Use a paper towel to open the door and toss it into the next garbage you see outside the bathroom. Or toss it into the trash as you leave.
this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2025
499 points (98.4% liked)
Humor
8900 readers
706 users here now
"Laugh-a-Palooza: Unleash Your Inner Chuckle!"
Rules
Read Full Rules Here!
Rule 1: Keep it light-hearted. This community is dedicated to humor and laughter, so let’s keep the tone light and positive.
Rule 2: Respectful Engagement. Keep it civil!
Rule 3: No spamming! AI slop will be considered spam at the discretion of moderators
Rule 4: No explicit or NSFW content.
Rule 5: Stay on topic. Keep your posts relevant to humor-related topics.
Rule 6: Moderators Discretion. The moderators retain the right to remove any content, ban users/bots if deemed necessary.
Please report any violation of rules!
Warning: Strict compliance with all the rules is imperative. Failure to read and adhere to them will not be tolerated. Violations may result in immediate removal of your content and a permanent ban from the community.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
There are a good reasons for this:
Inward opening doors pull air into the bathroom area and both contain the smells and germs, (the opposite is true for outward opening doors) but also bring additional fresh air in.
Doors that open outwards into hallways (where public access toilets are most commonly found) is a huge hazard to people passing the door.
Not to mention foot pulls and automatic door openers are becoming more common so you dont have to touch the handle as often.
Lots of newer public toilets (at least in australia) are designed with an s-bend entrance to eliminate doors completely (however require constant exhaust).
Toilets in commercial buildings often have ante-chambers where doors open both ways into the chamber so you have to touch a handle regardless of direction of travel. (Common in offices and hospitals)
Many places put these on the bottom of the door for this very reason. Granted they only help people able to use them.
Most general public bathrooms (ie. not ones found within stores/reataurants) in Australia don’t have doors - but rather an S-shaped path that provides privacy, without the necessary “stickiness” of having to touch a door handle.
Is this not common elsewhere?
Yeah we have that in Europe on highway stops and other places with high traffic of people like stadiums, big concert venues etc.
My workplace does this, there’s still a door but it’s always open
That's what most airports, schools, and such seem to have in my experience. (U.S.)
I wish. I'm surprised we haven't brought back pay toilets in the US.
Nothing like losing your balance or getting your foot jammed when someone slams the door open from the other side. I prefer the wheelchair buttons
Best I can do is a Palantir face recognition device that verify your identity before allowing you out of the bathroom
Those things fucking suck when you can get them to work and they are downright dangerous otherwise.
I've hyperextended my knee using one. Good times. Hyperextension used to be a "oh that sucked" but as I get older they're more and more a "oh shit is this the time it fails on me? " territory.
That's the best version. People leave with washed hands so hands remain clean and it's possible to enter by pushing with a foot.
The other way requires using the door handle while entering. That can contaminate the hand that is going to touch or get close to the private parts. It's better to have that hand as clean as possible.
Hard disagree.
- Your hands are filthy regardless, you're on your way IN to the bathroom so you very likely haven't washed your hands but you've touched a LOT of things. Phones, keyboards, door handles, banisters etc. Pulling one more door open is not adding any meaningful contamination. If you are that concerned about one door handle, you should be VERY concerned about the state your hand is already in and thus would need to wash your hands before using the other facilities anyway.
- You're being overly paranoid. Your junk is not going to explode because it interacted with real world pathogens.
Clean, dry and uncut hands create a formidable barrier to pathogen transmission. And the most dangerous pathogens tend not to live long outside a living body.
Also, sebum is a useful thing.
So wait for a while after washing hands, before touching dirty stuff.^[of course that can't be done in public restrooms, but considering that people are always coughing enough for the exhaust fans to be rendered inadequate, the exit door is hardly a big deal]
I tend to rub my oily nose/head with my fingers, right before doing something that I know would require me to wash my hands later.
Makes cleaning with a soap much easier.
Also, has it happened to you sometimes, that even if you try your best to wipe your hands after washing, they tend to easily stick dirt for a while, until they become just a little bit oily (because the palm doesn't accumulate enough oil for one to casually notice).
So better not wash hands, especially if one had to touch a dirty door?
So better not wash hands, especially if one had to touch a dirty door?
No. My point was that dry, unopened human skin makes pathogen transmission by touch nothing to worry about.
The way people behave in airport bathrooms bothers me. The bathroom gets cleaned 5 times a day and people still use a mountain of tp on the seat and flush the toilet with their foot like a bunch of homo zombies with norovirus just rode the handle.
But if you must do the above, in any restroom with soap, wash your hands afterwards. You'd want your doctor to.
that bothers you? Consider yourself lucky if you've never heard/seen someone disgustingly snorting their snot into the sinks, or washing their feet in it.
I'm unlucky :\
Theoretically, if everyone did the Yes, the But wouldn't be that big of a But.
Sadly, I'm well aware not everyone does the Yes. Going into a men's public bathroom is disgusting; it's disgraceful how many men I've seen leave without washing.
My favorite was a guy in college who came in, used the urinal, used the hand dryer, and left.
And then they ask why you stopped handshaking
i hate this so much
Do you expect him to leave with wet urine on his hands? Those dryers are made specifically for drying urine and blowing away the smell. That's clearly what the little picture on them means.
My hands harbor far more bacteria than my dick. And so does that door handle, the grossest part of the whole business.
Just use the paper towel you used to dry your hands to open the door
This is an additional reason I hate places that use air driers instead of paper towels
after you've peed on your hands, open the door, then quickly wash your hands and run out. the wind will dry your hands.
this is why i usually pee on my friends hands. then they have to open the door
Why the unnecessary steps? Just pee on the door handle.
load more comments
(1 replies)
And some places are smart and put a garbage can by the door, for the reason.
If the trash is not close enough to the door, that paper towel goes on the floor. I know it's a bit rude, but every public restroom should have it close enough to do this.
I’ve noticed a lot of places now have a trash can conveniently located by the door for this.
load more comments
(4 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
IDGI
You clean your hands but then you have to touch a probably dirty handle to open the door.
Use the paper
There's definitely solutions to the problem. You could carry disposable gloves. People with dogs carry plastic bags everywhere. That could work in a pinch. You could wedge the door open and use your foot to open it to leave.
I personally just try to not use public toilets as much as possible. I carry hand sanitizer spray and a bottle of water in my backpack. It's definitely gross, but it's not unsolvable.
People don't know they can hang on to the paper towel to open the door, then Kobe that shit on the way out?
A lot of places put the waste basket by the door for this very reason.
I worked security in pubs, nightclubs and licenced venues for a decade and to this day, I do not wash my hands in public bathrooms. I touch as little as humanly possible and use paper towel to open the door.
My wife thinks its gross but Ive seen shit that cannot be unseen.
Why does any of that lead to "I don't wash my hands"? In what scenario is washing your hands the dirtier option? Unless somebody took a shit in the soap dispenser, your hands will be cleaner after cleaning them.
Please clean your hands.
view more: next ›