Exploring Toilet Seat Hygiene & Public Toilet Personalities: Are you a Sitter, Hoverer or Nester?

Public toilet seats: an enemy to the hygiene-conscious individual. We’ve all been there. When nature calls and you have to use a bathroom away from home, the dread can be very real.

With 54% of Brits saying that they are anxious about using a public toilet, many of us have developed our own strategies for surviving the public toilet experience.

We’re going to explore these toilet seat techniques and suggest a solution that may completely eliminate that fear factor.

Meet the Public Toilet Personalities

Developing your own toilet seat strategy is not uncommon. A study found that 88.9% of women prefer a non-sitting position when using a public toilet, and we don’t blame them. Hygiene is incredibly important, especially in washrooms, but some businesses do overlook this. Don’t be one of those businesses. You can help your customers feel more comfortable with one simple trick (but more on this later).

So, are you a sitter, hoverer, nester, or maybe you have your own tactic?

The Sitter

One of the most basic ways to use a toilet, yet one of the most controversial when it comes to public bathrooms – sitting.

The sitter doesn’t worry too much, they simply enter the restroom and sit on the seat without much fuss. They are very trusting and don’t think too much about potential bacteria on the toilet seat. They value efficiency, wanting to be in and out of the toilet as quickly as possible.

Despite it seeming like a risky move, sitting on a public toilet actually has a low chance of leading to infection. So, surprisingly, this might be more sensible than you thought.

The Hoverer

On the other hand, hoverers do not have much trust in public bathrooms. Using a fair amount of skill and precision, they balance above the toilet seat, making sure their skin does not make contact.

The hoverer values their health and hygiene, not wanting to touch any potential germs. They may even suffer from a bit of public toilet anxiety.

Avoiding contact with the toilet seat may seem like common sense from a hygiene perspective, but it’s not ideal if you are doing it often. The position could potentially be damaging to your pelvic floor muscles. Also, you may end up creating more mess, which makes the situation even worse for the next person!

The Nester

Nesting sits somewhere between the previous two strategies. Nesters don’t want to touch the toilet seat but are slightly more trusting than the hoverers who avoid contact completely.

The nester takes their time, valuing hygiene over efficiency. They may be considerate, wanting to avoid making a mess on the seat for the next person, but they’re still wary of the actions of those who came before them.

While creating a nest out of toilet paper is more hygienic than sitting directly on the toilet seat, it comes at a cost. It is not the most environmentally friendly option, wasting a good amount of toilet paper. For businesses, the cost of extra toilet paper used to create a nest will add up too. It may also make a mess of the cubicle, if loose toilet paper falls on the ground. It’s a commonly recommended technique; but we think there’s something even better …

Our Solution: The Sanitiser

What if there’s a way to feel confident and avoid uncomfortable toilet seating positions altogether? Introducing the toilet seat sanitiser. A solution where you don’t have to hover or nest – you just spray, wipe, and sit with peace of mind.

Sanitisers prioritise hygiene whilst remaining quick and efficient. They don’t waste an excessive amount of toilet paper. Also, they ensure the toilet seat is left clean for the next person. They are not fearful of the toilet seat like the others, as they have eliminated the potential risk. Above all they value hygiene, logic, and practicality. That is why our public toilet personality is the sanitiser.

Our Secret Weapon: Toilet Seat Sanitiser

As a business owner, you can encourage others to become sanitisers too. By installing a toilet seat sanitiser, you can create a welcoming environment for your customers and employees. Eliminating the anxiety around shared toilets shows a caring image for your business.

Cathedral Hygiene’s toilet seat sanitiser dispenses a high-quality sanitising solution for the user to spray on toilet roll then apply to the toilet seat, effectively eliminating germs and bacteria. This gives confidence that the toilet away from home can be clean with a simple spray and wipe.

The best part is that it’s not limited to toilet seats either. For those who wish to avoid all bacteria in the washroom, you can also use this sanitiser on the flush handle and the door lock. It is the ideal solution for maximum hygiene.

The Importance of Toilet Seat Hygiene

Research from Age UK shows that people believe cleanliness is the most important aspect of a public toilet. You may not realise it, but customers may judge your company as a whole on the quality of your washrooms. 52% of people have said that they wouldn’t want to return to a company if the toilet was dirty.

First impressions last, and if you want to impress then give your customers the feelings of comfort, security, and safety by providing a toilet seat sanitiser.

It’s not just your customers that you should consider either. If you value workplace satisfaction, then your employees’ facilities matter too. 1 in 10 employees refuse to use workplace toilets because of poor hygiene, and more than half have been “appalled” by the conditions.

These negative experiences and the poor reputation of public toilets are partly responsible for washroom anxiety and lead individuals to use these uncomfortable positions.

How Risky are Toilet Seats Really?

The truth is that you’re probably not going to catch a disease or infection from sitting on a public toilet seat. Although there are lots of germs in public bathrooms, it is uncommon for infections to spread from toilet seats.

Although the risk of catching anything from a toilet seat is very low, it is easy to understand why people feel so uncomfortable and adopt these positions. After all, sitting on a questionable toilet seat that looks or feels unclean is not an experience that we would recommend. If you want to reduce the risk, feel reassured and be comfortable, a quick spray of toilet seat sanitiser provides peace of mind and an extra layer of protection.

Don’t Fear the Toilet Seat

Armed with your new understanding of public toilet seat hygiene, we hope your next visit to a public bathroom will be a bit less tense and a bit more tranquil.

If you want more information on how to ensure comfort and hygiene in your washroom, contact us today and our friendly team will be happy to help.