ANYONE WHO HAS visited a public toilet containing an unfamiliar piece of equipment will know the fear and distress it can cause.
With that in mind, DailyEdge.ie presents a handy guide to the various innovations and such you may encounter in strange bathrooms.
Our motto: Always be ready.
9. A ‘poo shelf’
A speciality of home bathrooms in Germany and Austria, these bowls come with a shelf just inches below your posterior.
So when you’ve made a deposit (and cleaned up appropriately), you can stand up and the results will be neatly displayed. They can then be flushed off the shelf and away.
(That’s a Snickers bar, people. A Snickers bar. Images from the Dullums To Germany blog)
8. A pressure washer
Most toilets in Turkey come equipped with this mysterious nozzle at the back, pointed upwards.
When you’ve done your business, you turn a handily-positioned tap (left of the photo above) and a jet of cold water is fired at your business end.
7. A women’s urinal
Sadly these were discontinued in 1970. But if you should come across a vintage version, the Sanistand allows both ladies and gents to pee from a standing position.
Let’s just say you’d want to be wearing a skirt.
6. The sound of falling water
Back in the mid-twentieth century, women in Japan didn’t want to be heard peeing in toilet cubicles. So they began flushing the toilet while they did their business.
When this habit began to cause water shortages, many public toilets introduced the Otohime device – which emits a loud flushing sound when a button is pressed.
5. A toilet seat scale
Ever feel a little lighter after you get off the throne? Designer Haikun Deng put together this toilet seat scale, which records the difference in your weight before and, you know, after.
4. A swivelling seat
Ever feel like your toilet experience is just a little… static?
Designed for pregnant women, those with limited mobility, and just people who like to mount the toilet from the side, the Adjustable Advantage allows you to literally sit and spin.*
*Sort of.
3. A heated throne
Self-explanatory, really. AND it’s called the Toastie Tush.
2. A *multidirectional* pressure wash
Popular in Japan and Korea. You press one button for ‘family’ cleaning, and another one just for ladies.
Who knows what happens if you press both at the same time. Anyway, toilet roll is so twentieth century.
1. A toilet night-light
Known as the ‘LavNav’, it saves you turning on the blinding bathroom light in the middle of the night.
It also tells you where the seat is, to prevent any embarrassing – read bum-chilling -accidents. Red for up, green for down.
It turns on when you approach in the dark, and turns off after you leave, shining gentle yet sufficient light where you need it, when you need it.
Have you found any strange items of equipment in unfamiliar bathrooms? Let us know in the comments. (And please keep it… you know… clean.)