Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with bathroom

a shitty question

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:46:03 -0800

Poop question about normalcy and bowel movements [possibly disgusting] First, I realize this is sensitive issue, but any feedback would be appreciated (although that might be difficult since responses can't be anonymous).

First, some background. I lived the first 27 years of my life assuming that pooping would take 20-30 minutes and afterwards my butt would be dirty. We're talking really dirty. It would take maybe 1-3 minutes of wiping to clean things up. This might not sound terrible, but the point was that I could _always_ wipe more. There was no point at which the toilet paper would be completely clean. I hated this situation, but I assumed everyone lived like this and I was too embarrassed to mention it to anyone. However, I was more open with my second girlfriend .The subject was broached when I asked her eating habits after noticing (what I thought were) incredibly short bathroom trips. This led to me watching my diet more carefully and finally realizing that I was lactose intolerant. I also discovered the wonders of psyllium husk. Since then pooping has gone from something I dreaded to something I look forward to and actually enjoy. I feel "empty" when I'm done. And I usually wipe completely cleanly (I mean I wipe once to make sure, but most of the time it's completely clean). I'm also usually in the bathroom for less than five minutes, as opposed to a half hour. Occasionally things won't work this well, but that's an abberation.

Now there seem to be two possibilities. One is that this story is unique and most people are not walking around with mudbutt, assuming they don't shower immediately after a dirty poop. I hope this is the case. The other is that many people are living how I used to live. I realize there are obviously personal variations, but I wonder what you experience personally or what you believe is normal or common.

To clarify: When I say a poop is "complete", I mean I feel "empty" and done afterwards and I rarely have to wipe more than once or twice.
When I say a poop is "incomplete", I mean I could keep wiping forever and the toilet paper would still be dirty (from the anus, not the cheeks). Wiping at this point is mainly to get poop off your ass while acknowledging that nothing can really be done about the poop that keeps coming out. I suppose showering would be one solution to this.

I've noticed a few things that have led me to believe a large amount of people are walking around with mudbutt.

1) The prevalence of bathroom reading materials. In movies and on TV people are always reading in the bathroom. I can't imagine having the time to read anything these days, although before my poop habits changed I could probably have read a novel in a sitting. Assuming length of time sitting corresponds with dirty/"incomplete" poops (does it?), this seems to suggest that people who find reading in the bathroom normal are more likely to have dirty butts.

2) Sheryl Crow recently said that one or two squares of toilet paper should be sufficient. This led to a wave of ridicule (ie, Jay Leno: "Remind me not to shake her hand!"). But ridiculing her seems to suggest that people use way more than one or two squares, which should not be the case if their poops are "complete".

3) I've spoken to women (obviously I don't think all women are the same) who have talked about being mortified about farting in public bathrooms. Men's bathrooms seem to smell much more and women seem to not take as long when pooping. These are gross generalizations, but I wonder if length of time in the bathroom and smell correspond with "incomplete" shits and on average, men have mudbutt more often than women.

4) I recently mentioned an "invisible shit" I had to a friend since it was such a rare occurance. By "invisible shit" I meant that I had taken a poop, but it has disappeared into the bowl and when I looked down, I could see nothing in the toilet. He thought I was talking about not having to wipe, where an "invisible shit" meant that nothing was on the toilet paper after pooping. Since he found this to be an extremely rare occurance, that suggests that he often has "incomplete" poops.

I'd be interested if complete/incomplete was actually something other people experienced or just something I made up, and what other people's normal habits are.

What's the best light bulb option these days?

willnot — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:19:26 -0800

What's the best light bulb option these days? I need to replace the bulbs in my bathroom (9, 40 watt bulbs currently). Lights are typically on for about 20 minutes a day. Occasional they'll be on and off quickly. There are no windows. I want to be environmentally conscious, but price does factor in at some level. I don't know how long I'll be staying in this place. Prices are dropping, and I may want to buy a new place in a year or so and either sell my condo or rent it out.

At that point, I'd probably need to replace the fixture in some way anyway because it's got this weird metal block around it that's all rusted and nasty looking. Maybe it makes sense to bite the bullet and just replace it now, but I'd like to avoid that hassle if I could.

