# If you live alone (in a house or apartment or whatever) do you always close the bathroom door when you use the toilet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502 "2026-11-05T17:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/1 "2026-11-05T17:20:14Z")
It’s been a long time since I’ve lived solo for more than a stray day or so, but when I was a singleton I’d often just nudge the bathroom door in the direction of mostly blocking the doorway, without caring if it latched or even essentially blocked the sight line. I could never decide if it was stranger that I didn’t bother to shut the door properly OR that I bothered to make any token effort at all. How about you? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/2 "2026-11-05T17:22:57Z")
I don’t, it upsets the cats. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/3 "2026-11-05T17:25:10Z")
I swing it mostly closed. My brother and SiL each have a key to my place, so I can easily close it completely if I hear one of them enter. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/4 "2026-11-05T17:39:31Z")
Heck, I don’t usually close the bathroom door, and I live with someone (my wife). (For the record, she’s as casual about it as I am.) There is technically a line-of-sight from a window in our neighbors’ house to the doorway to the downstairs bathroom. But the upstairs bathroom is across the hallway from the staircase, and no one outside the house can see into it. Also, there isn’t anyone else (family, neighbors) who will walk into the house unannounced. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/5 "2026-11-05T17:41:17Z")
Open. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/6 "2026-11-05T17:45:47Z")
I not only leave the door open, I don’t have a curtain on my window. Its on a second floor and overlooks an empty partialy wooded field and meadow about 120 feet away, but people could see me stand to pee from the waist up if they really wanted to look. They could also see me brushing my teeth or getting into my shower. No one has complained in the 15 years I’ve been here. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/7 "2026-11-05T18:18:35Z")
Always leave fully open when alone. Why do anything else? Making a token half-effort is IMO especially silly. Unless that’s also what you did/do when you have other people at home with you at the moment, whether live-in or guest. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/8 "2026-11-05T18:59:46Z")
I usually shut the door especially against fuzzy tail, one of the three cats in the house. He’s craves attention all the frickin time and will want to jump in my lap then climb on my shoulders or that damn tail is swinging knocking rolls around or batting my legs. PITA, gtfout. Then I hear his pitiful cries and thumps as he heaves his substantial body against the door while he waits for me. Also I shut the door because of a weird optical effect it’s hard to explain. But it’s where one can stand in the garage at the work table and look out the west facing window, you will see a corner of the house that has two windows one facing N, one W. Thats my mud room and from there inside one passes over a threshold into a hallway where you access the bedrooms and bathroom. Okay Ive probably lost you dear reader but hear me out. so I’ve stood at the garage workbench and looked out the window and my attention was caught by a reflection in the mud room windows of a clear view of my bathroom sink mirror and toilet. From the garage! Well the bathroom light has to be on, and the shades are up in the mud room windows. They’re big windows and the reflection of the bathroom is clear and large so if people are hanging out in the garage and you think the bathroom is private because it’s an interior hallway away from nearby windows you’d be wrong.. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/9 "2026-11-05T19:19:36Z")
When I lived alone, the only doors I closed were entry/exit doors. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/10 "2026-11-05T20:01:06Z")
Don’t close to use the toilet, but at least partially close the door for a shower (warms up the bathroom) Brian ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/11 "2026-11-05T20:56:22Z")
I’ve lived alone for the past three years, and I have never closed the bathroom door when I use the toilet and nobody else is in the house. Why would I? If I have guests, then of course I close the door. Opening and closing a door unnecessarily seems like a waste of time and energy. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/12 "2026-11-05T21:17:13Z")
I close my bathroom door when showering, to prevent the dampness from migrating into the bedroom (the exhaust fan is also on), and if there is anyone other than my husband in the house. Otherwise, not. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/13 "2026-11-05T21:40:08Z")
I live alone now in a rural area and I don’t even lock my front door, in case the EMTs have to do a well fare check on me to find my poor, old dead body. They will not need to kick my front door in. But yes, I close the bathroom door. Dying on the toilet is a very common way to go out. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/14 "2026-11-05T22:05:05Z")
I always close the door and it has never occurred to me to wonder why until I saw this thread. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/15 "2026-11-05T23:02:02Z")
Only sometimes - and I don’t live alone (husband) . If I did, it would be never. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/16 "2026-11-05T23:11:09Z")
It’s just me and the wife in the house (so not a true singleton) and we both generally close the door most of the way, but not all the way. We are both a bit shy at sharing the smells and sounds, but we also are in thrall to house panthers, one of which _demands_ to “help” us in the loo more often than not. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/17 "2026-11-05T23:29:44Z")
I don’t and we didn’t when I was married unless there was a bad poop about to happen. After I had lived in my house for a couple of years the then wife and I threw a party. The guest bath was being used so I had my cousin use the master bath. He shut the door _and locked it_. The door had been closed before but the lock had never been used until then and that’s how we found out that the lock was broken. He couldn’t get out and because there was a party going on and it was way on the other side of the house, no one could hear him pounding on the door. He had to climb out the window and go through the front door to let us know. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/18 "2026-11-05T23:41:08Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I don’t, it upsets the cats Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/19 "2026-11-06T00:41:56Z")
Never closed the door unless I have visitors. I suppose the people living in the apartment across from mine could see in if they wanted to. However their blinds are closed 95% of the time and I’m not worried about the other 5%. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502/20 "2026-11-06T00:51:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Always leave fully open when alone. Why do anything else? Same here. I have no problem remembering to close it when other people are around. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-alone-in-a-house-or-apartment-or-whatever-do-you-always-close-the-bathroom-door-when-you-use-the-toilet/1034502.md?page=2)