Urinal Aiming
June 24, 2004 7:12 AM Subscribe
UrineFilter: What is the best place to aim in a standard wall-based men's urinal to minimize spray (on yourself)?
Mayor, there's usually no water line in a wall-based urinal.
I would say, anywhere but the cake, which will kick up a lot of spray. And stand back as far as practical, then take one graceful step forward as your spray dies away.
This is why the urinals at Wrigley Field are the best. Something about peeing into a huge stainless steel communal trough just seems very sanitary to me.
Also, how many times do you have to shake it before you're playing with it? Is it two? Three?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:35 AM on June 24, 2004
I would say, anywhere but the cake, which will kick up a lot of spray. And stand back as far as practical, then take one graceful step forward as your spray dies away.
This is why the urinals at Wrigley Field are the best. Something about peeing into a huge stainless steel communal trough just seems very sanitary to me.
Also, how many times do you have to shake it before you're playing with it? Is it two? Three?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:35 AM on June 24, 2004
Mayor, there's usually no water line in a wall-based urinal.
I haven't seen one with just a metal grate in years. You guys must go to some seedy bars.
fun fact: In New England, a urinal is usually referred to as a "bubbler," and we take great prode in them. It's traditional, after you urinate, to tell anyone in earshot that you "just pissed in the bubbler." Try it the next time you visit.
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:43 AM on June 24, 2004
I haven't seen one with just a metal grate in years. You guys must go to some seedy bars.
fun fact: In New England, a urinal is usually referred to as a "bubbler," and we take great prode in them. It's traditional, after you urinate, to tell anyone in earshot that you "just pissed in the bubbler." Try it the next time you visit.
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:43 AM on June 24, 2004
No matter how much you shake and dance, the last few drops always land in your pants.
posted by emelenjr at 7:43 AM on June 24, 2004
posted by emelenjr at 7:43 AM on June 24, 2004
According to Cecil Adams, you should aim for the back wall.
The rear wall of the typical urinal is parabolic in cross section when viewed from above, and the porcelain finish is conducive to laminar flow. The principles of fluid dynamics tell us that a fluid striking a smooth surface at an oblique angle will tend to flow along that surface. Assuming the source of the fluid is near the focal point of the parabola--and modesty makes it unlikely he'll stray too far--the fluid will run straight down the urinal wall with little or no splashing.
...management at the international terminal of New York's Kennedy airport specified that the image of a black fly be printed on the porcelain at the center of the back wall of every urinal. When given a target, it seems, men instinctively aim at it. The fly was originally introduced at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, where it supposedly reduced spillage by 80 percent.
posted by hootch at 7:45 AM on June 24, 2004
The rear wall of the typical urinal is parabolic in cross section when viewed from above, and the porcelain finish is conducive to laminar flow. The principles of fluid dynamics tell us that a fluid striking a smooth surface at an oblique angle will tend to flow along that surface. Assuming the source of the fluid is near the focal point of the parabola--and modesty makes it unlikely he'll stray too far--the fluid will run straight down the urinal wall with little or no splashing.
...management at the international terminal of New York's Kennedy airport specified that the image of a black fly be printed on the porcelain at the center of the back wall of every urinal. When given a target, it seems, men instinctively aim at it. The fly was originally introduced at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, where it supposedly reduced spillage by 80 percent.
posted by hootch at 7:45 AM on June 24, 2004
Tangentially related - 15 things you hope never happen to you in a urinal, shot entirely with a Game Boy camera.
Also - this guy might want to be notified about the answers to this question.
posted by iconomy at 7:55 AM on June 24, 2004
Also - this guy might want to be notified about the answers to this question.
posted by iconomy at 7:55 AM on June 24, 2004
You could just work on overcoming your social conditioning and go and sit down if you're that worried about splashes.
stupidsexyFlanders: As we say around here - more than three's a wank.
posted by biffa at 8:04 AM on June 24, 2004
stupidsexyFlanders: As we say around here - more than three's a wank.
posted by biffa at 8:04 AM on June 24, 2004
Imho, it's usually best along the curved side - the more oblique the angle of attack, the less reactive splatter. Also, the stream is still more coherent, nearer to the source, so additional splashing is minimized.
Never verbalized (textalized) that before.
posted by kokogiak at 8:15 AM on June 24, 2004 [1 favorite]
Never verbalized (textalized) that before.
posted by kokogiak at 8:15 AM on June 24, 2004 [1 favorite]
Keep your angle of incidence as low as possible. Avoid any standing water.
posted by crumbly at 8:15 AM on June 24, 2004
posted by crumbly at 8:15 AM on June 24, 2004
There's a great scene in The Last Emperor in which the Emperor, now thoroughly humbled and living in prison, is told by an irate guard to piss against the side of the bucket, becauses otherwise the splashing sound wakes up the other prisoners and ticks them off.
posted by Shane at 8:32 AM on June 24, 2004
posted by Shane at 8:32 AM on June 24, 2004
I'm with kokogiak, though I have absolutely no empirical evidence to back it up.