I've just been letting the bulbs burn out without replacing them. I'm down to 2 of 9 though, and I'm thinking I better replace them now or risk having to shave in the dark.

I like the idea of LEDs, but they seem so expensive and not all that great yet. Compact Florescent seems better for lights that are on for longer, but I may be off base in my assumptions there. If I went with regular bulbs, 40 watts X 9 seems like a lot of wasted light/energy to me.

What's the best way to go here?

Walk-in tub recommendations

Thrillhouse — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:19:38 -0800

What is the best option for walk-in tub for elderly neighbor? I have an elderly neighbor who has decided it is in her best interest to invest in a walk-in tub. I told her I'd look into it for her. So far she has seen the Ed McMahon commercials for Premier Walk-In and has called them but they're VERY expensive and in my opinion anyone that advertises by infomercial is always WAAAY overpriced and lacking in quality.

I can't seem to find any reviews online that don't like they were written by the manufacturer.

Does anybody have any experience with these things and/or recommendations?

The Hole is Just Too Small, Mommy!

DMan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:11:45 -0800

AskMe, I need a new toilet! The one we have now just isn't cutting it, so to speak... So a year or two ago we got one of those "low flow" toilets from Kohler or something, and it just doesn't work well at all. It seems like every other week the thing is clogged, and after a while this has gotten very annoying. Our other toilet, which is an older, non "low flow" model, has no such troubles. So we need a new toilet.

What brand and/or model can you guys recommend? We'd like to get a low-flow one for the water savings, but if it won't have any power, it's just not worth it. Another major concern is price; while we don't want to cheap out and get something that will break in a month, we don't really have the money for a $4,000 toilet (even if it is made of gold).

In short: What kind of toilet should I get that doesn't waste too much water, but has enough power to not clog every week?

Is putting a sink in the bedroom too bizarre?

amanda — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:46:53 -0800

Real Estate Filter! I'm thinking of doing a little addition to my house which would add bigger closets, create a bigger master bedroom and add another bathroom. I'm considering one feature which I can't decide whether it would be too weird or not... ...a sink in the master bedroom.

When I lived over in England, all the bedrooms in our house had a sink and vanity in them and I thought it was great. Perfect for families and really handy. I miss that sink! My idea is to create a kickass walk-in double shower and toilet room off the master and put a sink right outside that door, in the master bedroom. I'm trying to keep the addition in line with the house and not take over too much of the yard -- it's a small lot.

I have two questions for anyone who has bought or sold houses in the U.S. -- as a buyer, would this just look totally weird to you? Would it be akin to seeing a toilet in the living room in terms of seeming "not right"? Also, I've got a question out to our last realtor as to how that would look in a listing -- would it have to be listed as a 1.5 bath house? Anyone know?

Form, yay! Function, boo!

ElmerFishpaw — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:40:22 -0800

Our new place has a Clawfoot bathtub and Im having trouble adjusting to the clawfoot-lifestyle. It looks pretty cool but Im finding that to be its only redeeming quality.

Do you have one? Where did you find a shower curtain wide enough for it? I cant seem to find a way to shower without soaking the bathroom floor.

How do you store your soap/bathy things? Do you know of a useful storage caddy that will work for this type of tub? Should I just get used to this thing being a pain in the neck?

Any tips/anecdotes are helpful. Thanks!

Assume that I don't want to make gin

mumkin — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:53:36 -0800

Bathroom remodel question: does one really need a bathtub? I'm thinking of redoing our bathroom and am considering my options. While aesthetically I'm inclined to claw-footed double-ended enameled slipper tubs with outré Victorian hardware, they're pretty frivolously impractical. Indeed, having any bathtub at all seems pretty impractical, since both of us are shower people. The curved sides and narrow width of shower baths have always annoyed me, and I'd really just like to rip out our existing tub and replace it with a walk-in shower. We could probably squeeze a shower and a tub in, but it'd be tight, the size of the shower would suffer, and I'd rather just do without the tub.

