# Why is the flush handle on the left hand side? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474 "2013-06-20T16:01:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/21 "2013-06-21T00:32:19Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > They’re on the other side only in the Southern Hemisphere, where the water swirls the other way. > 😉 Arrrrrggghhhh!!! Can’t speak for the rest of the antipodes but most toilets in Australia have a dual flush button on top, in the centre of the cistern. ---
**Author:** ![David\_H\_Singanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/22 "2013-06-21T02:57:38Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Maybe it’s a remnant from the days when the tank was up on the wall and flushed with a pull chain? I once lived in a large Victorian that had 4 upstairs apartments. Three of the units shared a hallway bathroom. The bathroom had a wall mounted toilet tank and the pull chain was at the right side of the throne when seated. I guess this was more convenient for the 90% of occupants who were right handed. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/23 "2013-06-21T03:37:35Z")
The hallway bathroom, being Victorian, meant that left-handed people had been forced to be right-handed since early childhood. So Thomas Crapper’s business decision was a no-brainer. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/24 "2013-06-21T04:51:31Z")
[The Master speaketh.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2327/in-the-third-world-do-people-wipe-with-their-left-hands) Note that only the first part of this column concerns left-handedness, the rest is about the G-spot… ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/25 "2013-06-21T05:37:22Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > Arrrrrggghhhh!!! > > Can’t speak for the rest of the antipodes but most toilets in Australia have a dual flush button on top, in the centre of the cistern. I’m with you there. I’ve been trying to visualise WTF a flush handle looks like and exactly where it’s located. Even back before they were dual flush, the old indoor dunny’s had a button to press in the lid of the cistern. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/26 "2013-06-21T06:49:14Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > In my experience a pushbutton on the top is more common, these days. Yes, left/right discrimination is frowned upon. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/27 "2013-06-21T06:50:40Z")
But on which side is the half-flush? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/28 "2013-06-21T06:57:52Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > They’re on the other side only in the Southern Hemisphere, where the water swirls the other way. > 😉 And ladies’ toilets have it on the other side, so their maids can do it for them. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/29 "2013-06-21T07:12:20Z")
Henry VIII’s Groom of the Stool, of course, had only a hole to think about. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/30 "2013-06-21T12:41:36Z")
Kind of a precussor to the Norden bombsight? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/31 "2013-06-21T13:17:53Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > But on which side is the half-flush? [The top side](http://www.seiglefamily.com/2006france/flush.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/32 "2013-06-21T13:26:06Z")
It’s my understanding that the common original design for a flush toilet involved a tank that was mounted high on the wall (one can still see this in some places, and the placement of a toilet tank is a minor plot point in _The Godfather_) and operated by pulling down on a chain. For a person sitting on the toilet, this chain was positioned for the right hand. When the tanks began migrating down to waist level, the internal mechanisms of the tank were largely unchanged from their right-side-chain orientation, so the handles were placed on that side. It was no longer feasible to operate while sitting on the toilet, though, but rather while standing facing it - hence it was now on the operator’s left. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/33 "2013-06-21T14:40:24Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It’s my understanding that the common original design for a flush toilet involved a tank that was mounted high on the wall (one can still see this in some places, and the placement of a toilet tank is a minor plot point in _The Godfather_) and operated by pulling down on a chain. For a person sitting on the toilet, this chain was positioned for the right hand. When the tanks began migrating down to waist level, the internal mechanisms of the tank were largely unchanged from their right-side-chain orientation, so the handles were placed on that side. It was no longer feasible to operate while sitting on the toilet, though, but rather while standing facing it - hence it was now on the operator’s left. Yea, but who flushes while they are still sitting on the toilet? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/34 "2013-06-21T14:49:39Z")
Eighty years ago… everybody, I think. Or at least that was an option. I’m not sure exactly when overhead tanks fell out of fashion, but the transition to low tanks didn’t involve flipping the internal mechanisms around to maintain a right-side bias. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/35 "2013-06-21T15:00:49Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Henry VIII’s Groom of the Stool, of course, had only a hole to think about. Two holes. Actually, three, metaphorically. His own ass was on the line. :: how to run a joke into the ground :: ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/36 "2013-06-21T15:21:58Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Two holes. > > Actually, three, metaphorically. His own ass was on the line. :: how to run a joke into the ground :: Five, come to that, but who’s counting? It was double entendre-ish, in a naughty '50s Carry On movie sort of way, with James Robertson Justice as Hank. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/37 "2013-06-21T15:41:05Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Yea, but who flushes while they are still sitting on the toilet? Exactly. Who would want the splash-back? Besides, how else could you inspect your work, if you don’t stand up while flushing? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474/38 "2013-06-22T11:45:57Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > [The top side](http://www.seiglefamily.com/2006france/flush.jpg). Push Button, Receive Pythons? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-flush-handle-on-the-left-hand-side/661474.md?page=1)