View Full Version : Butt Gaskets
San Onofre Guy
4-30-12, 7:14pm
Now that I have gotten your attention, do you use them? Everywhere? Do you even know what I am talking about?
This is the paper that started appearing in restrooms about 15 years ago. Paper in the shape of a toilet seat to keep your cheeks from contact with the seat. I work in an office building and each floor has two stalls for men and I assume three or four for women. My floor has about 12 men and 40 women. All appear to be in good health and the toilets get cleaned daily.
Has anyone ever contracted something from a toilet seat? Touching the handle to the door is much more dangerous.
I am the first to say that I have never used a butt gasket. Ok there was the time in the gross gas station restroom when I really had to go, but I hovered.
I just think these things are a waste.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programme.
fidgiegirl
4-30-12, 7:18pm
I do not, and I cannot hover - not enough leg stregth! :laff: Maybe living abroad cured my of toileting squeamishness . . .
I always thought they were a total waste too, until......... I had my kids and saw all the stuff that doesn't hit the target!
I really had no clue what was going on in public bathroom stalls until I spent quality time with the shorter crowd.
I'm conscientious enough to wipe the seat after mishaps, but I am not so trusting of the general public.
Habit Breakdown:
Hover 50% / Trust the Universe, After Visual Check 45% / Butt Gasket 5%
Maybe this should go on the pet peeves thread, but I loathe people who hover and Miss! Gah.
Nothing intended for anyone posting above me, just a comment.
fidgiegirl
4-30-12, 8:10pm
Maybe this should go on the pet peeves thread, but I loathe people who hover and Miss! Gah.
Nothing intended for anyone posting above me, just a comment.
Amen, Cecilia!
San Onofre Guy
4-30-12, 8:16pm
I loved the story of after the French Club in my high school returned after a week in France. The teacher Mr. Heve told the story "I heard a scream and Judy came running out of the restroom Mr Heve, Mr Heve what do I do? What do you mean? I have to go but there is only a hole and two bricks on either side of the hole."
I don't think I've ever seen those in Canada. Maybe once. Probably some places have them but it seems a rarity. I figure that Canadians aren't any cleaner than Americans and if I don't use them here, I don't need to there either. Visual check is fine. Unless you have open sores on your butt or are immune-compromised, it seems silly. What is the skin and the rest of the immune system for?
When I was young, my dad taught me how to make an impromptu butt gasket from toilet paper - lol. i still make them if the need arises (like nasty gas station restrooms).
I don't think I've ever seen those in Canada. Maybe once. Probably some places have them but it seems a rarity. I figure that Canadians aren't any cleaner than Americans and if I don't use them here, I don't need to there either. Visual check is fine. Unless you have open sores on your butt or are immune-compromised, it seems silly. What is the skin and the rest of the immune system for?
My thoughts exactly.
And a pox on the women who must be hovering and missing, because they leave wet toilet seats. That is as stupid as it gets.
If I need to sit, I make a temp cover out of toilet paper. I showed my DD and DGS how to do this if they need to sit. Other than that, I lift the toilet seat, hover and then lower the seat back again.
If butt covers are available, I have used them but, as others have said, they are rarely available.
Cute name for these items.
The things we come up with to talk about....luv it!
:doh:
Having spent 15 years using lots of those little blue port-a-pottys at art shows not much can gross me out anymore.
Also those same 15 years of driving down the highway and needing a restroom any restroom NOW! I've become pretty good at the hover, the make your own toilet seat cover when needed, and the close your eyes, pray, and hope for the best. So far, I never picked up any gross germ, bug, or unknown.
I've also noted that when you really need one those seat covers the packaged wall displays of covers are always tangled, torn, or empty.
Well, this elicited a laugh-out-loud from me this morning! We have a very public restroom at work, meaning that it is smack-dab right next to the sales floor, behind the brown door with a half-moon on it (old house converted to retail space). It would never work for someone is is bathroom shy!
But just last week I made a complaint to the guys that I work with that the female around here doesn't appreciate the seat left up, the toilet left un-flushed and splatters all over the floor in front or it. Ewwww! One of the main offenders is the owner, but he's an old man. Still, it's pretty gross. My mum taught me how to make a seat cover too, and I almost always inspect before sitting. Invariably, the one time I don't inspect is the time that I sit and am immediately grossed out. The other thing is I'm not sure how many people around there actually wash their hands after...
I don't use them, but then again, travelling, isn't something I do any of, so public restroom use isn't something I have to contend with, other than to occasionally usher one of my younger ones off to use the facilities. Public restrooms are so "ewww", disgusting aren't they...
ApatheticNoMore
5-1-12, 1:03pm
No. I just make sure the seat isn't wet before I sit and wipe it off first when necessary.
And remember, urine is sterile.
We have them at work but I have never used; they seem unwieldy. On the subject of public restrooms, I have come to the conclusion that humans in general aren't exactly tidy or are else proud of their creations. Not like a kitty that covers up their messes.
Sad Eyed Lady
5-1-12, 4:59pm
I don't use them, but then again, travelling, isn't something I do any of, so public restroom use isn't something I have to contend with, other than to occasionally usher one of my younger ones off to use the facilities. Public restrooms are so "ewww", disgusting aren't they...
Not when you really need one! lol!!!
