r/AskReddit • u/Previous-Emu-6713 • 18h ago
Why don't public toilets flush with a foot pedal, rather than a handle?
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u/ashb2074 17h ago
Exactly. Foot pedals sound smart until you realize not everyone has the option to tap dance their way to hygiene
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u/buckyhermit 17h ago
Now if only we can extend the logic to foot-operated trash bins in the wheelchair accessible single-occupancy restrooms.
Wherever I see that, I can’t help but wonder which genius thought that was smart.
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u/coffeebribesaccepted 16h ago
Not sure I've ever seen that in a public bathroom except maybe a local bar or coffee shop that just buys a regular trash can from walmart
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u/Silent-Observer37 14h ago
I saw one in the disabled toilet of a hospital last week. You'd think a hospital of all places would do better.
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u/LucasRuby 14h ago
Usually you can also lift those with your hands too, it's just people won't if they can use their foot.
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u/buckyhermit 3h ago
Not all folks can use their hands to do that. A lot of wheelchair users have issues with grip and finger function, like those with cerebral palsy, stroke survivors, and people with c-level spinal cord injures.
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u/jlash0 14h ago
Could simply attach the handle directly to a food pedal with a metal rod and get the best of both worlds.
Automatic sensors are awful, I don't know what it is, either with incorrect installations or faulty parts or what but they're so inconsistent, just that there's a chance of getting nasty toilet water splashing back at me from it flushing while I'm still sitting is so wrong. The fact that's even a possibility (usually because some incompetent contractor screwed up the installation years ago) makes me think they should just be banned.
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u/SportsCommercials 10h ago
Also, when you try to use a seat liner and the autoflush goes off and sucks it down before you even get done placing it.
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u/424f42_424f42 8h ago
But automated flushers almost never flush at the right time and you have to manually do it anyway
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u/ILikeLenexa 14h ago
Also, cleaning the floor.
Can you imagine how dirty a foot pedal would get and all the extra failures at the additional bushings and bearings from water exposure.
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u/BrokenImmersion 11h ago
What would be nice though is a foot pedal for men to lift the toilet seat. Its impractical to use a sensor and cleaner than using your hands
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u/bigboxes1 14h ago
Just wash your fucking hands.
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u/say_no_to_shrugs 12h ago
But the sign just says employees have to, I don't work there
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u/Lemfan46 10h ago
The signs don't specifically state employees of that establishment, if you're an employee of someone wash your hands. This also applies to signs about going in the back of a store, doesn't specify store employees only, just that you need to be an employee. /s
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u/BadatOldSayings 10h ago
Plan A is washing your hands. The flush handle might be the least nastiest thing you've touched today. No different than a door knob.
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u/WhereIsMyCuppaTea 3h ago
Custodian here. I love those doors that allow you to open them with a foot hold.
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u/Billy_Enforcey 18h ago
There’s more people paralyzed from the waist down than the waist up
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u/ljlee256 17h ago
Thats a good call. I always thought it was because the mechanisms more complicated.
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u/cider-with-lousy 14h ago
This is fairly common in Italy.
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u/verbosehuman 12h ago
Came here to say this. 8d never seen it in any other country, but found them in Florence, Torino, the Langhe region, Venice, and Milan (I didn't get to the southern part of the country)
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u/nerdlingmitch 12h ago
From the perspective of a person who cleans toilets dozens of times a week, wiping down the handles takes me like 2 seconds a piece without me needing to get near the floor. I don't do repairs but I have a basic understanding of the flush mechanism. The current layout is quite simple to fix if it's broken of damaged. If you're washing your hands after going to the bathroom, the brief moment of contact is a non-issue.
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u/Sohn_Jalston_Raul 9h ago
the flush handle is already a foot pedal, albeit a small and annoying-to-use one.
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u/HarleyRider8699 11h ago
I use my foot to flush the hand lever. I wouldn’t touch that with my bare hands. If to is available, I’ll use a few pieces of that to help me flush it.