Would this be a terrible design decision? Tubs seem like a relic of bygone bathing customs, but would I be shooting myself in the foot? Obviously there are bath-loving people who wouldn't want to buy my house if it lacked a tub, but are they a significant constituency? Is the ideal of a long, warm bubble-bath soak—even if it's something you never do—sufficient reason to build in an unused tub? Are there other reasons to have a tub? We don't have kids, but it's possible we might make one someday... do you need a conventional bathtub for children? What am I overlooking?

Seen any pretty shower curtains?

lester the unlikely — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:50:49 -0800

Seen any pretty shower curtains? Bonus points for colorful, abstract designs. (Also, are there any tricks to keep mildew from savaging the part that drags against the tub?)

What in the world is wrong with our bathroom shower?

geeky — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:19:23 -0800

What in the world is wrong with our bathroom shower? When I turn on the faucet in the bathtub, the water runs just fine. Plenty of water pressure there (and plenty throughout the rest of the house). However, when I pull the lever to divert the water to the shower head, the water only trickles out of the shower head. No water comes out of the faucet once the shower is on. Shutting off the water and restarting the shower will sometimes result in slightly better water flow, but still nowhere near normal levels.

The house and shower are relatively new (8 years old). The shower head is brand new as it was replaced by the previous owner right before we moved in (the old shower head had errant spray). I don't remember noticing any problems with water flow during the inspection.

Is this a shower head problem, a diverter problem, some other part problem or should we stop guessing and just call a plumber already?

Please help us avoid mold in the attic.

trillian — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:57:54 -0800

We just bought a house, and the bathroom fan currently vents into the attic. I know this isn't good, and I have done a bunch of googling, but I still have questions. Like: who should do the work -- a roofer, a handyman, someone else? Is it better to vent through the roof or through the wall, as our handyman suggests? Any other things I should know?

Why does #1 make me cold and awake, but #2 makes me hot and sleepy?

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:51:43 -0800

This question has to do with number 1 and number 2. So if you're not interested in reading about bathroom things skip this question. Basically, I have noticed the following about myself:

When I have to pee, I feel colder than normal. I also have a hard time falling asleep, and will often wake up if I was sleeping.

When I have to poo, I feel hotter than normal. I also often feel a bit sleepy or lethargic.

I do know that lots of people wake up when they have to pee. Other than that I have no idea whether these are common symptoms or not.

My questions are:

Are these common symptoms?
Why would my (or any) body react in opposite fashion to these two somewhat related activities?

Help me find new soap dish holders for my tiled walls

acoutu — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:01:07 -0800

How can I fix a peeling soap dish in my tile? Both of my bathrooms have soap dishes or soap holders built into the wall. The dishes are peeling and starting to rust (where exposed). I have not been able to find lookalike (or even same size) soap dishes anywhere. I've been to a lot of tile stores, bathroom stores, hardware stores, etc.

I can't just paint the dishes myself. This is a pretty upscale condo in an even more upscale neighbourhood. Whatever I do has to look good.
I don't want to retile the bathrooms. I've got small kids and I have been through the process of demo and retiling before. I also don't want to be paying big bucks to replace tiny soak dish folders. The current tile is in excellent condition.
In a best case scenario, I would simply find soap dishes that fit and put them in. It looks like I can just undo a screw and take them out.
I'd be willing to consider electroplating, dipping or some other professional service. However, I don't know anything about that, let alone where to find someone to do it. I'm in Vancouver, Canada.

Any suggestions for what I can do? Thanks.

How to tile a bathroom?

beccaj — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:51:53 -0800

I'm doing my bathroom over with marble for the floor and tub/shower surround area. How do I trim that area around the tub/shower? Like where the marble tile meets the wall? My friend/carpenter guy wants me to get a trim tile but I dont think there is one that goes SPECIFICALLY with this 12" by 12" marble I'm picking up at home depot... Help I dont want it to be ugly?

