Home Toilets Make or Break Image

The condition of toilets most affects one’s image as a great host, according to Lysol’s survey of 1,011 adults from Jan. 15-18, conducted by Opinion Research Corp. The majority of survey respondents said that they check to see if a toilet is clean before using it, and the younger they are, the more likely they are to look, 76% ages 18-24 versus 55% ages 65 and older.

Forty percent assume that a dirty toilet means a person is a bad housekeeper, 28% would worry about the sanitary conditions of the whole house and 24% would worry about the cleanliness of dishes. When using a toilet that is not their own, nearly half of those surveyed (47%) cover the seat with toilet paper, while 23% sit on an unlined seat. Also, 30% of college graduates reported that they would sit on bare seats that were not their own.

On other topics, 71% of men admitted to reading on the toilet versus 56% of women. Magazines were the universal reading material of choice, followed by newspapers for men and books for women. Thirty-eight percent ranked toilet cleaning as the worst chore, followed by emptying the vacuum filter and washing dishes.