We have nice bathrooms at work with butt gaskets in every stall. All the bathrooms in the buidling underwent major remodelling over the past two years. Most folks are pretty tidy, so I can't really complain. I employ the same techniques as ApatheticNoMore, no gaskets for me.
ETA: I didn't click on this thread for a while because I assumed "butt gasket" was some type of obscure tool or truck part!
Thank you for reminding me what ths forum was like way back when.:+1:
loosechickens
5-2-12, 12:43am
No butt gaskets used here.......... if some hovering person has left droplets on the seat, I might take some TP and wipe it dry, while grinding my teeth at the self absorption of a person who would leave the seat for the next person in such a condition, but am of the school that says that's what one's skin is for, as a barrier to keep germs out.......and since urine is sterile when it's deposited, other than the yuck factor, even that isn't a huge, big deal.
I think we are overly concerned about germs in this society, and our immune systems are strengthened by having to deal with stuff on a regular basis. And since 70 years of bare toilet seats don't seem to have harmed me, I don't plan to change my ways.
Mostly I see those things as just one more waste of resources (paper), and just another indication of how germ phobic we have become in this society. Between "stranger danger" and "germ danger", we are becoming a nation of weenies, JMHO.
Of course, I've used my share of Third World squat toilets, and everything from places where sunshine and the rain took care of what the foraging pigs and chickens didn't eat, so even what would be considered grungy public toilets in this country seem pretty tame to me. In the "toilets" department, we Americans are the weeniest of the weenies.........
Hahahaha...I could not figure out what butt gasket was going to refer to either! I was worried it was a weird sex thing.
If the restroom is in reasonable condition I just use it...if it looks super nasty/questionable I hover but I never use the butt gasket thingys. They seem like a lot of effort!
After traveling abroad I definitely acquired a new appreciation for even the yuckiest public restroom in America, and a new tolerance for lack of cleanliness. There is one place, though, a bar you pretty much have to get to by boat in south Alabama (http://www.piratescoveriffraff.com/) with absolutely disgusting restrooms! I love the place, you can bring your dogs, great scene...but ughhh the bathrooms are so nasty even I get a little grossed out. I really think they should make their slogan "Worst bathrooms this side of Guatemala." But, I have a feeling a lot of people just "go" in the water there anyway.
I just go to another stall if possible if the first one in nasty. But I use TP to open the stall door and my used paper towel to open the restroom door. Now those are invisible nasties!
Love the thread title! I don't think I've clicked into it if I'd known what the topic was about, but here I am!
I'm generally regular enough that I don't have to do #2 away from home. As others have mentioned, if I'm at work I don't bother with a butt gasket. Elsewhere I'll use one unless the restroom shows signs of having just been cleaned.
One thing I noticed at work. The sprinkles on the seat aren't necessarily from hoverers. The toilet flushes with so much vigor that the sprinkles are actually water from in the bowl splashing out during the flush.
One last side thought on this topic. I actually saw someone on the BART train take a page of newspaper to make a seat protector. Truthfully I can almost understand why. Those trains have old, dirty, cloth seats. The possibility of body lice or bedbugs being in the seats seems reasonable, especially since homeless people do ride those trains on occasion.
OK ... I've always known them as A** Gaskets. :~)
Sometimes I do; sometimes I don't. However, I do carry baby wipes with me in my purse (you never know when you'll need them for all kinds of things) and a quick wipe with one is adequate. What I really hate tho is the wet sloppy mess on the floor all around the toilet -- I'm a woman (if you didn't know) and I always wear pants and you can't pull them down without getting the pants legs horribly yucky, so you have to pull your pants DOWN at one end and UP up at the other end, and I'm not getting any younger ... :|( ...
OK ... I've always known them as A** Gaskets. :~)
Sometimes I do; sometimes I don't. However, I do carry baby wipes with me in my purse (you never know when you'll need them for all kinds of things) and a quick wipe with one is adequate. What I really hate tho is the wet sloppy mess on the floor all around the toilet -- I'm a woman (if you didn't know) and I always wear pants and you can't pull them down without getting the pants legs horribly yucky, so you have to pull your pants DOWN at one end and UP up at the other end, and I'm not getting any younger ... :|( ...
In Europe, I've had to squat down in a hole to hover over it do my business...no toilet paper, so I usually brought a roll of it in my suitcase so I could use it.
In Europe, I've had to squat down in a hole to hover over it do my business...no toilet paper, so I usually brought a roll of it in my suitcase so I could use it.
On a train between Como, Italy, and Milan, I discovered the toilet (at least in "tourist" class) was a Western-style fixture modified to open onto the tracks below. :0! Not the nicest toilet we encountered in Italy at all.
Originally posted by Sad Eyes Lady.
Not when you really need one! lol!!!Not as of yet, but I have resorted to using toilet paper to line (a time or two). :)
Originally posted by Serendipity.
you have to pull your pants DOWN at one end and UP up at the other endYes, I practice the same maneuver. LOL!
Originally posted by Jp1.
Those trains have old, dirty, cloth seats.Ewww, ewww, ewww!
I'm like razz -- i'll hover. unless i need to really, really go. then i'll do a tp one.
Ok, did I use the wrong emoticon??? Sorry if anyone was offended, not my intention. :0!
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