You want the truth..? You can't handle the truth!

mu~ha~ha~ha~har — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:49:56 -0800

I have about a week or so to find some of this carpet. Yep, it is that stuff that's everywhere. You probably even have 3 rolls of it under your house as we speak. It's almost safe to say, at some point, you really did have like 3 rolls of it - what did you do with them?!! Where should I inquire about getting a scrap of it?? (30cm/12inch -sq.) Demolition.. people? The dump? Is there like an Elephants Graveyard but for carpet?? Also.. I need a hand with repairing melamine/laminex?? ( Bathroom vanity and a cupboard). And (omg!) this blind ( /s)... It's about 10x4 inches of absolute scorched earth toast and it's pretty much dead center of the room. (There were factors. We were all involved.. except for any cats at all though, which was a nice change.)

There is nothing to work with here, though if I can find something that's close enough, I'll definitely be able to do something with that.
Where/who should I be asking (Brisbane, QLD)
and/or does anybody happen to know what that carpet is called??

Now,
*For the cupboard I was thinking super-glue, vice grips and some white tape? Would there be a better way?
*The vanity... Get it back to white and then sculpt new edges using.. *something that dries white and hard*.
What would this product be??

(I will run it by SO but I'd like to open the topic with the answers.)
So again - any better ideas would be tremendous!!

*And the blinds... my god. The cats (they're always doin' somethin') - aren't on the lease so I am being ultra anal about leaving no trace of them. Hairy blinds were at the top of my cat related concerns list. (Now it's on a different list... grrr!)
I didn't use anything harsh on them but I sure was horrified when they dried.
The filth that came off them was brown/red/yellow... not at all blue related. I did use a little bio-zet because it's neat on colours so it's possible that the sun bleached bit... but shit!! These are the blinds from the room beside it. Yeah.. O-M-G!!

I also washed a pale, creamy coloured one the same way after (but with much more opportunity for disasters!!) and it's come up freakin' fantastic. But, of course, the remaining four are blue.
What can I do?? (..paint?? It'll be possible but not without both much tedium AND suspense.) Ugh!! I'm just trying to get my bond back!

*There are also yellow marks from a table on the vinyl floor. (I think it's vinyl?) It's stained like rust would, only it's yellow and has so far withstood various application methods and combinations of -
Gumption, Domestos, Bi-Carb (/+vinegar), toothpaste, sugarsoap, morning fresh, bio-zet, napisan, CD scratch repair, magic eraser, a whisper of nail polish remover (that seemed effective yet I got it off quick-smart and I'm hesitant to try it again). Oh and diluted degreaser stuff SO had.
So what can I try now?

i see your schwartz is as big as mine

edjusted — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:08:28 -0800

Certain people in our office *have* to talk to me if we're in the bathroom at the same time. No, they can't come into my office before or after, they just have to talk to me while we're in the freaking bathroom. What's a good way to politely but firmly tell them "hey, let's talk shop outside of the bathroom, when I'm not holding my private bits!" I mean, I'm not the kind of guy that thinks it's gross or anything like that. But I think it's kind'a rude and a real imposition.

Name that Tile!

sluggo — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:40:12 -0800

I'm looking for some way to find (or at least ask google) about an oddly-shaped ceramic tile I recently saw. I saw these tiles in a restroom that looked pretty recently-remodeled, so I think they should be findable - but I can't for the life of me figure out a way to google this one. I would describe the shape of the tile as kind of "bone-shaped", but please see this badly drawn image for reference (the tiles are the orange part, and the black would be grout).

I'm thinking of using something like this to redo my bathroom, but need a way to find these things. If you know what they are called or (even better) where to find them, let me know. Thanks!

Make the buzzing stop!

LN — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:17:54 -0800

Help me de-eighties my bathroom lights! I have heinous fluorescent lighting in my bathroom - the long bulbs, drop-ceiling kind of fluorescent lighting. It buzzes and flickers, and just generally makes everything look awful. I'd like to replace it with something more appealing. Hive mind, please make suggestions as to what kind of lighting I can get!

