Toilet seat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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. The seat can be lifted in order to protect it from spatter during a male's urination, or when cleaning the toilet.
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
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[edit] Home Toilet Seats
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.
[edit] Public Toilet Seats
The toilet seats commonly seen in public restrooms 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.
In the early 20th century, it was fairly commonplace for toilet seats found in public restrooms to be black. This added a touch of style to the design of the restroom. However, since the second half of the century, the general preference has been to construct public restrooms with white toilet seats, thereby giving a brighter appearance. While some black toilet seats remain in some older restrooms, some jurisdictions, including the states of Maryland and Florida, have banned them from being installed in new restrooms, or from being used as replacements in existing ones, as they have been found to mask unsanitary conditions. Some places have actually considered laws that would require black toilet seats in public restrooms to be retrofitted with white ones. But these laws have been opposed by restroom owners for being costly
[edit] Toilet Seats of the Future
The 21st century has seen a new wave of toilet seats introduced, for both style and technology. High tech toilet seats in Japanese toilets may include a large number of features, including a bidet, a blow drier, and a heated seat.
[edit] Toilet Seats in Comics
The toilet seat is a comic staple for sight gags relating to toilet humor. The most common is someone staggering out of a bathroom after an explosion with a toilet seat around his neck. In the television show Dead Like Me, George Lass, the main character, is killed when a zero-G toilet seat from space station Mir re-enters the atmosphere.
[edit] Toilet Seats in The News
In 2004 Senator Chuck Grassley (R Iowa) said: "I exposed the spending scandal in the ‘80s when federal bureaucrats saw no problem in spending $600 for a toilet seat . . .". Some now claim that neither that nor his also famous revelation of the Pentagon spending $400 for a hammer actually ever happened. Others say the prices paid were fair and justifiable. Unfortunately, the details seem to be lost forever. (or found below)
The $600 dollar toilet seat was actually fair and reasonable. The United States military services are often in the position of making equipment last decades longer than originally designed. For example the B-52 bomber is more than 50 years old and expected to be useful for another 20 years. The famous toilet seat came about when about twenty Navy planes had to be rebuilt to extend their service life. The onboard toilets required a uniquely shaped fiberglass piece that had to satisfy specifications for the vibration resistance, weight, and durability. The molds had to be specially made as it had been decades since the planes original production. The price of the "seats" reflected the design work and the cost of the equipment to manufacture them.
The problem arose because the top level drawing for the toilet assembly referred to the part being purchased as a "Toilet Seat" instead of its proper nomenclature of "Shroud". The Navy had made a conscious decision at the time, not to pay the OEM of the aircraft the thousands of dollars it would take to update their top level drawing in order to fix this mistake in nomenclature.
Later some unknown Senate staffer combing lists of military purchases for the Golden Fleece Awards found "Toilet Seat - $600" and trumpeted it to the news media as an example of "government waste." The Senate then wrote into the appropriations bill that this item would not be purchased for anything more than $140.00. The shroud has never been purchased since, as no one can make the shroud at that price.
President Reagan had actually held a televised news conference, where he held up one of these shrouds. During the press conference, he explained to true story. The media at the time and still today, would much rather have the public believe that the Pentagon was actually paying $640.00 for a $12.00 toilet seat.
Bottom line, no matter what you see in the press or elsewhere, the Navy never actually paid $640 for a "Toilet Seat".
Formed in 1901, Bemis Manufacturing Company is the worlds largest manufacturer of toilet seats.
[edit] Reverse Toilet Seats
According to a study performed in 1926, toilet seats - when built in reverse - are meant to be peed on rather than in between the two ends.
[edit] External links
- [1] - an examination of the toilet seat up vs down scenario by Hammad Siddiqi
