# Open toilet lids: bad upbringing or privy information? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2005, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039 "2005-05-02T10:44:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/21 "2005-05-02T20:54:07Z")
I was well trained by both my mom and a particular female roomate (Mom has even threaten death at one point). After I’m done the seat and lid are put down. If I have to lift the seat every time, by OG, the womenfolk are going to have to lift the lid. We won’t even get into the evil invention that is the toilet cover. -DF ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/22 "2005-05-02T21:29:16Z")
I’ve trained my husband to put the lid down - he also used to ask why he should put the lid down if I didn’t put the lid up, but I told him we should BOTH put it down - no one is doing any more “work” than the other. It’s such a simple thing. Also, the spray thing. I think it’s disgusting. Lid goes down, it’s cleaner and tidier. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/23 "2005-05-03T00:20:27Z")
Seat down because a) it’s disgusting, b) the spray, and c) the fuzzy little bastards I cohabit with. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/24 "2005-05-03T00:32:02Z")
I never had any particular policy on the matter, but one of my friends, since reading Cecil’s column, has become **soooooo neurotic** about germs from the toilet that if I forget to put the lid down before flushing when I visit, she’ll actually **boil her toothbrushes**! This despite the fact that her cats’ litterbox is in the bathroom and they spread litter _everywhere_! I’m sure dust from the litter gets kicked up onto the counter and all over the toothbrushes. My mentioning of this last fact means a number of things: 1. She’ll see this thread, but probably be too embarassed to reply. 2. She’s going to have a fit about where the hell else they can put the cat box. (There’s nowhere else. She should store the brushes upside down in a glass of dilute bleach if she’s that worried.) 3. I’m going to, at best, be walking with a very sever limp after I see her next. She obviously hasn’t picked up yet on my subtle masochistic streak. Make it hurt good, baby! Anyway, the upshot of all this is that she’s trained me to almost compulsively close toilet lids wherever I go. I look for lids to close in public restrooms now. I still manage to almost forget when I’m at her place. (Love ya, T!) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/25 "2005-05-03T01:57:00Z")
> [@Endemic](#): > > I was brought up with the strict instruction from my partents that you _must_ lower the toilet seat/lid after use, and that to do otherwise is barbaric. It made sense to me, and it has been second nature for me ever since. But I have recently come to the conclusion that I am in the minority. It seems that most of our houseguests do not follow this practice (ironically my father is now an offender!), and likewise it seems like most of my friends don’t close the lid either. Just this weekend I was given the tour of a friend’s new apartment, and he brought us into his bathroon, with the inner cavity of the bowl on full display. Uncouth if you ask me. > > So what’s the deal with open toilets nowadays? Are these people just filthy heathens who enjoy showing off their excretory repositories, or is there a change in conventional wisdom on loos I don’t know about? The seat or the cover on the seat? ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/26 "2005-05-03T02:00:15Z")
I would rather the seat be up, then to find out that the seat was wet when I sat down. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/27 "2005-05-03T02:45:41Z")
There were no particular rules that I know of while I was growing up, but with a predominance of females I guess it was considered common courtesy to leave the seat down. I know my brother’s never left the seat up in the bathroom we share. My dad’s not quite as good about it, and my boyfriend (whose family consists of three males + his mother) tends to leave the seat up when he’s visiting. I comment on this when it happens, but more because I find it so novel than because I’m really bothered by it. In my current apartment the lid is always down, and I expect guests to shut it as well, so the seat up/down argument isn’t relevant. This is particularly important as the only place for me to keep a hand towel is directly above the toilet, and I’m not too keen on drying my hands (or my face!) on toilet plume. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/28 "2005-05-03T12:50:57Z")
These responses made me think of a lethal combination of practices when I was in college. I was going through a “green” phase and had been told that it was not necessary to flush every time after Number 1, so as to save water. However, at the same time, my roommate was a devotee open lid school of thought. The result was a “sea of pee” that could be seen (and smelled) from across the apartment… ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/29 "2005-05-03T20:38:29Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > Someone should’ve told the guy who designed my apartment. If what you say is true, then I need to start keeping my toothbrush outside the bathroom. They tried that on **Myth Busters**. The control toothbrush from the other room yielded about the same number of bacteria as the ones in the bathroom. Those things are everywhere. I still close the lid anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/30 "2005-05-03T22:48:18Z")
I have cats-we keep the lid closed. I had one misshap with Maggie back in December, when she tried to jump up on the toilet before I could close the lid. Giving sponge baths to squirmy kittens is NOT fun. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039/31 "2005-05-04T08:00:53Z")
> [@Endemic](#): > > So what’s the deal with open toilets nowadays? Are these people just filthy heathens who enjoy showing off their excretory repositories? Yes. I can’t even begin to understand why anyone would leave the lid up. It’s revolting, it creates a possibility that you’ll drop stuff in it, it creates the moronic argument over whether the seat should be up or down, etc. (Meanwhile, ladies, can you possibly come up with a rational explanation for the demand that the toilet be configured for female use at all times? Is there a reason I should feel any sympathy if you’re careless enough to sit without looking and then fall in?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-toilet-lids-bad-upbringing-or-privy-information/302039.md?page=1)