# Why do bathroom doors open inward? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669 "2005-01-08T00:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/1 "2005-01-08T00:46:40Z")
(I did a quick search of the General Questions and I don’t believe this has been asked before.) And by “inward”, I mean towards the place where the people go do their business. Wouldn’t it be more hygenic to have the door open the other way so I don’t have to touch the doornob? After all, not everybody who visits the procelain goddess bother to wash their hands afterwards. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/2 "2005-01-08T00:52:45Z")
I think by Law the Handicap Acess stalls have to open outwards. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/3 "2005-01-08T01:06:32Z")
If someone is in there, doing their business, and the door opens inward, a swift kick will often stop the unwanted incursion. No such maneuver is effective when the door opens outward! ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/4 "2005-01-08T01:08:00Z")
[QUOTE=dotchan Wouldn’t it be more hygenic to have the door open the other way so I don’t have to touch the doornob? [/QUOTE] How do you open a door without using a doorknob? I have never accomplished the fete on a fully closed door. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/5 "2005-01-08T01:15:14Z")
When you open the door after finishing your business, the small wind you create tends to push the noxious gasses out through the vents and windows instead of sucking them into the rest of the house. Every little bit helps, I say. Peace, mangeorge. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/6 "2005-01-08T01:37:25Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > How do you open a door without using a doorknob? I have never accomplished the fete on a fully closed door. :smack: I meant door handle, of course, the kind that you pull. And I meant the actual bathroom door, not the stall door. On retrospect, perhaps part of the reason they open inwards is that in some businesses the male and female restrooms are set so close together that for them to open outwards would cause the doors to knock into each other. ---
**Author:** ![meowpossum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/848f3c/32.png) [@meowpossum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meowpossum)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/7 "2005-01-08T02:14:05Z")
In most homes and businesses, bathrooms are usually accessed from a corridor or hallway. If the doors opened outward, they would tend to block the general passage of traffic in these areas – especially since the default bathroom door position in most homes (and in businesses with single-user bathrooms) is open – a closed door indicates that the room is in use. Most multiple stall bathrooms I’ve seen, the doors to the rooms do open outwards, possibly to be ADA accessible, but these are usually the type of doors that close themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/8 "2005-01-08T02:58:55Z")
There was a thread on this before somewhere but I’m too lazy to look it up. Another reason they open inward (not counting handicapped stalls because those have to open outward): Think of a person riding a bike by a car. Now say that car’s door suddenly opens. Picture this happening between a drunk and a stall door in a bar restroom late at night. I think there’s a whole host of reasons they do, all of them good. ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/9 "2005-01-08T03:43:50Z")
at the Wally World where I work, the handicap stalls doors open inward… I’m not sure how opening outward would be any easier, cuz even if it was reversed, the said handicapper would still hafto open it towards them to get out. irreguardless… there is a lot of manuevering room for those stalls… so I suspect it makes little difference. ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/10 "2005-01-08T03:45:40Z")
> [@jester21](#): > > at the Wally World where I work, the handicap stalls doors open inward… > > I’m not sure how opening outward would be any easier, cuz even if it was reversed, the said handicapper would still hafto open it towards them to get out. > > irreguardless… there is a lot of manuevering room for those stalls… so I suspect it makes little difference. err… i mistyped there… irreguardless of which way the door swings, you’ll be opening it both ways, via entering or exiting. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/11 "2005-01-08T04:14:04Z")
I tend to believe the rationale expressed by **meowpossum** , particularly given that bathroom doors in a commercial/institutional setting are sometimes inset 4’ from a corridor and can then be outswing for those exiting without the door entering the corridor space. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/12 "2005-01-08T04:57:22Z")
I answered this in post #41 of [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=239598&page=2&pp=40&highlight=bathroom+door+open). ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/13 "2005-01-08T06:29:11Z")
> [@jester21](#): > > > [@jester21](#): > > > > irreguardless… there is a lot of manuevering room for those stalls… so I suspect it makes little difference. > > err… i mistyped there… irreguardless… Ironic post of the week, unless **jester21** intentionally misspells famous non-words just to astound and irritate pedantic self-righteous language mavens like me. If that’s the case, mission accomplished! ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/14 "2005-01-08T07:57:29Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Ironic post of the week, unless **jester21** intentionally misspells famous non-words just to astound and irritate pedantic self-righteous language mavens like me. If that’s the case, mission accomplished! Irregardless is a word. According to Merriam-Webster it means the same thing as regardless. That dictionary has this to say about it: “ **usage** _Irregardless_ originated in dialectical American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speed called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that ‘there is no such word.’ There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use _regardless_ instead.” It’s not that it’s not a word. It’s that it is an unneeded word. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/15 "2005-01-08T08:42:35Z")
> [@meowpossum](#): > > In most homes and businesses, bathrooms are usually accessed from a corridor or hallway. If the doors opened outward, they would tend to block the general passage of traffic in these areas – especially since > the default bathroom door position in most homes (and in businesses with single-user bathrooms) is open – a closed door indicates that the room is in use. My guess: The doors of almost ALL rooms in a house open inward, including the bedrooms. This is because it’s less likely to surprise someone in the bedroom than it is to wack someone walking down the hall. Imagine all the accidents if doors flew open into hallways and heavy traffic areas. ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/16 "2005-01-08T09:02:33Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Ironic post of the week, unless **jester21** intentionally misspells famous non-words just to astound and irritate pedantic self-righteous language mavens like me. If that’s the case, mission accomplished! yes, i’m aware of it’s supposed “non-word” status (assuming you were refering to my use of Irreguardless)… (see the post after yours)… and yes, it is used quite intentionally jest to irritate language mavens 😃 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/17 "2005-01-08T15:31:29Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > Irregardless is a word. I \*didn’t \* say it was not a word. I said it is a \*non-\*word. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/18 "2005-01-08T15:41:32Z")
either way, regardless doesn’t have a U. its not reguardless… sorry. please continue about bathroom doors and whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/19 "2005-01-08T16:25:48Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > And by “inward”, I mean towards the place where the people go do their business. Wouldn’t it be more hygenic to have the door open the other way so I don’t have to touch the doornob? After all, not everybody who visits the procelain goddess bother to wash their hands afterwards. :eek: A very good reason is to permit kicking the door in, if latched, in the event of an emergency. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669/20 "2005-01-08T18:55:02Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Ironic post of the week, unless **jester21** intentionally misspells famous non-words just to astound and irritate pedantic self-righteous language mavens like me. If that’s the case, mission accomplished! 😃 Anyway; Have you seen **Robert McNeal** ’s _Do You Speak American_ on PBS? Well, [irregardless](http://www.pbs.org/speak/) of whether you have or haven’t, the show addresses your complaint directly. Boy, now _that_ was hard to come up with. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bathroom-doors-open-inward/283669.md?page=2)