FWIW, I love this question. It's what AskMe was born for.
Related question: When peeing at someone's house (or at your own, or anywhere where there are people in earshot), what do you do with a toilet that stores a lot of water in the bowl, which makes for a noisy time? Do you just let it ride and act casual? Sit? Have really good aim?
posted by mkultra at 10:16 AM on June 24, 2004
FWIW, I love this question. It's what AskMe was born for.
Related question: When peeing at someone's house (or at your own, or anywhere where there are people in earshot), what do you do with a toilet that stores a lot of water in the bowl, which makes for a noisy time? Do you just let it ride and act casual? Sit? Have really good aim?
posted by mkultra at 10:16 AM on June 24, 2004
mkultra: I experienced this last night. I just tried to aim above the water right onto the porcelin, and then midstream, I flushed so to drown out any extra noise I made finishing.
posted by Quartermass at 10:35 AM on June 24, 2004
posted by Quartermass at 10:35 AM on June 24, 2004
yep , i get that last emperor scene in my head everytime i go .
posted by sgt.serenity at 10:45 AM on June 24, 2004
posted by sgt.serenity at 10:45 AM on June 24, 2004
You could just work on overcoming your social conditioning and go and sit down if you're that worried about splashes.
In a public shitter? Where there self-aware angry turds lurking in the bowl, just waiting for you to put your tender flesh within biting distance? Where germs the size of golden retrievers cavort on the toilet seat? Ugh.
Pissing in the toilet instead of the urinal is the a-number-one option for avoiding splashback, but you won't find my lily-white ass kissing a public toilet's seat unless it's the Hour of the Angry Colon and there's just no alternative.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:37 AM on June 24, 2004
In a public shitter? Where there self-aware angry turds lurking in the bowl, just waiting for you to put your tender flesh within biting distance? Where germs the size of golden retrievers cavort on the toilet seat? Ugh.
Pissing in the toilet instead of the urinal is the a-number-one option for avoiding splashback, but you won't find my lily-white ass kissing a public toilet's seat unless it's the Hour of the Angry Colon and there's just no alternative.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:37 AM on June 24, 2004
Response by poster: It's funny that your username is pissfactory.
Coincidence. It was a name of a local band that I stole.
posted by pissfactory at 11:44 AM on June 24, 2004
Coincidence. It was a name of a local band that I stole.
posted by pissfactory at 11:44 AM on June 24, 2004
Yikes, I also live in New England and call sometimes call a water fountain a bubbler... I hope I'm not mixing these things up!
posted by themadjuggler at 11:50 AM on June 24, 2004
posted by themadjuggler at 11:50 AM on June 24, 2004
Some amazingly flowery descriptive text in this thread, considering the subject matter ;)
posted by kokogiak at 11:53 AM on June 24, 2004
posted by kokogiak at 11:53 AM on June 24, 2004
fun fact: In New England, a urinal is usually referred to as a "bubbler," and we take great prode in them. It's traditional, after you urinate, to tell anyone in earshot that you "just pissed in the bubbler." Try it the next time you visit.
Brilliant.
Yikes, I also live in New England and call sometimes call a water fountain a bubbler... I hope I'm not mixing these things up!
Not brilliant.
posted by rorycberger at 5:09 PM on June 24, 2004
Brilliant.
Yikes, I also live in New England and call sometimes call a water fountain a bubbler... I hope I'm not mixing these things up!
Not brilliant.
posted by rorycberger at 5:09 PM on June 24, 2004
rory, it's possible the juggler's just more meta than thou... I can never tell these days what's cluelessness and what's intended as another layer to a joke.
posted by mdn at 6:47 PM on June 24, 2004
posted by mdn at 6:47 PM on June 24, 2004
Self-aware angry turds? Hour of the Angry Colon...? ROU_X, you made my day - a true ROTF AskMe moment. Thanks! :D
posted by Lynsey at 7:37 PM on June 24, 2004
posted by Lynsey at 7:37 PM on June 24, 2004
ROU_, LOL, I just about spewed beer out my nose.
(its my first one, I think I'm still safe for mefi)
posted by jmgorman at 7:48 PM on June 24, 2004
(its my first one, I think I'm still safe for mefi)
posted by jmgorman at 7:48 PM on June 24, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:18 AM on June 24, 2004