a wee problem

Oh Petunia you did make me laugh. But at the same time it wasn't funny especially for you! As a frequent IBS sufferer I spend a LOT of time in public loos, and in our locality I have my favourites - if I can get to them in time! But far too many ladies loos are badly designed and far too cramped. I suppose they don't want to give any more floor space to them than they have to. The lack of a shelf (for bag) or a coat hook is deplorable, and those paper dispensers that only release one small piece of tissue at a time drive me nuts! Because of the IBS I always have oodles of tissues with me but I then have to put my bag on the (often wet) floor or my lap to get at them. And then there's the locks (if there is one at all!) they either don't lock or won't let you out. I offen hear Mums with toddlers struggling and cursing in a small loo. Perhaps we should all start a National campaign for improvements.

I loathe public loos that have a push-button flush instead of an old fashioned sturdy handle.

They rarely bloody work.

Reading through these comments it is clear that many loos are not designed. There will be drawings maybe for the builder, but few loos seem to have had thought about who and how they will be used. Doors opening outwards with no lock, highly polished floors, opaque doors,those bloody stupid paper dispensers that issue half a sheet of torn paper, no hooks, no space, gaps down the sides of the door....I could go on. And once the loos are installed, as an afterthought to the women who will use them, a sanitary bin is crammed into the cubicle presenting yet another obstacle.

May I add hand dryers in a supposedly child friendly establishment which are far to high to dry the hands of a small person, dryers that are so noisy and fierce that the small person refuses to have their hands dried. Baby changing facilities placed so awkwardly that it blocks off one of the cubicles.

Rant over

My major gripe is that if I have a bag and a coat that I need to take off the hook behind the door will seldom hold both. It is very difficult to have a wee trying to hold a big coat and not a good idea to put the bag on the floor. If we eat out I always review on Tripadvisor and I do take the state of the loos into account.

I think public lavatories in the UK need to take a leaf out of the loos in Asia. Firstly they are significantly larger cubicles, plus they have a seat with strap, where the little ones can sit whilst you are doing 'your business'. The loos are cleaned as soon as you leave them, including the seat for the little ones. An altogether must calmer experience

If there is a toilet for the disabled use it, as there is always more space.
Obviously most public toilets are designed by thin young men, who don't care about fat old ladies.
On a coach trip in Italy the driver informed us that we should all have 3 euros in hand as we would be charged at the next stop. Practically everybody on board chose to use the coach loo. Then the driver complained because there are very few places abroad where coaches can empty the toilets. A few of the passengers pointed out that the coach company expressly advertised that their coaches had loos. Why shouldn't everybody use them? There was a big row between some passengers and the driver, which resulted in the driver not being tipped. We were asked by irate passengers to sign a petition about the driver, which we declined to do. Next I heard was the driver was sacked.

here's my loo story. We were on a coach trip in Italy. We stopped at a large service station for a comfort break. Everyone got off the coach. When the women arrived at the female toilets we were told they were out of order and we should use the mens. We all went into the cubicles. As we came out, the men from the coach were at the urinals in full flow! They hadn't realised the ladies were in there. It was so embarrassing, we didn't make eye contact as we passed them by.

Inishowen, it is not their eyes you need to avoid looking at !
Gransal, congratulations on the new grandchild.

DanniRae, have seen lots of loos like that in other countries but why, oh why don't they use them on planes? It would make travel much pleasanter.

My pet hate in public toilets is the roll dispensers. So often they are difficult to move. I land up with tiny bits of paper on the floor, and the roll not budging. Is it me?

Petunia, your story made me laugh and reminded me of something similar happening to me. I was 8 months pregnant. With friends and our 4 year old DD, we were having a drink in a pub garden, when a youth kicked his football into our table, spilling a pint of best bitter all over me. As luck would have it, our friend Julie had brought me one of those flowing Indian dresses to borrow during the last few weeks of my enormity. So I went to the loo to change into the dry dress, and DD insisted on coming too (of course). We couldn't both fit into the cubicle, so I told DD to stand outside, but with her hand holding the door as much shut as possible. Probably wisely, she didn't want me out of her sight, and insisted on holding the door wide open. When I objected to my nakedness being on view, she said "It doesn't matter mummy...no-one knows who you are" !!

The public toilet in our local library is beautifully clean, the toilet roll can be reached by the handicapped, as it is fixed to the arm supports at the toilet, and there are two spotless plastic potties!

