Toilets, why are they not better designed?

I had the downstairs loo refurbished about five years ago, and I honestly don’t think that the quality of the ceramics nowadays is as good as in the past. In order to avoid the blistering silver fitments the seat is sort of stuck on. This would be okay, if only it didn’t move every now and then! The bathroom will be re-done in a couple of months time, so I’m finding this thread extremely useful, but because I will be removing the bidet I had thought I might get one of those hoses. Now I’ve learned that the water is only cold I definitely won’t! I’m really going to miss that bidet, but it’s the only way I can squeeze in a stand-alone shower for guests.

I never ever use public toilets.
I would rather wait until I get home.
Luckily I have a strong bladder.

Have to agree about how difficult it is to clean modern day toilets. Had a new one installed two years ago but find it blocks much more easily because the u bend is so small.
Dreadful design fault there.

That is what the housekeeper/cleaner is for according to my 89 year old mother who has never cleaned or hoovered in her entire married life.

I lived in Cambridge for many years. The public loos at the bus station had a full time attendant. I wouldn’t have called them clean.

I can't understand that ladies don't pick up loo roll that dropped to the floor, can't comment on the gents, I have often gone into restaurant/pub toilets which are strewn with clean toilet paper all over the floor why? if it has dropped there pick it up and put it in the bowl and flush ? I also have small cubicles where you have to squeeze to one side to close and open the door yet there is plenty of room in outside area to have allowed another 6 inches . Much prefer the individual cubicle toilets that a lot of restaurants have these days .

I like self flushing toilets. I would also like to have toilets that put the seat down themselves, not only that, I would like the bathroom doors to close automatically.
No Explanation.

The market loos on Chorley market are absolutely superb and always have been since I've known (1979) updated regularly and clean as a whistle no touch flush has been in operation for about 10+ years too well ahead of any other public facilities.chorley I was told by a local ,has always had awards for the excellent facilities and it's well deserved, the difference Being? There has ALWAYS been an attendant on site! A small price to finance to achieve such excellence!

Door closed behind me automatically when I came out I may add?

In sermione in Garda in 2002 we used a public loo like a TARDIS completely lined In. Stainless steel with integrated hand wash and dryer no lever /button/handle to flush, the door closed automatically behind me then we Heard a huge turbine and whooshing and the automatic cleaning began! The loo folded into drainage in wall and everything was sterilised! But footnote: after me a dodgy looking bloke slipped in behind my friend to try and dodge the one euro charge(about a £1.60 then) and we always wondered if he too hot scoured and sterilised or if safety feature stopped it?! A wonder of Italian design and Roman engineering!???

Whilst the cleanliness of public toilets is important, the lack of public toilets is an increasing issue. Many public toilets have closed since covid, including those in shops.

Met my friend today for our fortnightly breakfast at a well known chain pub. Since they refurbished the toilets (lovely) every loo I’ve used flushes intermittently whilst in use. I thought I must be accidentally catching the flush button but my friend admitted she’s experienced the same. Certainly wakes you up and stops you lingering

Yes im sure ive used a public loo cubicle somewhere (on hol prob) in uk that after so long it it flushes the whole of the cubicle with soap & water! I remember panicking, thinking i hope ive got time for a long wee & do my hands first.....??Cant remember where it was though, its been so long since we been anywhere...could have been down south i guess.

One of the main problems with public toilets is the tiny cubicles, where sanitary bins have been squashed in as an afterthought, limiting the space further. I use a stick and struggle to squash myself in and close what is sometimes and inward opening door. I am normal build, but how a larger lady might cope I do not know - just getting in would be a challenge, let alone then turning round and sitting down.

And as for a parent with a child, and shopping bags etc. ........

At the risk of being accused of sexism - definitely designed by a man!

We have one toilet which has an old fashioned type rim round it where the water comes out through little holes to flush. I remember my family home had one of these. No idea how my mother kept it clean, I suspect just with a toilet brush but I use an old toothbrush once a week as I can see under the rim when lying in the bath and it upsets me.
I really need to update it.

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We’ve recently had this fitted. It’s rimless and so easy to keep clean!! No nooks & crannies!! ?

The u-bend on our bathroom loo is boxed-in which makes it easy to clean. The loo itself is square which I find is in awkward shape for cleaning as it has edges.
I used a self-cleaning loo in Belgium about 20 years ago. When you flushed, the seat trundled off round the base and passed through an area at the back of the pan that cleaned and disinfected it. I was so fascinated that I flushed about 3 times just to see the seat making it's journey round the pan! ( I'm quite easily amused)

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

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 .

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.

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.

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

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.

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 !

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!

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.