# What is the mentality of people who use disposable toilet seat covers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663 "2009-01-30T02:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/21 "2009-01-30T04:52:05Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Sorry, don’t mean to sound sexist, but women go crazy when they don’t have to clean. Don’t even get me started on women and dirty diapers _they_ don’t have to dispose of. You’re right, they totally do go crazy. Bar none the worst bathroom I have ever had to use is the one in the student lounge at my husband’s (private, closed to public, regional tier) law school. The women there are fucking pigs. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/22 "2009-01-30T05:03:56Z")
What is the mentality of people who DON’T use disposable toilet seat covers? Ick. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/23 "2009-01-30T05:26:56Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Y’all need to check out the toilets at Ohare. > > Automatic sausage tubes on every seat. Weirdest damn things I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it is law or habit, but I’ve never been in a public toilet in California without them, no matter how small. I’ve kind of gotten used to them over the past decade. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/24 "2009-01-30T05:32:44Z")
I don’t use seat covers, and I LOATHE hoverers. You see, I really don’t touch my ass very often. If it gets something on it, that something is likely to die before it infects me. Short of open sores on my butt, I can’t imagine being that anal (sorry, had to.) What’s more, if there’s pee on the seat from a hoverer, I take some toilet paper and wipe it up. When I’m done with everything, I wash my hands. All is well, if you don’t count the fact that I had to clean up after a stupid adult who can’t get their urine into the toilet, something most of us learn to do by the time we’re five. Automatic sausage tubes? The hell? That sounds oddly filthy. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/25 "2009-01-30T05:35:57Z")
I’m not sure of the mentality that use them, but I would guarantee the mentality of the people that install them: “Maybe this will stop those crazy bitches from pissing all over the place.” ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/26 "2009-01-30T05:36:17Z")
I can’t even imagine what a sausage tube is. Well, I can, but it has nothing remotely to do with going to the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/27 "2009-01-30T06:02:46Z")
I’m pretty sure I know what the “sausage tube” is describing. I’ve only ever seen it at O’Hare Airport. The toilet seat is one-piece (unbroken in the front) with a plastic sheath wrapped around. The sheath is much, much longer than the diameter of the seat, with the excess all bundled up on one side like a long sausage casing that’s bundled on the nozzle ready to be filled with sausage. When the proximity sensor triggers the flush, a mechanism in the seat pulls the sheath around, gathering the dirty, germy plastic on one end and unspooling fresh, hygenic plastic around the seat. Ha! Take that, ignorance! And don’t let me catch you around here again. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/28 "2009-01-30T06:08:41Z")
The users of these covers seem needlessly paranoid to me. My butt skin is not any more permeable than the skin on the rest of my body, so I don’t know why I would need to worry about it. Touching bathroom doors, elevator buttons, desks, etc, is way more likely to result in transfer of gross things and germs, and I do all those things too. Unless your immune system is compromised in some way I don’t really know what the problem is with contact with the outside world. Having said all that, if other people want to use them then they can go to town for all I care. If it stops them from hovering (leaving pee drops that the rest of us need to wipe up), then I guess it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/29 "2009-01-30T07:01:11Z")
Is this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grnkay64uFw&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grnkay64uFw&feature=related) the “sausage tube”? a.) Looks like a huge waste of plastic. b.) Reminds me of those roll towels, which in theory are supposed to be an unending font of cleanliness, but invariably run out at crucial moments. I, for one, am content to let my buttocks do the defending. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/30 "2009-01-30T07:18:39Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > The users of these covers seem needlessly paranoid to me. My butt skin is not any more permeable than the skin on the rest of my body, so I don’t know why I would need to worry about it. Touching bathroom doors, elevator buttons, desks, etc, is way more likely to result in transfer of gross things and germs, and I do all those things too. … when you’re outside, it’s a tad easier to wash your hands than your buttocks. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/31 "2009-01-30T07:24:48Z")
