Toilets, why are they not better designed?

Airport toilets are a nightmare if you are travelling with only cabin baggage - just a small suitcase for me. You have to squeeze yourself and your bag in and then try to close the inward-opening door. Getting out again is just as awkward.

I remember going to Kefalonia about 13 years ago with friends who had 2 daughters. We were in a restaurant and one of the girls went to the loo, she came back and whispered something to her sister who immediately followed her to the loo. Then they both came back and my son went to the loo with them! When all three returned giggling we managed to get out of them that the toilet was self cleaning. When you flushed, the seat circulated and was wiped by a disposable wipe, this was then dropped into the pan then a brush cleaned the pan and the toilet flushed again. If I remember correctly it came from Switzerland, or maybe Sweden. And amazingly in a little restaurant on a smallish Greek island!

I’m not sure I’d feel safe using a loo that was connected to electricity! ⚡️ ⚡️

I seem to recall a public toilet in a northern city which was self cleaning. It was not free, and I did not dare to use it in case the flush happened whilst I was inside, as I did not want to get soaked.

Where did you get it from? Doing up my downstairs toilet and would love one that’s easier to clean in such a small space!

Sorry that’s for Peasbottom

Sorry Peasblossom!

Willow I was just about to ask the same question.

Please do tell us the brand of your lovely loo Peasbottom

I meant Peasblossom !! Oh dear

I used a public toilet, can’t remember where, but in this country. It was designed to have no seat at all, and it was immaculately clean. It did occur to me why do they have seats anyway? Is plastic very much warmer on the bum than porcelain? No nooks and crannies.

Some years ago I had a holiday travelling around South Africa, the cleanest public conveniences on the planet, probably because every single one had an attendant who obviously took huge pride in her job.

I was a cleaner in a pub, a secondary school and a nursery. I'm unsure which was the worst. We weren't allowed to use bleach in the nursery so did the best we could with the items at our disposal.

Agreed, there are too many twiddly bits to negotiate.

There used to be what were called self clean toilets in some town centres in a sort of kiosk thing that used to stand usually in the middle of the street.
They were a bit strange as they looked like porta loos - you went into the compartment and after you had finished whatever, you had to step away from the pan and it sort of rotated under running water and was cleaned, then when you stepped out of the kiosk completely, the floor etc was showered , cleaned, then dried with hot air!
I don't think they were that successful as I think most have now been removed and if I remember you had to pay to use them anyway!

You know that something has been designed by a man if it is not easily cleanable.

I have been to self cleaning toilets in France and that was about 20 years ago!

In our last house we had a wall-mounted loo with a concealed cistern. The outside was smooth with no nooks and crannies and the ceramic had some sort of finish that made it easy to keep clean. Also we had a water softener which completely eliminated limescale and kept the cistern from furring up.
Obviously there are disgustingly filthy people around who will foul up a toilet whatever you do to make it easier to clean. I think with horror of my two DSs who made everything so smelly, but they do grow up.

When I was on our nursery committee, I used to have to go in to clean the village hall after a fundraising dance. Not sure why, but I always used to get allocated the men’s toilets! Euggghhh!! This was in the days of smoking, so also cigarette butts floating about in the beer and ??? soaked floors! (I did have three sons, so maybe the other committee members thought I’d be immune to the smelly mess )…

I know there are and have been fir years toilets in Japan that clean YOU. No need for toilet paper. Water spray then air for drying. The toilets in my house have the U bend hidden, all fitted behind units, no screws on floors, seats are removable and a these are not recent installations. Public toilets have to be robust and easy to repair hence the basic designs installed.

I was a toilet cleaner in my youf! It was in a home for the elderly and could be quite revolting. When I started I was squeamish, by the time I finished I had a stomach of iron.
I hate cleaning the toilet. Peablossom, I think we need a link to that specific toilet to see if we can all get them. The only way we will get change is to buy the ones that are easy to clean, then the ones that trap every bit of dust will become obsolete.

I want to know which idiot designed the seat holders to be silver coated. They blister on contact with urine and look revolting. I use Q tips to try to clean as close to them as possible but they still look dirty. Surely they could design them with washable, removable, covers in a material which doesn't blister!

This is a good thread because it made me remember 1 excited and memorable visit to Monte Carlo casino. I sauntered up the stairs to enter the famous building, i started in owe at the splendour of it all and decided that the toilets must be ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT! ( the public could only roam around part of the casino )

I entered the public loo, it wasn't anywhere near as magnificent as i imagined, in fact it was bog standard SORRRRRRY.... i decided i might as well have a tinkle seeing as i was stood within inches from the pot, so i did, have a tinkle, i flushed the loo and to my horror, witnessed the seat revolve round, an 'arm' grab it and turn it as it was cleaned. Im stood there watching, knickers ½ up and face agog, until i realised "OHHH IT MUST BE 1 OF THOSE SELF-CLEANING LOO'S" ( 1st time i seen 1 )

Soooooo THAT is my experience of fancy toilets and where better than Monte Carlo casino !

It would not solve the problem of cleaning if the u-bend wasn't visible, only lure the public into think a toilet was clean that probably wasn't.

Amsterdam airport has self-flushing toilet - they flush when you move away from them. This must ensure a basic level of cleanliness, as no-one forgets to flush.

You can get toilet seats that do not have edges that are hard to clean, and ones that can easily be removed from the bowl, so that you can clean under the back of the seat.

They are more expensive than the other kind,

Public toilets are cleaned generally speaking by cleaners who are badly paid, and whose supervisor has estimated how many minutes are needed to do any particular job. In order to pay the staff as little as possible (what the firm employing them calls a reasonable wage) you have to work fast.

Usually, however fast you work, you cannot do the job properly in the time alotted - I have cleaned offices and public toilets myself in the past.

To solve the problem of dirty public toilets, three things are necessary:

Installation of easy-to-clean toilets and hand-basins

Pay the staff for the amount of time it takes to do the job properly

Peruade the general public neither to wet the seatn or the floor, nor throw used towels and toilet paper onto the floor instead of disposing of these articles correctly.

If you implement the first two points, a great improvement will be seen. If it should ever become possible to get the public to use a public toilet with the care they extend to their own, then dirty public toilets will when all three of my points are implemented become a thing of the past.

domestically you can box in the base and the U bend.

JaneJudge

I can't think of any cons. I often wonder how AWFUL it must be being a toilet cleaner in a commercial place, like a service station where they regularly get blocked up.

I think I am also thinking of a hose next to the toilet that you could shower it over and any water on the floor drained into a trough at the back like in swimming pool showers but it all looked much nicer than my description

This sounds like the "hole in the ceramic base with two foot pads" toilets that I used to see quite regularly across France many years ago. Many of those had a short length of flexible hose connected to a tap for easier cleaning. The u-bend wasn't visible and there was no nasty looking toilet seat to stress over.

Back in the early 80s, as ex-pats living in the Middle East, we had three bathrooms in our apartment that were ingenuously formed from one material (some sort of sturdy plastic stuff) - like an all-in-one pod, with bath, shower, toilet and basin. There was a drain outlet in the middle of the floor, so that the complete area, bath, loo and basin, from ceiling to floor, could be effectively hosed down and easily thoroughly cleansed. Obviously there was no storage, but as hygienic and practical 'ablution stations' they were perfect.

I can remember having a self cleaning loo here in the small town where I live. It worked fairly well - you had to move out quickly to avoid the flush! I was sorry they removed it - it was very useful .

In Paris and most French cities the public toilets are free and they self clean.