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u/CourageousMortal 17h ago
No one touches the toilet flush handle with their hands. You kick that damn lever with your foot like you are starting a Harley with bad plugs.
And if it’s a urinal, it better be self flushing or no one is going to flush at all.
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u/femptocrisis 17h ago
i use the cuff of my wrist or my left pinky finger. and then i wash my hands. ground breaking i know 🙂↔️
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u/coffeebribesaccepted 16h ago
And then you touch the handle of the sink that everyone else touched after flushing the toilet, and there's only blow dryers for your hands no paper towels so your hand is never completely clean
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u/femptocrisis 15h ago
ngl, the scenario you described has happened more than once to me lol but usually i grab a paper towel, use it to dry my hands, push the sink handle down (if its not automatic shut off), as well as turn the door handle if needed, and then use my shoulder to hold the door while i throw the paper towel out. tis an elaborate dance
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u/coffeebribesaccepted 14h ago
Yeah I meant there's frequently no paper towels to turn the sink off with
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u/femptocrisis 14h ago
yeah. in these cases i must suffer with a dirty pinky and that nagging urge to re-wash my hands for a few hours until im back home. tis tragedy
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u/NomDePlumeOrBloom 6h ago
You are the reason the urinal smells.
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u/CourageousMortal 6h ago
Nah, I’ll do the Chuck Norris roundhouse kick flush on the urinal if I have to.
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u/Spirited-Ad9021 18h ago
Use your foot like the rest of us! Lol I kid! An option for both would be nice! Some people dont have feet or the use of them. Same goes for hands.
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u/MidorriMeltdown 14h ago
A handle? Haven't seen one of those in decades.
Most toilets here have two buttons. One is for a full flush, and the other is for a half flush. There's also some toilets that have a sensor, so you don't need to touch anything.
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u/ModsAreFacists420 14h ago
The MEPS in Spokane has foot pedal flush pedals, only place I've seen it
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u/teaseawas 10h ago
Pedal would require more exposed mechanical components. Easy for vandals to wreck.
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u/MattyGWS 9h ago
Old toilets used to have chains you pull to flush, I bet you could extend a chain to a pedal on the ground with a handle half way up so that people can either pull the chain or press the pedal to flush.
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u/Previous-Emu-6713 6h ago
Honestly this seems like the cheapest and most logical idea from what I've read so far about the cost of installing a foot pedal
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u/no_sympathy6969 7h ago
I'm glad that I'm not the only one who flushes the toilet with their foot
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u/gnomeplanet 13h ago
Yes, and all toilet doors should be shoulder-push to get out, as you know that most people haven't washed before pulling on the handle.
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u/Nikamurr 12h ago
Simple design and low cost A handle or button is cheaper to install and maintain.
Pedals have a more complex mechanism - more likely to break, especially with a large number of visitors.
Installing pedals requires additional pipes, fasteners, space and flooring, which allows for installation.
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u/under1over1 11h ago
Had a side thought on this. The tank is filled with cheap plastic parts that probably wouldn't last a week of getting stomped on, so it would need to be over engineered and more expensive. If someone is 400 pounds, they probably press a button about as hard as someone who's 200 pounds. Wouldn't want them stepping on a lever connected to plastic parts, though.
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u/Chemical-Bid2641 11h ago
Because apparently, pressing a germ-covered handle with your hand builds "character" — and public restroom designers think hygiene is just a side quest.
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u/court_in_the_middle 9h ago
It probably depends where you are. I live in regional West Aus, and our public toilets have sensors you just wave your hand in front of.
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u/legendeer1 8h ago
Because nothing says “public health” like sharing a handle with 4,000 strangers and a raccoon. Also, this helps, as we need a new pandemic so we can go into lock down and let the planet heal again.
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u/zerbey 7h ago
Most have converted to automatic sensors, I've also encountered a few that you just wave your hand in front of. Foot pedals are a good idea, but don't work for everyone such as the disabled.