Here are the specifics:
-There is no window in this room. The room is pitch black without some kind of lighting.
-The fluorescents were part of the original house design (early 80's), meaning that there is a foot-high, 6 inch deep gyproc barrier coming down from the ceiling to hold the support rails for the lighting panels. I am not looking to knock this barrier out right now, so any replacement lighting will be "sunken" into this recessed area in the ceiling.
- inside the panels, there is one light fixture, containing two bulbs. This fixture is just the same size as the kind of fluorescent fixtures they use in offices.
-The fixture is "fed" by a single electrical cord coming out of the ceiling, but it's not centred. The electrical cord is in the ceiling near the door, on my right as I look up at the fixture. It's right over the bathroom sink, if that helps any.

Any suggestions on how to de-eighties my bathroom lights would be much appreciated!

(I don't have pics as of yet, I'll post some when I go home tonight.)

Can I make bathroom ceiling mold go away?

davebush — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:15:02 -0800

The previous owners of my house obviously painted the bathroom ceiling with the wrong kind of paint. I now have extensive mold growth. Do I have any options, other than ripping the ceiling out and starting over? Ideally, there'd be some sort of mold-killing sealant or barrier I could apply before repainting. Am I screwed?

Who keeps clogging the toilet, and why?

dubold — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:57:59 -0800

[ToiletMysteryFilter]Why would someone clog a public toilet with paper every day? I work in an older building in NYC. The offices do not have individual bathrooms; there is a restroom for each gender, and each office has keys.

After I arrive at work, I go to use the facilities. For the last several months, every day, sometime between 9:30 and 10:00, the left-most stall has a great deal of toilet paper in the bowl. It is usually in a distinctive layout - it looks like it was being used to prevent contact with the seat, as well as wadded up and tossed in the bowl. I am estimating 1/5th to 1/3 of a roll is used per visit. It also looks as if there is urine in the bowl. If there is feces in the bowl, it is completely covered and not visible. Attempts to flush the toilet usually result in blockage and overflow.

I suspect it is the same person every time for two reasons. One: it's the same approx quantity and dispersal of paper every time. Two: It's about the same time every day. If I'm there before 9:30 or so, the toilet is empty. Between 9:30 and 10:00 it is plugged.

So why do I care? It's mildly inconvenient for me - only one other stall and the urinal is usable - but I would imagine terribly frustrating for the cleaning staff. For a couple weeks a plunger was left in the restroom, but that's disappeared.

I had thought about just leaving a note - something along the lines of "Hi, please stop putting so much toilet paper in the bowl".

The only thing that prevented me from leaving a note right away: there are a lot of different folks from various countries in the building. From previous Metafilter threads, I have ascertained that not everyone has the same toilet practices - is there some cultural/regional thing that I should be aware of here?

A couple years ago, we were finding water all over the floor of the bathroom, and it turned out that a couple men in the building were observant Muslims who used the sinks to wash before prayer. Obviously this is a slightly different condition, but if there's some cultural practice at work, I'll just bite my tongue and deal with it.

Before this started, I was talking to another tenant in the building, and he told me that someone was clogging a toilet on his floor daily. He described a similar condition. About 2 months later, it started on this floor.

Anyone have any clue as to what's going on here?

Honey, does this paint make me look blotchy?

notashroom — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:47:58 -0800

VanityFilter: What color(s?) should I paint my two-part bathroom? The hall bath in my house is a two-parter: first, single sink and longish vanity (6' or so) with white laminate countertop flecked with light sagey-green, through a door are the tub-shower combo and throne. Plumbing fixtures are chrome and will stay. Doorknobs, tp holder, switchplates, and light fixtures are brass and will probably go. Floor is off-white tile in second part, beige linoleum in first (which will probably be replaced).

Bathroom when we moved in was navy, forest green, and burgundy plaid wallpaper above chairrail molding and burgundy paint below in first section, burgundy paint only in second section, with dark wallpaper border all around. We've removed the wallpaper and molding, leaving us with a burgundy and pepto-pink bathroom. The bathroom has one small window above the throne which faces a shady yard, and gets little natural or ambient light.

