Toilet Etiquette (Toilet Manners)



Toilet etiquette is all about hygiene and cleanliness. Bookmark and Share

Toilets can be germ ridden places and if enough care is not taken to adopt hygienic practices we can contribute to the spread of many types of disease.

We are put off by messy, smelly restrooms, toilets or urinals and public ones are the main offenders.

So, if you mess it; clean it.

Nobody likes to clean up someone else’s mess and so it makes sense for everyone to clean up after themselves throughout the day to maintain a high standard of hygiene and cleanliness.

Some office toilets too need to have a code of practice put in place for the health and welfare of the workers because the cleaners usually clean up only once - at the end of the day.

Some people who are the first to turn up their noses in dirty, smelly toilets are themselves to blame for breaches of good toilet etiquette.

Is this because of their ignorance, indifference or upbringing?

For your information, we have listed the following common sense and logical rules of restroom, urinal, or toilet etiquette to bring us back on track:

Top rule therefore – clean up your own mess

Unfortunately not everyone practices good hygiene, so –

Next rule is, be hygienic – ALWAYS

Then - respect the rights of others to privacy and cleanliness

Toilet Etiquette - Office/Workplace and Public toilets Bookmark and Share

Most of the rules of toilet etiquette that follow aim to achieve the above:

Do not take reading material into the office toilet

Don’t peek under the doors. Knock if the stall (cubicle) appears to be occupied

Lock the cubicle (stall) door when you enter. You may embarrass someone

Guys; choose a spot at the urinal farthest from anyone already there or at one end if you are the first

While at the urinal, never turn to look directly or sideways at anyone standing there.

Especially, do not look in his direction any lower than his face

Stand close enough to the pan or urinal so you don’t dribble on the floor

Concentrate when you pee so you don’t wet the seat, walls or floor

Sit on the pan if you are unsteady on your feet.

Girls; sitting is compulsory (smile).

Squat only on squatting toilets, pedestal toilets are for sitting on only

Avoid messing the toilet seat. If you do, clean up after yourself – properly

Remember to flush the toilet after use

The toilet brush is for cleaning the inside of the toilet bowl after you have used the toilet

Check whether you need to use it

Don’t leave it for someone else to clean up after you

Flush it again

Ladies' handbags pick up lots of germs if taken into the toilet and placed on the toilet floor or handled by germ laden hands

Please, never place them on dining tables or kitchen bench tops if they have been taken to the toilet

Girls’ sanitary napkins should not be flushed down the toilet but be wrapped and disposed of in the sanitary pad disposal unit

Don’t graffiti the toilet; it devalues your name and talent?

Leave the stall door ajar when you leave – to indicate that it is unoccupied

Wash your hands thoroughly after your business – whatever it is

Authorities would you please post prominent signs saying - “ALWAYS wash your hands before leaving the toilet

Don’t litter the place

Don’t dawdle in the toilet especially in the toilet stalls

On your way out, for personal hygiene, use a paper towel to grip the door handle if possible - (because we will never train everyone to wash their hands) or elbow through when somebody opens it from outside

Public toilets without external doors are to be preferred for this reason; though there are not enough of them around

Authorities please note and take appropriate action

Toilet Etiquette - in the Home Bookmark and Share

Consider the rest of the family and your guests

Always keep a spare roll of toilet paper in the toilet

Knock first if the toilet or bathroom appears to be occupied

Do not take reading material into the toilet

Don’t hog the toilet/bathroom, especially if there is only one

Lock the toilet/bathroom door when you enter. You may embarrass someone

Use the exhaust fan so you don’t asphyxiate yourself or the next occupant

Guys, stand close enough to the pan or urinal so you don’t dribble on the floor

Concentrate when you pee so you don’t wet the seat, walls or floor

Sit on the pan if you are unsteady on your feet

Girls; sitting is compulsory (smile)

Squat only on squatting toilets, pedestal toilets are for sitting on only

Avoid messing the toilet seat. If you do, clean up after yourself – properly

Remember to flush the toilet after use

The toilet brush is for cleaning the inside of the toilet bowl after you have used the toilet

Check whether you need to use it

Don’t leave it for someone else to clean up after you

Flush it again

Girls’ sanitary napkins should not be flushed down the toilet but be wrapped and disposed of in a suitable receptacle

Good toilet etiquette for guys AND girls is to leave the toilet seat AND the seat cover down when you leave the toilet

It’s neat for one thing, and prevents accidents for another

Why is this an issue?

Wash your hands thoroughly after your business – whatever it is

Leave toilet/bathroom door ajar when you leave – to indicate that it is unoccupied

Don’t pee in the shower

Host; please provide your guests with any toiletries they might need such as soap, towel, toothpaste, toothbrush, facewash and so on

Toilet Etiquette – General

Toilet business is for doing. Not for talking about

Keep toilet sounds for the toilet

It’s not for demonstrating sound intensity in public or for talking about

TV and movie producers please take note. Keep it out of your script

Toilet Etiquette – in the Bush (or Forest) Bookmark and Share

Proper bush toilet etiquette requires observance of some basic rules to protect our fragile environment and ourselves:

Use an approved chemical toilet pan and empty it properly at sites intended for this purpose

If the above is not available and you must attend to the call of nature select a site well away from lakes, waterholes, streams etc

Watch out for snakes, spiders and creepy crawlies. They have rights too

Take a small spade to dig a hole deep enough to completely cover waste matter including toilet paper

Urine on solids helps it to break down sooner

Do not allow used toilet paper to blow around in the bush

Guys when you pee in the bush, do it down wind

Babies disposable nappies must not be buried or left in the bush but taken away to be disposed of properly

If you believe these tips on toilet etiquette could help to improve your workplace toilet situation, please send the manager an e-mail link to this page or print it out and paste it up in the cubicles/stalls Bookmark and Share

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