I don’t like the paper seat covers but I’ve come to like the alcohol based sprays which are placed inside the stall for spraying onto loo paper and wiping over the seat. I’ve never been OCD about these things but some loo seats are definitely in need of a wipeover. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/32 "2009-01-30T07:27:36Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > I don’t use seat covers, and I LOATHE hoverers. You see, I really don’t touch my ass very often. If it gets something on it, that something is likely to die before it infects me. Short of open sores on my butt, I can’t imagine being that anal (sorry, had to.) > > What’s more, if there’s pee on the seat from a hoverer, I take some toilet paper and wipe it up. When I’m done with everything, I wash my hands. All is well, if you don’t count the fact that I had to clean up after a stupid adult who can’t get their urine into the toilet, something most of us learn to do by the time we’re five. > > Automatic sausage tubes? The hell? That sounds oddly filthy. I have to second this. I have more important worries than my ass permeability. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/33 "2009-01-30T11:12:28Z")
New Orleans airport also has the plastic covers like Chicago. That is the only place I use seat covers because I can’t escape them. I hate hoverers, they just make everything a mess, like a vicious cycle. And from experience flushing toilets and staying there until the water goes down, sometimes they’re so strong that the water droplets fall on the seat. So remember, sometimes it is not the person’s fault there are droplets on the seat, it is the stupid toilet’s water system. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/34 "2009-01-30T13:06:40Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > when you’re outside, it’s a tad easier to wash your hands than your buttocks. Sure, but the reason to wash your hands is so that you don’t transfer the germies on to food/into your mouth/onto other people. If you are doing any of those things with your butt, well…I’m not sure if I’m disgusted or impressed. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/35 "2009-01-30T13:31:50Z")
Because it’s inconvenient to bring your toilet seat from home? ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/36 "2009-01-30T13:37:10Z")
They have the auto sausage tubes in the rest rooms at the Palais in Cannes. We used to go to an industry event there a couple times a year. If there are wet pee drops on the seat because some fucking neanderthal didn’t bother to lift the lid, I take a wad of TP and wipe it dry, then sit. If the pee drops are dry, I use a seat cover. Otherwise, it’d be like sitting in the wet pee and letting it dry on my ass. I’m not into that particular kink. If the seat looks clean, I usually just sit. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/37 "2009-01-30T13:38:26Z")
Those thin paper covers don’t look like they would stop anything. Maybe dried badness will be stopped but if there is any wetness on the seat won’t it just soak through the paper? I always wipe the seat down with a big wad of TP before sitting, throw it in the bowl and flush. If I see anything off at that point I just move on to another stall. If I come to a toilet with the seatcover still on it, that stall is dead to me … eww. Like some others, I have cleaned public bathrooms before and the worst, by far, were the women’s bathrooms in an upscale bar. Of course, alcohol was probably involved. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/38 "2009-01-30T15:15:51Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > At home: “put down the seat! Clean the rim! I don’t want to see even one pubbie!” What do Republicans have to do with this? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/39 "2009-01-30T15:35:23Z")
I would think someone with a user name like the OP’s would have a clue about the whys and wherefors of toilet seat covers. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663/40 "2009-01-30T16:05:49Z")
\*\*Shiftless \*\*nailed my view of it. It’s just glorified toilet paper. What the hell do people think it’s going to be a barrier to? Is it like some sort of magic anti-bubonic plague material? It never fails to amuse me to witness some people’s public bathroom habits – especially the ones who refuse to touch anything directly, to the point that they turn the faucet on and off with their elbows and open the door with their feet. Then they go back to their bacteria-ridden keyboards, pick their nose, eat the peanut-butter cracker that they accidentally dropped on the floor and then go give the hot-girl in receiving a big smooch behind the warehouse. And we all know how dirty a smooch there can be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-mentality-of-people-who-use-disposable-toilet-seat-covers/483663.md?page=3)