I don't want to paint the room white or any dark shade. I was leaning toward a light green to coordinate with the countertop, but my face tends to get pinkish-reddish areas from time to time, which I use green concealer to tone down, and I don't want the wall color reflected in the mirror to make those more difficult to discern and cover (or conversely, to blow them out of proportion). Would the green be likely to have that effect? I could also be persuaded to an orange, pale yellow, taupe/tan, or blue hue, but want to avoid pinks, reds, and purples altogether.

Specific examples/links would be great, but general feedback is also appreciated.

What do you think, hive mind?

Who do I call about bathroom mushrooms?

GrumpyMonkey — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:51:54 -0800

2 part question: 1) We found a mushroom in the bathroom this morning. I crawled into the crawlspace and pulled down the insulation and the subflooring (?) is all wet. I know I need to call someone but is it a plumber, a handyman or a hazmat team? Everything I have read (including this) just say "call a professional". 2) Is this something which I should file a homeowners insurance claim on (AllState)? My wife thinks that doing that will just make our rates go up and eventually cause us to get blacklisted by the insurance company. I think that I have insurance for just such an occasion. And yes, I am totally freaked out and disgusted by this and worried that it explains why my son and I both wake up with headaches and congestion every morning.

Redoing Bathroom Without Taking a Bath

Xurando — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:40:33 -0800

Bathroom Renovation Filter: DIY vs. Contractor We are planning for a bathroom renovation. We would like to keep the cost under $2000. We are replacing a vanity/sink fiberglass shower unit, and tiling floors. I think the hardware will be half the cost. I am concerned about the cost of labor.

When I look at the overall project, my brain says "I can do that." Can I really? What haven't I considered? In the end would I be better off just hiring a plumbing contractor and biting the bullet?

Bonus points for links to inexpensive beautiful, practical bathroom fixtures.

Morbid obesity bathroom logistics

forallmankind — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 10:42:29 -0800

I recently watched BodyShock: Half Ton Man & BodyShock: Half Ton Mum. How do people of this size go to the bathroom? In the first documentary they touch on how Patrick is so big he'd never had sex with his wife. In the second, Renee was so big she'd been in bed for 4 years. Renee also says, "Most people of this weight cannot move around at all."

Watching either documentary you find yourself wondering how natural functions are carried out, but neither discuss it.

I'm looking for answers perhaps from healthcare professionals or those with some sort of experience of this condition, but certainly none from comedians. Thanks.

Can you get rid of the stink in your pipes?

HerOdyssey — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:02:10 -0800

Mystery Sulphuric Pong When we moved into our home, we noticed that particularly in our bathroom, if you take a shower, you come out wrapped in the fine aroma of boiled egg. It's very enticing.

We went to our water board, and asked if there was any issue with the water supply, and we were told that it was treated, and the problem was with our water heater.

We flushed our old water-heater, and then since it was old and a power-gobbler, we went and got a spanking new water heater, and the aroma persists. It's not constant, but it's pretty frequent. It's not hideously strong, but noticeable (and embarrassing when we have people over). It's only in the shower. Not in the kitchen, not in the bathroom sink.

Is it our drain? Our pipes? Can it be fixed without tearing out the shower enclosure? Can anyone tell me the cause?

Help?!

HerOdy

What's Taking So Long in There?

Gucky — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:03:25 -0800

What do people do in public bathrooms (besides the obvious) that takes so long? Why am I quicker at it? I've had a number of people comment to me -- coworkers, friends, my husband -- that I take an inordinately short time to use the bathroom. Particularly in a not-at-home context.

If I go into the girls room at the same time as a male coworker goes into the guys room, I'm waiting for him outside (much to his apparent surprise). If I go into the bathroom at the same time as a girl, I'm done *long* before.

I'm a girl. Yes, I wash my hands. And use soap. Every single time (if there's soap to be had). I dry my hands, but quickly. I don't use a paper towel to open the bathroom door. I don't use those froofy seat covers, but those can't take an extra full minute, right?

I wear either jeans or a skirt with tights, so it's not a fast access thing. I don't touch up makeup, but since I'm beating boys as well as girls, that's not an issue, right?

Am I just less bladder shy than the rest of the universe? Is there some magical bathroom hokey pokey I'm supposed to do once I get into a stall that I'm missing out on?