The "wet seat" solution

I’m male so I can understand “how” seats can get wet. I can’t condone it as this is careless, irresponsible and, overall, incredibly arrogant of the person who gets the seat wet and doesn’t clean up after themselves but what surprises me more is the women in my life (married with a daughter) telling me that the same happens in the ladies’ toilets too! My mind boggles when I try to picture how that happens. I’m guessing a bit of a feedback loop. One person sees some liquid (could be water) on the toilet seat and then “hovers” a bit. They are a bit messy and so the feedback loop has started. The answer is incredibly simple but the real trick is getting people to clean up after themselves or, at bare minimum, giving the next user the tools to make everything right for their visit. What can be done to ensure everybody works towards making a more hygienic toilet seat?

At Zenith Washroom Services we provide a simple solution for our customers. We have looked at all the options including automatic toilet seats, plastic and paper toilet seat covers and even cloth covers (don’t go there….just don’t!). The truth is, as we have found in all areas of washroom services, that simplicity is the best answer and we’re right back to antibacterial wipes and simple dispensing solutions. The best option appears to be providing a cleaning liquid or foam for people to use on the provided toilet tissue. We just get the best levels of use from these solutions.

How can our washroom providers get higher usage from these products to ensure that the highest proportion of users think to quickly wipe the seat then flush the tissue down with the rest of the waste when they leave the stall? This is actually a LOT easier than you might imagine. We have found that simple printed “infomercial” posters placed at seated eye level, on the back of the stall door, has a direct effect on the amount of people that use the provided cleaning solution. A couple of little “factoids” to get people interested like “Handbags carry up to 10,000 bacteria per square inch” and “1 in 5 people don’t wash their hands” then a polite reminder to clean up after use pointing out how to best use your provided toilet seat care solution. Maybe a helpful tip about how to be most efficient and how to dispose of the waste. Don’t forget to provide translations if your washroom is in an ethnically diverse area. Many people in the world use squat toilets (actually more hygienic and healthier for you) so are a touch confused by our western “seated” offerings. This can lead to people standing on the seat or bowl rim to achieve their optimal comfort levels. Providing the same people with helpful information in their language will encourage the best from your visitors and ensure a higher standard of cleanliness for all.

When planning your washroom solutions think about your users. Think about ensuring everybody has similar levels of understanding of the problems, potential effects and your provided solutions. This way everybody’s experience of your washroom will be a much more positive one. Ask your Zenith Washroom Solutions contact for more great ideas on getting your users to be more engaged in the hygiene process in your washroom environment.