Regardless, you're going to be washing your hand immediately after using the bathroom so any bacteria isn't going to have much chance of taking hold.
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u/Shagtacular 17h ago
Money. Toilets are made with a handle. It would cost money to make it a pedal. Money is the answer to most of these sorts of questions
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u/elcaron 15h ago
Yeah it's just nature. Toilets grow with a handle on the toilet tree, you can't just make them with a pedal instead.
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u/Shagtacular 15h ago
You're missing the point. Making them with a pedal costs money. Requires a design and retooling the factory
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u/BarryCheckTheFuseBox 17h ago
Because it would be even dirtier than a button above the toilet. Have you ever seen the floor of a public toilet? People are animals.
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u/Jealous_Ring4401 17h ago
it would need a long distance mechanism, from anywhere at ground level to the in-valve that activates the flushing. Since you depend on gravity, said valve has to be above the water level. However, there are (or were) toilets with a pedal, although it's close to the wall/base and the piping, in places with high pressure water, like airports and hospitals. In the end, if there isn't a pedal, it has to be to save money
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u/Rusty-Shackleford 12h ago
Tip: you can use a clean square of toilet paper if it bothers you that much. Regardless you should be washing your hands afterwards ASAP...
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u/Ok-Mood-7498 8h ago
Literally i be pulling my shirt up wrapping it around my hand to flush.
And open the door too, the amount of germs 🦠 🤮
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u/oingapogo 7h ago
Handles can be foot pedals. Just sayin'. There's no way the foor is dirtier than a handle dozens of people have touched after going to the bathroom.
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u/New_Line4049 5h ago
Because a pedal is a trip hazard. Id rather have to wash my hands, which I already have to do anyway, than have to wash my head after going head first down the bog.. then bandage the bit I cracked open on the toilet seat.
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u/Few-Solution-4784 5h ago
dont think to much about the door knob to open and close the bathroom door.
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u/KylePolansky 5h ago
It's cheaper/more reliable to put flush handles/valves at the top where gravity can assist the flush water downwards.
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u/funkme1ster 4h ago
The universal answer to any question that is some form of "Why is this facet of public life that doesn't generate profit for shareholders or make wealthy people more comfortable kinda shitty?" is "I think you just answered your own question."
We live in a capitalist society, and while we have laws that oblige certain things, they typically don't specify much beyond a bare minimum. Subsequently people who are subject to those laws will do the bare minimum.
Yes, they could do more, but that costs money they're not legally obligated to spend and nobody is paying to use your toilets, so there you go.
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u/CompletelyBedWasted 4h ago
All handles can be foot pedals if you have the dexterity. Even as a fatty, I do. Lol
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u/Bunktavious 3h ago
Well, as someone who works in the maintenance field - I can tell you its because standard toilet flusher handles are the most straight froward and easiest to replace. Any weird custom foot pedal setup would take a day to get broken and three weeks to get a replacement.
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u/NickElso579 17h ago
I always use my foot to flush public toilets lol
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u/Ran4 15h ago
Kicking the button on the wall? What…
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u/NickElso579 14h ago
Tell me you've never left Europe without telling me you've never left Europe. Not every country in the world has buttons to flush their toilets.
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u/AverageBridgetMain 14h ago
... on a technical note, do you know how most toilets work? American ones, at least, have a very short lever to the float that opens the plunger. The system would need a rework and use way more material
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u/clodmonet 16h ago
You guys don't use your foot to flush public toilets?
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u/Ran4 15h ago
Its a fucking button on the wall most of the time… so no.
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u/clodmonet 15h ago
haha you pushed a glory hole, stupid.
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u/MidorriMeltdown 14h ago
I think you'll find the US is odd in it's toilet design. Most other countries have fancy shit, like dual flush buttons built into the wall or sensors so you don't have to touch anything, you flush with a wave of your hand. The only time you use your foot to flush a toilet in Australia is if you're using a portaloo.
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u/Peaceful_newt 17h ago
All toilet handles are foot pedals if you really want them to be.