling over. As someone with balance problems as well as back and knee problems, I can honestly say this has never come close to happening. > [@](#): > > 1. This means you’re dropping poop-laden TP into the toilet from well above the seat, instead of below it. How do you keep from occasionally getting it _on_ the seat? “Well above” = at most, one foot. Never happens. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/95 "2017-04-22T22:12:32Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I’m thinking…and surely there are many, many other things I could be thinking of, you know, better things…and I have dimly recolllected, because it’s been a long time, that when I was housebreaking children I told them to stand up and bend over so I could wipe. At a certain point you let them make their own arrangements. For all I know, all of them could still be thinking, “Well this is how you do it. Stand up, bend over…” > > I am not going to ask them. Sure. I assume the sitters were so taught by their parents. Otherwise, why would they do it? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/96 "2017-04-22T22:15:22Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > > [@RTFirefly](#): > > > > 1. This means you’re dropping poop-laden TP into the toilet from well above the seat, instead of below it. How do you keep from occasionally getting it _on_ the seat? > > “Well above” = at most, one foot. Never happens. I confess that it has happened to me. It was an utter catastrophe. At least, until I took another piece of TP and wiped off the tiny spot on seat. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/97 "2017-04-22T22:51:08Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I confess that it has happened to me. It was an utter catastrophe. At least, until I took another piece of TP and wiped off the tiny spot on seat. LOL ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/98 "2017-04-22T23:04:56Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Sure. I assume the sitters were so taught by their parents. Otherwise, why would they do it? You are responding to a sitter who just told you that they never taught the children they raised to sit. Think it through. I guess I’ll go ahead and make a confession in the interest of poop-science.\*\* I used to be a stander.\*\* Then the _one time_ in middle school that I have to take a shit in the locker room during P.E. some kids thought that was so interesting that they had to surround the stall and give me shit while I shat. It’s not what you’re thinking, though, I was quite popular in that class and, trust me, nobody wanted to piss me off, so I never once suspected that a couple doofuses would cross the line until I stood up to wipe and was suddenly surprised at the laughter from the heads I hadn’t noticed peering over from the next stalls. Something along the lines of “He stands up to wipe!” was shouted, I’m sure I probably quickly turned the tables (and the subject) to “Why were you watching me, fags?” because nobody ever mentioned it again. But needless to say, I realized that I must have been “doing it wrong” all along, quickly adapted, and in retrospect, I think I owe a debt of gratitude to those doofus fags for setting me straight. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/99 "2017-04-22T23:27:25Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I am not going to ask them. See that banner up top, the one in red? No wonder it’s taking longer than we thought because people like you won’t help fight ignorance! :mad: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887/100 "2017-04-23T02:52:28Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > You are responding to a sitter who just told you that they never taught the children they raised to sit. Think it through. I think it’s you who needed to think it through. There’s no conflict there, unless you think one sitter’s testimony that they didn’t teach their kids to wipe sitting down means none of them do? :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wipe-sitting-down-or-standing-up/784887.md?page=6)