# Flushing: Before, During, or After? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2001, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422 "2001-01-04T17:48:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8baadc/32.png) [@KV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KV)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/1 "2001-01-04T17:48:01Z")
I, as a guy, will flush half way through my #1 so that I finish at the same time as the toilet. Is it just me or is that common. I’m interested in hearing from females too, even though it would take a bit of acrobatics for a woman to reach around and flush. Also, do you get your t.p. ready before you sit down, or after? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/2 "2001-01-04T18:02:10Z")
I believe that is weird. I will flush after the initial stages of #2 though. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/3 "2001-01-04T19:03:26Z")
Females who know about the [toilet plume](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990416.html) don’t flush “during”. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Improved\_Scott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f17d59/32.png) [@New\_Improved\_Scott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Improved_Scott)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/4 "2001-01-04T20:18:10Z")
On this topic, a very wise friend of mine once said to me in a washroom at the Montreal Molson Center hockey arena. “When you woke up this morning, you took a shower, dried off and put clean boxers on. Your penis has been kept safe there throughout the day. Your hands, however, have handled a million unclean, unsanitary things just at this arena alone. But still, you wash your hands AFTER you’ve handled yourself.” Now I was twice. ---
**Author:** ![KV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8baadc/32.png) [@KV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KV)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/5 "2001-01-04T21:23:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by New & Improved Scott \* > \*\*On this topic, a very wise friend of mine once said to me in a washroom at the Montreal Molson Center hockey arena. > > “When you woke up this morning, you took a shower, dried off and put clean boxers on. Your penis has been kept safe there throughout the day. Your hands, however, have handled a million unclean, unsanitary things just at this arena alone. But still, you wash your hands AFTER you’ve handled yourself.” > > Now I was twice. \*\* That raises another point. I wash my hands after using public restrooms, or even my parents’, but not at home. I think it has to do with how dirty I think a bathroom is. I, of course, think mine is spotless, even if there is cat litter on the seat. ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/6 "2001-01-04T21:29:11Z")
**N & I Scott** - check out Cecil’s word on this > **[Why are men supposed to wash their hands after urination? Plus: urine therapy!](https://www.straightdope.com/21342195/why-are-men-supposed-to-wash-their-hands-after-urination-plus-urine-therapy)** > > Dear Cecil: > First, an (elderly) joke. > A Harvard man and a Yale man are at the urinal. They finish and zip up. The Harvard man proceeds to the sink to wash his hands, while the Yale man immediately... \*\* KV\*\* - That’s just weird, man, but you’re not the only one. The whole point of flushing is to get rid of all of your #1, not just most of it (unless you’re an expert at timing it). ---
**Author:** ![KV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8baadc/32.png) [@KV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KV)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/7 "2001-01-04T21:40:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phobos \* > \*\ ***N & I Scott** - check out Cecil’s word on this > [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_220.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_220.html) > > \*\* KV\*\* - That’s just weird, man, but you’re not the only one. The whole point of flushing is to get rid of all of your #1, not just most of it (unless you’re an expert at timing it). \*\* Well, sometimes I flush BEFORE if it’s just too gross to pee in. I mean if it is a public urinal( which they put WAAAAAAAY too low for me, especially when I’m wearing ice skates) and its kinda funky, I will flush it before. I always wonder how hair gets on top of the urinal… how tall was that guy? I am pretty good at timing when the tank will be done refilling on my home toilet. It’s one of the old water-wasters. Something like 9 gallons a flush. I’ve never had to call a plumber for a clog, though. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/8 "2001-01-04T22:33:23Z")
Flush before if you want, but ALWAYS flush after! It’s digusting to walk up to a fixture and find somebody else’s stinking byproducts in there. A couple of weeks ago, I got to a stall just as another fellow was leaving it. I walked in, and I saw what he had forgotten. I was already grumbly about something else. I tilted my head back and hollered, “SOMEbody’s mommy didn’t teach him how to flush!” ---
**Author:** ![Carina42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Carina42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carina42)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/9 "2001-01-04T23:34:53Z")
KV: Why not wait until you’re all done? I mean, do you have a particular reason for doing a simultaneous pee-flush thing, or is it just an endearing little idiosyncracy? As to women doing that, it really wouldn’t work because we wipe after we pee, so one would be leaving the paper in the toilet. I unroll the TP after I’m done, I think. And I almost always wash my hands, even if just a quick token splash under the cold faucet. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/10 "2001-01-04T23:45:15Z")
