Why You Should Never Line Your Toilet Seat With Paper
jyotsana raoBE 
Experience: 4 yearsJyotsana Rao is an engineering graduate from NIT, Nagpur, who discovered her love for writing during her undergraduate days. She is passionate about writing about everything related to beauty - makeup... more
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Public Restrooms. Probably amongst one of those dirty places we avoid visiting at all costs. But when nature is calling, no matter how hard we try to hold in our pee, we fail and end up having to use them.
Now picture this: It’s an emergency, and you went to a public restroom. You just cannot hold it in anymore, but at the same time, you are worried about the zillions of germs present on that toilet seat. What do you do in that situation? The first thing that would come to your mind is to protect yourself from the germs by placing a toilet paper on the seat and then going about your business. Isn’t it?
You consider that strip of toilet paper as a protective shield that would protect you from all the germs that are just a centimeter away from where you are sitting. But what if there are no tissues or toilet papers at all in the washroom? A nasty situation, right? Well, there’s good news and bad news.
Let’s start with the good news first. The good news is the toilet seats are probably the cleanest things in the entire washroom. Are you wondering if this is the good news, then how bad can the bad news be? The bad news is, everything else in the washroom, except the toilet seat, is pretty nasty!
According to a study, almost half of the female population in America do not prefer sitting directly on the toilet seat. Rather, they put a layer of toilet papers over the toilet seat and then sit over it to protect themselves from germs and bacteria. Well, at first glance, it seems to be a good idea. God knows how many people have already sat there! But, on the contrary, by doing this, you expose yourselves to germs even more.
Let’s learn a bit more about this germy fact.
The main purpose of toilet seats is to avoid the germs and bacteria from hanging on there for a long period of time. And, contrary to our belief, the toilet papers or tissue papers are not designed to resist the contamination of bacteria and other germs.
What exactly happens is whenever you flush, the bacteria gets sprayed in the air and finally land on everything that is around 5-6 feet away from the flush. Yes, of course, some of them land on the toilet seat as well, but because of the curvy shape of the toilet seat and the non-absorbent nature of the material out of which it is made, the germs and bacteria (Escherichia coli) cannot stay on the seat for long. In fact, these bacteria can easily land on the toilet papers, which are kept at a maximum distance of 3 feet from the toilet. Moreover, they can easily get settled in the tissues. Now you know how clean those tissue papers are! (wink, wink!)
Since so many people are concerned about using public toilets, many have done a lot of research to check whether toilet seats really transmit bacteria or not. One such show was The Doctors, where they made a list of the dirtiest items present in a bathroom. You will be surprised to know which item was in the first position. Curious to know what was it? It was the TOILET PAPER DISPENSER!
Quite often, it happens that people forget to close the door of the bathroom, and when they flush and leave, the bacteria float about all around the bathroom and even out of it sometimes. This way, they nestle in the toilet papers, flush, hand dryers, and the cranes. So, everytime you touch all these, remember that they contain more germs than the toilet seats themselves.
The toilet seats are designed in a very smart way. The shape and the surface are created or designed in such a way that they prevent bacteria from settling over it or spreading. This means that when you sit directly on the toilet seat, bacteria cannot transfer to your bare skin. This is because very few germs pass through and it is not at all enough to make you sick.
Even after reading this, if you are conscious about sitting directly on the toilet seat, you can carry disinfectant wipes with you and wipe it down before you use the toilet.
This is the best way to protect yourself from germs and bacteria.
Do you also do the same? Do you create a fresh toilet seat for yourself by spreading a layer of toilet papers over the toilet seat? If yes, you must stop doing that.
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