You should stop putting toilet paper on public toilet seats here's why
There's arguably no worse situation to find yourself in thandesperately needing a bathroom, butonly being in close proximity to a public toiletthat's anything but hygienic. You could hold it and risk an accident or as long as there's ample toilet paper you could cover the seat and just do your thing.
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The toilet paper in public bathrooms might be dirtier than you think. Paul Green / Unsplash
The INSIDER Summary:
Using toilet paper to cover the seat of a public toilet might not be such a good idea.
When a toilet is flushed, germs spring from the bowl onto the roll of toilet paper hanging nearby, and because of its material, toilet paper is easy for germs to cling to.
Toilet seats, however, are hard for germs to settle on because of the way they're designed.
So unless a toilet paper roll is covered, you're better off using your own tissues or just squatting.
There's arguably no worse situation to find yourself in than desperately needing a bathroom, but only being in close proximity to a public toilet that's anything but hygienic.
You could hold it and risk an accident or — as long as there's ample toilet paper — you could cover the seat and just do your thing.
The latter may seem like the logical choice, but as it turns out, it might not be the best idea after all.
By piling toilet paper onto the seat, you may think you're shielding your skin from the toilet's germs, but what you're really doing is inviting more germs onto your body.
Germs easily stick to the light, thin paper, so every time someone before you flushes the toilet in that bathroom, germs spring from the toilet bowl into the air, and then inevitably settle on the roll of toilet paper nearby.
Toilet bowls, on the other hand, are tougher surfaces for germs to hold on to, thanks to the way they're designed. So they might not be as filthy as you think they are.
If you happen to stumble upon a public bathroom that protects its rolls of toilet paper with a plastic or metal cover, you're in luck, because that paper is shielded from germs.
Otherwise, you can always keep a pack of tissues on you to use in situations like these. Or you can rely on the tried and true practice of squatting.
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