I'm guessing most of what you pick up on your feet will not attack your skin or your body through your skin. It probably washes off in your next shower. I'd be squeamish about it, but it's probably not too unsafe.

With the number of drinks I request (sometimes, if I'm flying in F or J I'd have 4 different drinks going at once) it's impossible for me not to use the lav.

It's also why I request aisle seats.

Sorry. :D Myth busted. Airline toilets are built with a shroud that provides an air gap. Even putting their simulated giant butt (really!) directly on the bare bowl, just a slight shift was enough to break the vacuum. 3 psi isn't enough to suck your insides out either. Adam actually tried it himself. He laughed like crazy but was unharmed.

As for bare feet, I might get disgusted by proxy, but nothing they track in on their bare feet is going to affect me any more than the stuff tracked in on shoes.

I put on my shoes before using rest room, walking to galley, etc. No exceptions for me.

For me, the secret to avoiding jet lag on long haul/TATL flights is to drink LOTS of water and walk around alot. Sleeping isn't important.

And it just so happens, the two go together- the more water I drink, the more I have to "walk around".

Im very suprised to read how many of you disapprove of the aircraft lavatories. True, they are the smallest possible water closet you might imagine, but to a 6'0" guy like me with extra-long legs and arms the loo can be a releiving place to stand up and take the load off my butt.

Case in point, I'd been keeping my 2-year old daughter busy on the LAX-EWR-LAX AAL B752 (a small, uncomfortable aircraft however noteworthly her performance is for the flight crew) and the lav was a great place to enjoy some peace and quiet standing up without enduring the stares of 100 eyes.

I don't think I have ever "sat" in an airplane bathroom, including my long hauls. It would have to be fairly urgent for me to want to use it. Though I will say the Lav on LH F was pretty nice.

Yeah, I think I would rather just wear diapers. Is it strange that I never understood why George was funny? Seemed pretty normal to me. (Just kidding) :p

...
 

I try to avoid the lav on short haul flights, but on trans-pacific flights to Japan and beyond there is simply no avoiding them. I don't feel the least bit claustrophobic however, if anything the lav probably offers more personal private space than anywhere else on the plane (unless you fly business or first). Where else can you drop your pants and do anything you wish without having to worry about other passengers around you.

My husband and I have a joke that my bladder must shrink up to nothing the moment I get on an airplane.

On any normal day, I can go for hours without having to use the bathroom, but the moment a plane takes off - even though I used the ladies room in the airport - I need to visit the lav and have to continously all through the flight. Usually about every hour to hour and a half.
The most embarrassing is when I come back from from a trip to the lav, sit in my seat and have to go again 30 seconds later. I hate that! :eek:

Yes, I always request an aisle seat! ;)


BTW...Men, you're not at home. Please, put the seat down when you're finished!

It's only fecal matter, easily washed off. But check your shoes after.:D

I was on a commuter plane a few months ago that was filled with a young group of boys (7-9 years old?). I was lucky enough to use the restroom after a few of the boys had used it. (I couldn't hold it anymore -- a tight connection didn't allow me time to use the restroom in the terminal). These boys had to have had the worst aim possible, the restroom floor was covered in urine and the whole place reeked. I was desperate but was also wearing very long pants with my 3" heels. I tried to cover the floor with papertowels to absorb some of the moisture and then had to keep my pants hiked to my knees (to keep them from touching the floor) while trying not to touch anything near the toilet with any part of my body. It was painful but thankfully, I believe the only contaminated part of me when I left the restroom was the soles of my shoes. :mad: It was disgusting.

I still don't understand how anyone can walk in a public restroom in their barefeet!

Agreed. To date I have avoided ever having to use one and I won't unless stricken with explosive diarrhea.

Just like when I was poor and rode the greyhound I never even thought about using their bathrooms on the bus.

yet the sheep remove their shoes when gong thru the tsa security checkpoints :rolleyes:

On a plane:
Number 1 Yes no problem
Number 2 No way! :)

Eww. They're the same feet that have gone bare-footed through the check point, so if I were you, I'd be disgusted and worried, and walk in with my shoes on....or lay down the blanket that are left on the seats :-p

Airport
 

At the airport is much better than in the air.

The meganoise is from the flow caused by pressure differences. The larger the difference, the ouder the noise. ;)

I find that incomprehensible too. Even with shoes on I feel gross sometiems when I I have to step on the floor, knowing that I walk into my house with the same shoes. :(

Do what I do, don't wear shoes in the house. Shoes are taken off before anyone enters my house. So nothing gross gets tracked in.

Oh and when I have something delivered, I lay down old sheets so they don't touch my floors/carpets.

Wrong! Leaving the seat raised reduces the likelihood that the next inconsiderate doofus will cover it in urine.

Up or down?
 

But wouldn't that be rude for the next person that comes in if it's a male? He'll then have to lift the seat back up and who wants to touch it really? It's a 50/50 shot! :cool:

No one has mentioned the one thing that should be of concern when using an aircraft lav...sudden turbulence. I am not a nervous flyer and love to fly...but turbulence does come out of nowhere and one could be in the lav when it does. So I get in and get out as quickly as possible....I also wear shoes even if I have to stuff my feet with heavy socks (for comfort) into my shoes and clump down the aisle...I wouldn't put a lot of money on the aim factor being that good.
Edited to add a word about the source of the water in the lav. I know absolutely nothing about holding tanks on planes but I have been boating and around boaters all my life...the same tank provides water for the galley, shower, sinks and the head....I have never seen or heard anyone tell of a problem with lines mixed up allowing water to flow to anyplace other than intended...not that it couldn't happen.... just not heard of it....and an aircraft could be a whole different story....would like to know if it is.

Actually you should put the seat and the cover down! When that thing flushes, I don't want to think about what is released into the air within that little bathroom. Yuck!! I always close it before flushing.

We do take our shoes off after walking into the house. Still, the shoes do make contact with a portion of the floor.

Me too!

Considering that it sucks air into the toilet not much will be released. And I don't think there's much difference in air-flow weather you close it or not.

What really grosses me off: men who believe they can aim during turbolences and make a mess of the place. Worse are those of course, who admit they won't be able to aim well and attempt it anyway. Would it be too much to ask to just sit down?

HTB.

In the book Plane Insanity (highly recommended) he tells of an incident when he was just finishing in the lav and the plane hit extreme turbulence, the liquid from the toilet splashed all over his uniform; and he didn't have a spare with him. Pretty gross...

There is also this excerpt from the book on his site:
Doesn't seem too appealing to me to do that in an airplane lav, but to each their own. :D

So, uh, did you pick up the urine-soaked paper towels on the floor, or leave them for the next person? Hiking your pants should be standard procedure when using any restroom, dry or wet. Same for hovering and keeping your hands away from the toilet.

mythbusters did a thing on the toilet water vaporization thing - although i don't know what the result was.

Sit in an airplane lav??!!! It would have to be an emergency!