House rules

A day guest should use the downstairs loo but anyone staying overnight should be able to use facilities on higher floors, though, clearly, only if a main bathroom and not an en-suite one.

Anyone who I’ve invited into my house is welcome to use and of my ‘facilities’.

Same here anja.

It wouldn't worry me at all which bathroom a guest would use. My house is ordinary, clean and tidy. Nothing to surprise an inquisitive guest, especially if they know me well. It's not unusual for an overnight guest to be given our bedroom. I would be uncomfortable if it were a 'stranger' looking around though.

All these pseudo Hyacinths; and not a word about the support army of Richards, keeping their heads down and busy!

I have only one bathroom and so visitors don't get a choice. However, I would deem it to be a compliment if the visitor who used my bathroom on Boxing Day had actually managed to aim for the loo itself and not the floor. and I know who you are.

Katyj I am far from being houseproud, but I clean any loos that have been used each day as a matter of course it only takes a couple of minutes, a wipe and a swish with the loo brush and put loo cleaner in overnight. If nobody has the the guest bathroom upstairs it gets its clean once a week but sometimes a squirt of loo cleaner and a flush to keep it fresh. No big deal.
I suppose if I had children in the house who never seem to remember to flush it might be otherwise.

I just can’t believethis post

My post?
You better believe it!

Who'd want to read anything in a loo? Imagine the bacteria on the pages.
I never have towels in the cloakroom bathroom unless I'm taking a bath or shower as people using the room for toileting purposes would to use them and I don't then want to use them to dry myself. I have a stack of thick flannels by the basin and in a basket plus another basket where guests chuck the flannel after drying their hands. Only £1 for pk of 3.

You mean you wash hand towels after a single use gabriella?
Surely if your guests have washed their hands, all the bacteria, viruses and fungi that they’re apparently harbouring have been washed down the sink?

Do any of you germophobes ever think of the impact your obsessive washing and cleaning is having on the environment?

They are flannels, not hand towels janeainsworth. Large enough for drying hands.
Bacteria breed on damp towels which are hung on a hook and are sometimes quite near the toilet.
Not everyone closes the lid before flushing and not everyone actually uses soap despite you thinking that they would, no matter how well brought up they are.
The flannel basket gets emptied twice a week and laundered with towels on a short hot wash with eco friendly detergent, no fabric conditioner. The fact that my water bills are £144 pa is proof (if any were needed) that I am a careful user of water.

I would say, any workmen to use the downstairs loo, but guests can use whichever they feel comfortable using. Maybe they need to make a certain little noise and would prefer to be isolated.

You should always close the lid to flush. But people don't. Dirty beggars.

Oh Gabrielle what a good idea, never thought of the towels, I feel quite pleased that I hadn't thought of that one.I'm not as fussy as I thought.

Su66, I know what you mean. One of our DILs is the same and it annoys me. She allows little toddler GD to go upstairs but accompanies her - and then opens our bedroom door, on the pretence that the little one wants to see the cat. They go and search all round the room for the cat even though she is likely to be out if the house is noisy. She uses the upstairs bathroom, although we have a loo on the ground floor (I don't mind the upstairs bathroom being used if there is a queue for the loo, and there often is if a number of people are gathered.) Even worse, this year she used our ensuite - saying the bathroom was being used. I had to bite my tongue. I was so cross. She likes to prowl around, even opening the door to the garden on a freezing, grey day. No - you are not being unreasonable.

Who'd want to read anything in a loo? Imagine the bacteria on the page

Don’t see why.
You pick out the book before sitting down
No different from “Farve” disappearing into the downstairs loo with his Daily Telegraph

Honestly, some people are just no fun.
A cousin used to cut out the Times crossword, collect several weeks’ worth, hang them from a hook and leave a basket of those little (free) IKEA pencils for guests to use!

Perhaps this thread should be called Hyacinth’s Rules!

As a microbiologist (retired) I can tell you that there are far more bacteria in the kitchen than in the bathroom, including toilet seat. I used to get students to take samples from various places and they were always surprised how few bacteria there were on toilet seats.

There are hardly any germs in fresh pee, and most guests would only pee when out visiting, so I think being overly fussy about cleaning a toilet after one use is a bit extreme. Using too much toilet cleaner is also harmful to the environment - sewage works and septic tanks rely on bacteria to break down the waste.

However, I think posters who dislike other aspects of guests using an upstairs bathroom when there's a perfectly good one downstairs, have a point. I don't like the idea of someone poking around in my bedroom either.

Farmor Thank you for your post.
The fragrant aroma of common sense and scientific knowledge in the same post!
I may need to lie down!

I am no scientist but I do have basic common sense. Also I have worked in Primary schools , eaten alongside 100s of different children, changed the soggy ( & worse) pants of various young kiddies, wiped their noses etc etc! AND survived! Not sure how those poor nurses and care assistants manage! Really! what kind of friends and family do you have that it requires you to clean toilets each time they use them!?

My ensuite bathroom is a storage room for all my beauty buys....if they could climb their way to reach the loo, fair play to them!

We have three bedrooms each with an en-suite. So no 'public' toilet. What would you do then with visitors?

It's all in the mind I think - I am not fussy and happy to let DGS drink his bath water and all the other delightful things toddlers do BUT I hate anyone using my loo, especially men. There is no rational explanation other than that I have lived alone for over 20 years and it feels like an invasion of my privacy. If anyone else uses it I give it a thorough clean the minute they leave. I just assumed everyone was like me and try not to use other people's toilets if it can be avoided.

but beau do you leave toilets in need of sluicing? Why do you think others would!