Still don’t know what I’m talking about? Ugh, fine. Okay you know when you need to go #2 and you’re at a public restroom and you poo and there’s some splashback of the toilet water that sometimes touches your butt? Ech… yeah.

I don’t understand… with all our modern science, you think there’d be a solution by now. Isn’t splashback some sort of health hazard? Think about it. The person who uses the toilet before you does their business. They flush… but how clean is that newly refilled water? I bet it’s not very clean. For heaven’s sake, sometimes you still see bits on the bottom… and I wouldn’t be surprised if some toilets miss entire logs here and there on the first try. Thus, I imagine there’s some pretty nasty bacteria in that water… and then to have that stuff splash back and hit us in the heiny. However, I’m no health expert/scientist, so I can’t say much about that stuff for certain.

At the very least, splashback feels icky. I think we can agree on that.

So… how do we minimize it?

The most simple and effective solution I know of: Place a toilet seat protector sheet in the bowl before you do your business.

You know those seat protector sheets dispensed in most public bathroom stalls? “First pull up, then pull down”? Grab one and toss it in the bowl. Try experimenting to see what’s more effective… folded, slightly crumpled, etc. The point is you want to change the behavior of the usual water surface by having the paper disrupt the typical splash patterns. The paper will “catch” the first few logs, if you will.

What about using toilet paper to cushion the fall instead? I’ve found the seat protectors work sufficiently compared to the layers and effort required with TP for similar results. This may be due to their shape being a broad sheet, plus their waxiness increasing their ability to hold together in their bowl.

This method may not eliminate all splashback, but I’d say about 90%. For something so simple, you get great results. That will have to do until science finds a solution for this problem that touches us on a personal level (literally).

What are your thoughts on splashback? If you have any other methods, please share them in the comments!

I actually do this. I mean, not the pooing in a bag part… but trying not to waste plastic bags.

If you’re in the same boat, check out some ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic bags.