Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with loo

HygieneFilter: should I always use soap when washing my hands?

XiBe — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:56:19 -0800

HygieneFilter: must I always use soap when washing my hands? My view is, I take a shower every day, hence my hands are cleaned everyday, because I use them to soap-up the rest of my body. Soap on hand = clean hands.

So, no need to wash my hands with soap before/after usual daily tasks, only if I get my hands dirty (before&after eating a burger, after fixing a pipe, before cuddling a baby, after cuddling a dog). For other daily tasks, I tend to rely on a rule of thumb of a good wash up with water and an inversion of the 42 seconds rule (ahem).

Case in point: the g/f saw me just washing my hand (w/o soap) after a quick pee, and insisted on my using soap (not just water) everytime from now on.

While I know it's more hygienic to soap-up rather than just water-up my post-loo hands, I always felt I was able to tell when my hands needed more than just watering, and thus was able to go about my duties faster

I know she's right about it, obviously, but am I that much wrong about my asumption?

flushfilter: why is my toilet having a hissy fit? video inside

razzman — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:58:27 -0800

All of a sudden my toilet hisses when I flush it. As well as being an annoying sound, it also refills the tank very slowly. I'm no handyman but I'm loathe to pay a plumber if it's something simple I can fix myself. In the video I push the float down to demonstrate what happens on flush. Any ideas? flush video

Sanitised for your protection

twine42 — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 08:37:55 -0800

How bad for your health are toilet seats? I got thinking about toilet seats being 'sanitised for your protection'. I know that loo seats are crawling with bugs and bacteria but what real nasties are there on them and does having a sanitied loo seat (or wrapping it in loo roll) actually reduce the chances of catching something nasty?

How dangerous are loo seats compared to (for example) the taps/faucets on the bathroom basin - which everyone covers in germs, washes their hands and then collects the germs again?

Do you go to the toilet in front of your partner?

benzo8 — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 10:49:05 -0800

Do you go to the toilet in front of your partner? I mean, you see it all the time on movies and it's supposed to show (I guess) that the couple are relaxed and open with each other. But I've been with my girlfriend for five years and we're very open, very into each other (still), and yet I would never consider going to the toilet in front of her (number 1s, or number 2s) and would be, erm, disturbed if she did in front of me. So, are we strange and squeamish, or is TV/film skewing the field?