I've been inhaling the shit plume for thirty years and I'm not about to stop because of Wikipedia.
this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2026
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I'm happy to see the top comments are from rational people.
I'm 60, the last time I was sick was when my son brought covid home from his work. Before that, it was when he was in kindergarten and first grade and brought home god-knows-what from school.
If a germophobe ever saw how I live, they'd run away in horror. I swear not being fastidiously clean is what keeps me healthy.
should I leave my face in the facehole before closing to ensure I'm in the splashzone?
Mythbusters.
Do whatever you want, indoor plumbing means there is shit everywhere, closing the lid has little to no effect. This is just life, get over it.
Different is between a fart of poo water and a small geyser.
One goes upwards, one goes outwards, it’s the same mass and it travels the same distance, closing the lid is a placebo, but if it makes you feel better then go for it.
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Been doing it for years
The invisible particles that spread by air are not generally able to transmit disease because of their size, low concentration, and the short lifespan of pathogens surviving the airborne journey.
However, when you flush under a closed lid a MUCH higher concentration and long-lived pathogenic layer is deposited on the underside of the lid.
When you then sit down to shit, your shirt brushes against that moist underside of the lid behind you and THAT is much more dangerous as it moistens your garments and follows you back to your couch or bed.
I'm appalled that you just assume it's normal for your clothes to rub up against the toilet lid at all or that its position when you flush can make that not gross.
I only shit naked, so take that you shirted cock swabbler.
You shit and then pull your pants up by your belt.
You have never once washed your belt - anyone who says they have is coping.
Tight seal brass seat cover?
Can't tell if sarcasm or...
YSK that your toilet lid isn't a gasketed seal.
https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00630-3/abstract
Putting the lid down does reduce the amount of shit mist, but it does not even get close to eliminating it.
I'd much rather have something fall onto the toilet lid than into the toilet. That alone makes closing it worthwhile.
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YSK to not be scared of every little mundane thing in life. It will paralyze you
Agreed. Obviously there are some things that, as we acquire new knowledge that may change daily behavior, need to be reconsidered, but this is not one of them. People will look for the dirty hypodermic in the haystack of swords.
There’s so many other things to care about more. In the age of information, our mental health depends on conscious gate keeping of what we allow to concern us and modify our behavior. Everyone needs to decide their own path but if you don’t and just scroll the feed you’ll go mad.
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How about we quantify how dangerous the farticles are first, before we decide how useful closing the seat is? Who cares how many invisible particles it stops if they turn out to be harmless?
Also it’s good for your immune system to get exercise.
Houses are too sterile these days.
You close the lid to avoid a plume of fecal particles. I close the lid because otherwise my dumb cat jumps directly into the bowl. We are not the same.
I keep the lid open to watch the poop circle the drain, very satisfying
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Along with this... Normalize dudes sitting down to piss.
No thanks. Balls and dick touching toilet waters a thing for some of us. Having to sit in a tiny ass toilet and somehow maneuver your junk with your hands also getting in there..nah.
I'm sorry but are you 120 y/o and are your balls sagging to your ankles? I have at some time experienced the head of my dick touching the bowl but I have never, and considering the designs of toilets will never, experienced my balls touching the toilet water. And I am not ashamed to say that I sit down to piss pretty much every time
No but I've spoken to older people and been told by them stories of these things happening. Guess you never speak to old people? Things happen when you get old. Buckle up! At least you admit the tip part so we can be water tip bros.
I'm not a fan of urinary tract infections
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People are fascinating.
There are people who follow the "10 second rule", i.e. food hits an unclean surface like the floor and they will pick it up and eat it.
Meanwhile, every single person who was born naturally has been shit on at birth. This is a thing that happens. And studies show that excessive cleaning of newborns leads to all sorts of allergies.
So there has to be a balance.
I'm sure a non-zero number of people have gotten ill from toilets flushing. I'm also sure that number is pretty small. And I'm as sure from studies that show that keeping the lid closed still lets particles out that it's going to happen.
I'm of the opinion that this is a very small problem.
But as it happens, I keep my toothbrush at my desk because it's more convenient for me.
So if it bothers you, keep your toothbrush in a cabinet and/or in one of those little cases.
Every other sexual post these days seems to be about eating ass, I’m not sure toilet plumes are high on the GenZ+ concern list.
Tbf, eating ass is a direct route of infection for both bacteria and parasites. Floating poop particles from flushing toilets is not.
Well, I can’t afford GLP1 so gotta find some weight loss parasites somewhere.
Life is a collection of very small problems and minor precautions that are hopefully never needed. But I’m with you on this one. I think the only reason we’re talking about it at all is “ew poo poo gross!!” and meanwhile most peoples phones are dirtier than money or toilet seats yet they press them to their faces all day long. I’m for taking any precaution that I can easily take but I’m also for not stressing so damn hard about dirt and such. People freak out about public toilet seats and all I can think is: how clean does it need to be for me to press my ass into it? “How clean does it need to be” is really my guiding question. Without that, people start trying to absolutes and that is really unhealthy as well as impossible.
Brilliantly stated and 100%.
Reasonable precautions to prevent disease: good.
Extreme things that actually spark immune responses: bad.
Sometimes it's counter-intuitive. And I'm sure I get things wrong. But I don't get sick often at all (that's mostly because I have the privilege of not being around people much thanks to health, but I have a compromised immune system, so I'm doing something right. heh)
Public toilet seats - one of those things that of course we all have nightmares about nasty ones, but if it looks clean and is in a generally decent environment...... it's pretty safe.
Another counter-intuitive one: Hands vs gloves in food. People with gloves very often touch money and things, thinking "my hands are protected" - which is not the fucking POINT. Unless they have cuts or wounds, washing hands regularly especially to prevent cross-contamination is generally safer than gloves, though that feels wrong. lol
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It also stops things from falling into your toilet, pets from getting to the water, etc.
Closing the lid is the only sensible thing to do.
, cocaine.
"A 2024 study showed evidence that even closing the lid may still lead to small viral particles escaping through gaps under the lid, resulting in viral cross-contamination of the air and surfaces in a washroom."
This is what I remember, there's no actual solution to this. Still close the lid though!
That same study also includes this figure,
But the study doesn't measure other surfaces or things like "a nearby sink" or "a hand towel". Perhaps for airborne particles they roam more freely, but what about surface particles? I feel like there is more to study.
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