I've never before seen a public toilet that had potties, but what a good idea.

The hand wash basin can be reached by children and those in wheelchairs. Paper towels can also be reached.

What gets me is that public loo doors need you to use a handle to open them when you leave AFTER having washed your hands, whereas to enter, you just need to ‘shoulder’ the door. Surely it should be the other way round in the interests of hygiene?

Love that lavatory B9 not sure I would want to follow the person who took the enema option. !!

I think toilets are designed by men on paper.
During my long life I have encountered very many toilets. I remember that when I was a child you had to put a penny in a slot, hence spend a penny. There was also an attendant who would wipe the seat before use.
In Europe in the fifties it was common to have unisex loos and one had to pass the urinals to get to the cubicles. One camp site in France had a plank with holes over a pit. Then there were the footprint loos where one had to squat right down . Always very smelly. Stopped at a garage once and my husband asked where the toilet was and the man pointed to a wall in full view of the road.
Now I have to use a scooter and therefore a disabled toilet. The doors open outward. Have to dismount to open the door. By the time I get back on to the scooter the door has closed.

I open the door with either my sleeve or a tissue over my newly-washed hands. There is no point in touching a filthy door when countless others haven't bothered to wash after using the loo.

Oh Petunia I feel for you.
There used to be a good loo guide at least to Edinburgh when my DC were young or perhaps it was a chapter in Edinburgh for Children.
It is so important to know you can go without anxiety.
One of my worst was when DD was recently out of nappies and using the loo at home but point blank refused to use the loo at the restaurant we were at.
She couldn't go. Then I'd bring her back to the table only to have her desperate to have a wee or poo.
I can't remember how it ended but she's a grown up now with wee ones of her own.

Where I worked before I retired, all the toilets were equipped with those loo paper dispensers that feed through a tiny hole, just one piece at a time. So annoying!

But we all quickly learned the trick to get a longer piece: you hold the paper between thumb and forefinger right at the opening and pull slowly, moving said thumb and forefinger repeatedly to the opening as paper is dispensed. This way it doesn't tear off at the perforations

At home we can wash our hands before adjusting our clothes , in public loos we have to grab trousers/pants /coat/bag , grapple with the door , then reach the washhand basin ! I know it isn't feasable to have a basin and towels in every cubicle , it just strikes me as a design flaw

I used the disabled loo in M&S lots of handrails etc but no hook for handbag. The sink was dry so popped bag on sink when mid flow I glanced over to see bag floating in sink the taps are operated by a sensor!! Oh how I hate technology ?

I m crying laughing at these situations, what about the huge toilet rolls in the metal container that you can never find the end of, you perch there with tiny pieces all over the loo floor from previous inhabitants

After four coach trips to Europe , I dread coming home to our frankly dirty English loos . Italy, Germany ,Holland and Spain , beautifully clean loos, decent bins, proper loo paper , and somewhere to wash and dry hands .
Back to the uk , rubbish on the floor, sanitary bin under the cheek of your left buttock , Giant loo roll dispenser banging my head on the right (empty) with a soggy loo roll propped on the wet floor , unflushed loo clogged with paper and dribble all over the seats. English loos are usually unhygienic and dirty . I dread having to take my grandchildren

How very British of you all, I always have to check the door opening and closing mechanism before I settle down (well hover actually) horror of getting shut in after unfortunate time in a French loo, nearly getting left behind on a coach trip. I do remember years ago small DGS about 8 years old telling me he was too big and should go in the Gents, ended up dragging him in the ladies, wonder what the latest thinking on that is?

Having just made two long train journeys, with somewhat unhygienic toilet facilities, the toilets in the station didn’t seem so bad in retrospect.

One had those automatic doors, which I didn’t feel very confident about either!

Talking about public toilets reminded me of the time some years ago when my granddaughter was just a few weeks old. Her parents were off to Australia on holiday and needed a photo of the baby for her passport. Daughter and I went to a supermarket where they had a photo machine. Every time we sat in the booth with the baby she started to cry,gave up,went to the ladies to sort her out and the noise of the hand dryer soothed her and sent her to sleep. Back to the photo booth by which time she had woken again and was crying. We must have done the trip to the loo about three time before we managed to get the requisite photo,goodness know what people thought we were doing keep dashing to the loo with this tiny baby.