# Leave toilet cover up or down when traveling? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263 "2023-03-16T18:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/41 "2023-04-24T16:50:34Z")
The lid should be closed after every use (not just when traveling). That’s why it has a lid. This minimizes the chance of items falling into the toilet when not in use. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/42 "2023-04-24T18:31:54Z")
We have five toilets in our house. None of them are situated in a place where something could fall into them when not in use (near a countertop, etc.) . The one in our master bedroom, has it’s own little room with a door, and is at least 10 feet from where we brush our teeth, so that’s not an issue either. (although honestly, I don’t think I’d care even if were right next to our sink) The one in our main guest bathroom is also separated by a door from the bathroom sinks. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/43 "2023-04-24T18:37:45Z")
It’s a matter of personal preference. Why not just save yourself the trouble and get some of these: [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41M--kZW0AL._AC_SX679_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41M--kZW0AL._AC_SX679_.jpg) > **[Commercial Heavy Duty Open Front Toilet Seat Without Cover, Thickened Material,...](https://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Without-Thickened-Material-ELONGATED/dp/B0B9SBW99F)** > > Commercial Heavy Duty Open Front Toilet Seat Without Cover, Thickened Material, Never Loosen, ELONGATED, White (18.5”), 1-Pack - - Amazon.com ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/44 "2023-04-24T18:39:22Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Why not just save yourself the trouble and get some of these: Removing the toilet seat would be more trouble than simply not using it. But we’re not a couple that _never_ puts the seat down. We’re just not in the “always” camp. It’s pretty random, actually. It probably deserves a study. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/45 "2023-04-24T18:41:22Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > It probably deserves a study. 😜 ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/46 "2023-04-24T21:14:37Z")
Yes, and that’s exactly what I do. Close, flush, lift, check, repeat if necessary! I view it as a small price to pay for having it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/47 "2023-04-26T12:20:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Commercial toilets don’t have lids, What do you mean by commercial toilets? Like those in restaurants, shops, etc? The places I frequent all have lids on theirs… The only exception is toilets in rest stops on the autoroute in France. Those don’t even have toilet rings. I have never figured those out. It is like they are Asian squat toilets, but elevated. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/48 "2023-04-26T12:23:11Z")
Those in restaurants, shops, hospitals, rest stops on the side of highways, and every office I’ve ever worked in. They don’t have tanks, either. They have some other mechanism to generate pressure. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/49 "2023-04-26T12:25:02Z")
Right. The “U” shaped ones. I think there is a thread around here asking why public toilets have them. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/50 "2023-04-26T12:25:05Z")
Actually, this reminds me of another point. For guys who leave the lid up, do you also leave the ring up? Because of you don’t, that means you are making a conscious decision to lower one and not the other. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/51 "2023-04-26T12:26:15Z")
Here’s an image of a typical one. > **[Toto Commercial Flushometer Toilet HET, 1.28 GPF - ADA](https://yorktaps.ca/toto-commercial-flushometer-toilet-het-1-28-gpf-ada/)** > > York Taps is a leading bath store in Richmond Hill and Toronto offering vanities, tubs, faucets, toilets and more, contact our bath store today for your dream bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/52 "2023-04-26T16:57:55Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > For guys who leave the lid up, do you also leave the ring up? Because of you don’t, that means you are making a conscious decision to lower one and not the other. I often do that. For my wife’s convenience, I always put the seat down. The cover might go down with it, or might not. As I stated earlier, it’s pretty random for me. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2023, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/53 "2023-04-26T18:52:22Z")
I grew up in an all-male household. Mom departed early and I had only brothers. My late first wife grew up in an all-female household. Her Dad died early and she had only sisters. When we moved in together after we got married certain … adaptations were required. Many of which were a complete surprise to one or both of us. Hijinks often ensued. Pretty quickly we settled on “Put the seat where you want it to use it then leave it that way when you’re done.” And always leave the lid open. That results in the least unnecessary moving of parts. It’s efficient. It’s logical. It’s mutually courteous. In a word, it’s smart. My current second wife says lid down is The Only Way. Her other motto is Resistance Is Futile. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/54 "2023-04-26T19:17:05Z")
My husband always leaves the seat down. He did that when he lived in a dorm with another guy. He also sometimes sits to pee. It’s awkward to sit directly on the toilet bowl when you wake up in the middle of the night, so I’m grateful i never have to worry about it. We both always leave the lid up. When I’m visiting other people, i take note of where the seat and lid are when i enter the bathroom, and replace them to that position when I’m done. That feels polite to me. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/55 "2023-04-26T19:40:38Z")
Wayyyy back when, in San Diego, I rented a room in a condo with a recently-divorced Seattle-area mother and her two teen-aged daughters. Mom had her own en suite, but I shared the guest bath with the daughters. They were all _very_ unhappy that finances required they sublet a room, and were none to pleasant to be around. They said very little to me, even when I tried to engage, offer some of what I’d cooked, ask if they needed anything when I went out … etc. But the one thing that they _did_ say that sticks with me decades later was: > If any one of us (ie, the women) goes ‘splash,’ you’re dead. I told them that I had been in the habit of leaving the lid down since I was very young. Still am. Man. I hope their lives got better. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/56 "2023-05-01T15:04:01Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > I truly cannot fathom why. If lids were meant to be left up, why do the toilet manufacturers make them in the first place? To sit on them to put on your socks and shoes after you shower. That is for us that dress in the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/57 "2023-05-01T15:07:24Z")
> [@chela](#): > > They absolutely have lids to help contain odors, keep out flies not too mention no one likes the view of an open well used Porta potty. > > Seriously it’s considered rude to leave those lids up at events. Also to keep people from accidentally dropping their cell phones in them. I was a a triathlon once where a spectator dropped their phone in the port-a-potty. She had her friend call 911. There is some shit that the fire department won’t do. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/58 "2023-05-03T16:53:09Z")
It’s gone! Just leave it! So gross. Call this guy, sick pervert, he doesn’t seem to mind. > **[Peeper who hid in portable toilet gets 3 year-sentence](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/31/portable-toilet-peeper/2750473/)** > > The Colorado man hid in the portable toilet at a yoga festival in order to spy on women. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/59 "2023-05-03T17:13:04Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Call this guy, sick pervert, he doesn’t seem to mind. I know there are sick perverted people in this world, but I’m still able to be shocked. This shocked me. > Police arrested Chrisco in 2011 after a woman at a yoga festival in Boulder noticed something moving in the tank of the portable toilet, then saw a feces-stained man emerge and run away. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263/60 "2023-05-03T17:30:07Z")
Once you start lowering yourself into the hole in a portable toilet, you need to start re-examining your life choices. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-toilet-cover-up-or-down-when-traveling/981263.md?page=4)