I gotta say after. I’ve never heard of people flushing _during_, though I never really enquired. With public urinals/toilets, though, flushing before also is usually a must. Well, a must if someone else has…left their business unattended to. ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/11 "2001-01-05T03:47:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KV \* > \*\*That raises another point. I wash my hands after using public restrooms, or even my parents’, but not at home. I think it has to do with how dirty I think a bathroom is. I, of course, think mine is spotless, even if there is cat litter on the seat. \*\* I do the same. I always wash at public restrooms and friends’ houses, but not at home. ---
**Author:** ![sulawesi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@sulawesi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulawesi)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/12 "2001-01-05T04:10:29Z")
During. I try to time it, like KV was talking about. It’s a game almost. 🙂 And I have to wash my hands. If I don’t (i.e. when the sink in the public restroom doesn’t work) I can’t think about anything but my hands and when I can wash them. It’s just gross. ---
**Author:** ![OrcaChow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@OrcaChow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrcaChow)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/13 "2001-01-05T04:13:40Z")
Flush? What is this “flush” thing of which you speak? ---
**Author:** ![KV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8baadc/32.png) [@KV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KV)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/14 "2001-01-05T12:09:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by silent\_rob \* > \*\*I gotta say after. I’ve never heard of people flushing _during_, though I never really enquired. > With public urinals/toilets, though, flushing before also is usually a must. Well, a must if someone else has…left their business unattended to. \*\* I always flush AFTER #2, I hate to walk into a stall and see that. But, I can’t be alone with the #1 thing. Rarely, except for at Disney where the toilet flushes itself, do I walk up to a urinal or stall that has clean water in it. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/15 "2001-01-05T12:39:38Z")
You’re not alone KV. I’m with you. 😉 If it needs one after( I had more to get rid of than I thought ) I flush after aswell. ---
**Author:** ![dewt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@dewt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dewt)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/16 "2001-01-05T13:29:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*Females who know about the [toilet plume](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990416.html) don’t flush “during”. > \*\* The following is a quote from the above link: “If an alien came from space and studied the bacterial counts,” the professor says, “he probably would conclude he should wash his hands in your toilet and crap in your sink.” I think I feel a new sig coming on… Oh yeah… after. Right before I bolt wildly from the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Melpomene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Melpomene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melpomene)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/17 "2001-01-05T16:13:36Z")
**AFTER AFTER AFTER AFTER!!!** I cannot stand entering a bathroom…anywhere - public or private…and find something left in the toilet which will almost inevitably happen, should you flush _during_ a release of waste of any shape, size or type. ICK! As for the logistics of flushing - it would be very difficult for a female to flush _during_ a waste release, anyway…let alone the aforementioned _toilet flush_. Of course, it’s easier for males to flush _during_ and I know a few who have that habit. My own SO was one of those types, until I practically beat it out of him. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NaughtyMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@NaughtyMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NaughtyMe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/18 "2001-01-05T16:52:15Z")
I think the really dodgy part of going to public toilets is after you have carefully washed your hands and dried them thoroughly you go to open the door and immediately find that someone wasn’t quite as careful as you were at cleaning and drying their hands…ughhh :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/19 "2001-01-05T17:05:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Melpomene \* > \*\ ***AFTER AFTER AFTER AFTER!!!** > > I cannot stand entering a bathroom…anywhere - public or private…and find something left in the toilet which will almost inevitably happen, should you flush _during_ a release of waste of any shape, size or type. ICK!\*\* So, do you ever use campground pit toilets or Porta-Potties of any kind? Or does the thought of your waste comingling with that of others in a large vat of urine and feces only inches from your derrierre creep you out to the point of suppressing your bodily functions altogether? ---
**Author:** ![KV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8baadc/32.png) [@KV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KV)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422/20 "2001-01-05T18:26:32Z")
So, do you ever use campground pit toilets or Porta-Potties of any kind? Or does the thought of your waste comingling with that of others in a large vat of urine and feces only inches from your derrierre creep you out to the point of suppressing your bodily functions altogether? \*\* [/QUOTE] I actually am afraid of using a porta-potty. Not because of what could be in there, shudder, but I don’t trust people not to knock it over while I’m in it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flushing-before-during-or-after/48422.md?page=2)