Toilet Seats

A toilet seat is the seat and lid of a toilet. It consists of the seat itself, which is contoured for the user to sit on the toilet, and the lid, which covers the toilet when not in use. more...

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The seat can be lifted in order to protect it from spatter during a male's urination, or when cleaning the toilet. Urinals help to prevent this inconvenience.

Toilet seats come in a wide variety of shapes, from the normal porcelain ovate seat to the opened-front seat often seen in public restrooms. They can be made of porcelain, plastic, steel, ivory or wood. Some metal toilets, such as those in many jails and prisons, have built-in toilet seats that do not lift so that the inmate does not fashion it into a weapon or escape tool.

In most common toilets, the seat can be raised. This can be done to facilitate cleaning, but most often when a male urinates while standing. Because females do not typically raise the seat for anything other than cleaning, this generates debate among cohabitating members of the opposite sex. Frequently, the male(s) is expected by the female member(s) to ensure the seat is always lowered after use, and criticize him if he forgets. There are generally two justifications:

The seat is used in the lowered position ¾ of the time anyway; The female will fall into the bowl while trying to sit down.;

There is debate over whether each justification is fair or reasonable. An efficiency study on whether the seat should be left up or down after use is available at: The Troublesome Toilet Seat: Up or Down? Three Schemes

A line of reasoning holds that the appearance of the toilet, and by extension the bathroom, is more esthetically pleasing when the lid is left down between use. This not only puts an end to the seat up/down debate, but may have health benefits as well. According to research by Dr. Charles Gerba, a toilet sprays droplets of the toilet's contents when it is flushed. He used a strobe light to shoot a time-lapse photograph of a flush and captured the evidence. More information can be found in the New York Times article available at:

In the home

Toilet seats found in homes and homelike settings generally have fully circular seats with no gap. While most of them are white, they come in a variety of colors and styles that can be custom purchased to fit the design of the particular bathroom. Some are made of various types of fancy wooden materials, like oak or walnut, and others are made soft for added comfort. At various times, printed seats, with multi-colored designs, such as floral or newsprint, have been fashionable.

In public

The toilet seats commonly seen in public washrooms are designed differently in order to ensure better sanitation. They are usually made with a gap in the front-center, which reduces the amount of spatter and eases the job of cleaning for janitorial staff.

Read more at Wikipedia.org