# How do you approach using a public toilet seat? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869 "2009-10-23T15:29:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869/61 "2009-10-27T14:45:30Z")
I’m surprised that so few are choosing the ass gasket option. I live in CA and it seems like everyone uses them here (you can here the distinctive sound of someone pulling them from their papery dispenser in adjacent stalls). I don’t use them - never saw how a flimsy bit of paper could save me from something gross/wet on a toilet seat. It would just soak through. If there is something obvious on the seat, I wipe it off. Otherwise, I just sit. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869/62 "2009-10-27T17:22:37Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > Unless it’s got some droplets on it I just sit myself down and crap. If there’s something on it then I wipe it off. Yup. No door on the stall is usually a deal breaker. Usually. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869/63 "2009-10-27T20:02:16Z")
I wipe it off if there’s been a hoverer or if the toilet flush is so strong it spatters. Sitting down in wetness is unpleasant, even if it’s unlikely to cause any harm. What gets me is why people are so crazy about avoiding the seat touching their hams, but they don’t seem overly concerned by touching the lock to get out. The same lock touched by people who have just wiped their poop or changed a tampon - perhaps even a non-applicator one! Once I started thinking about that, I was even more careful about washing my hands well. (And I try to open the outer door with a paper towel to avoid the germs from the cretins who don’t wash.) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869/64 "2009-10-27T20:14:34Z")
I find that I usually have to sneak up on a toilet seat from behind. Not surprising really, considering what I’m about to do to it. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869/65 "2009-10-27T22:29:50Z")
Who’s the one person who voted “other”? Inquiring minds want to know. [QUOTE=Ferret Herder] Hmm. I can pee pretty straight without disruption while standing, but I can see how you couldn’t expect that out of a little girl. [/quote] That’s some talent. Is it something that can be learned, or do your girly bits have to be symmetrical in order for it to work? ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869/66 "2009-10-28T13:16:17Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > That’s some talent. Is it something that can be learned, or do your girly bits have to be symmetrical in order for it to work? From what I have read, most women would need to pull back their labia and thrust their hips forward, plus you need to be able to get a good strong stream from beginning to end, or your pants will get wet. The site I looked at once upon a time said that women who’ve had babies are unlikely to be able to do it. But you can also buy various devices to funnel pee so you can go standing up, even if you can’t keep a strong stream the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869/67 "2009-10-28T15:12:24Z")
We’re not talking about peeing standing up into a urinal, though–we’re talking about a direct downward stream into a toilet one is literally standing **over**. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869/68 "2009-10-28T18:36:28Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I answered that I’d just plop down on a visibly clean seat, but - from a toilet in the US or other First World country, I expect as a bare minimum not to have to sit in someone else’s waste. Doesn’t matter if it’s disease free, it’s still someone else’s waste. I agree, it’s gross. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-approach-using-a-public-toilet-seat/514869.md?page=3)