Okay, Logjam, I got your poll up. I seem to recall one more I got from you, courtesy of Dave, but maybe I didn't put that one up . . . or maybe I did and you didn't get the credit . . . sorry about that. I added the middle option because it seems a good idea to me to close the lid when flushing a whopper.

As for my own vote, I picked always, because my cat, not the one in the bathroom pics picture but the other one, likes to drink out of the toilet. She's not the brightest bulb in the lamp. I've dunked her a couple times when I caught her and she still keeps coming back for more. However, she's definitely not smart enough to open the lid, so down it goes whenever we're not using it. Whenever we have company, I have to tell them to put the lid down so the cat won't drink out of the toilet. Maybe I should just put up a sign.

Our cats always drank out of the toilet. Except for the little paw prints on the seat, it really wasn't a problem. :P

We usually keep ours down, though, since we have a toddler. He's big enough now to open the lids himself, but generally doesn't. But I'm always afraid my glasses will fall off the shelf while I'm in the shower, or I'll take off my ring to wash my hands and somehow drop it in the bowl. Things like that.
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Mmmm...Fiber: Nature's Broom!

This poll forced me to think about what my habits are in this regard. I realized that I almost never close the lid, but Will almost always does. I think he likes the way the toilet looks.

I guess if we had company touring the bathroom, I would close it. Otherwise, no.

The lid should always be up; in the event you need the toilet three minutes ago and are about to blow, you are saving time (and possibly your pants/walls) if the lid is already up. Dorm toilets don't even have lids, and this has saved me. Keep them lids up!

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I flush twice, with the lid up both times.

I chose "Only when flushing a big one" but I normally close the lid everytime I flush.

Why?

Because I believe in the theory that when you flush the toilet germs from the sewer fly into the air; and many a time I have a beer or a coke in the shitter with me and I don't want to contaminate it.

We never put the lid down in my house. I am sure you all know why. We do have a cat, but she never goes in the bathroom. I think she senses that there is potential for danger in that room.

I went for "flushing after a big one", though I always close it to flush any kind of turd. Probably have the same idea as doniker - don`t want to pollute the bathroom if it can be helped.

As of right now, the lid is almost always in the open position. But when Li'l Miss HFD starts walking around, I'm pretty sure we'll be closing it, at least until she's potty trained.
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Yes, those are my brown spots. Yes, those are your walls.

I said never. But actually it's down once a month (that I know of) when I sit on it to give myself an injection of cyanocobalamin (B-12).

heh @logjam

After pooping I will put the lid down after flushing to see whether or not the toilet clogs. Usually it doesn't but I never know. The last time I kept the lid up constantly was a few months ago when I had food poisoning and was throwing up every hour or so.

Cyan - close the lid before flushing. Then flush again, if you have doubts, or there are still floaters, after closing the lid, flush again. Repeat once more. If there are still solid turds that will not go away - lift them out and throw them over the nearest fence.

Lid up, looking down, sending the turd proudly on its way like a parent on a child's first day to school.

No kids, no pets, no personally compelling reason to close the lid are the real reasons I keep a visible bowl.

I always try to keep the lid down because it looks neater. I guess I could keep the lid up, but then I might as well NOT FLUSH the toilet either. It's not over till the fat lady sings, and the toilet lid's down.

My first post, I'm so excited. Thank you all for posting stuff about crap!
Any way, back to the topic at hand. I'm pretty sure my lid is up all the time, don't know why, just is. I've got no cats or dogs, and my daughter is smart enough to keep her fingers out of the tiny swimming pool.
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I love ice cream and cheese, but they don't love me back.

My lid is always up. It is how my mother taught me. I'm not sure why you folks even put it down!
Poop on!

-Poopgirl

I'm surprised with all the responses here! Personally, I see no need for a toilet to even have a lid. It should always be ready for action without wasting valuable seconds in the event of an inevitable ass explosion. The only good reason I can see for lids are keeping kids and pets out. I don't plan on having kids, and cats will learn to stay out, so my lid's staying up assuming there is one.

And what about those of you with urinals or bidets (TBW are you listening?)? They are always open--what might go on in the event kids or pets are present?

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"Double the flush, double the fun" --The Amazing Anus

Dufya, bidets and urinals don't have STANDING water, which is the hazard with small children. They are top-heavy, and if they lean into the toilet to play with the water or get a toy they threw down there, they can fall in, and they lack the strength to get their feet back on the floor, and they can drown. Same thing with 5-gallon buckets.

Some people use the closed toilet as a seat in the bathroom. I sit there and put my foot on the edge of the tub to paint my toenails. (I have dropped the bottle, before, so I always polish over cleanable tile, now!)
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Fecal Matters.

Are you actually serious GGG. Wow, I thought you guys were kidding around about the kid drowning in the toilet. I've got a sister who's mentally retarded, and nobody ever worried about her drowning herself. What kind of kids do you have?

Isn't that what Darwin was talking about when he mentioned "natural selection"?

Oh, I've heard of it happening too. Kids who are 2 or 3 years old can indeed fall in water and get stuck, whether they're mentally retarded or not.

Phillip, I don't know whether to wish you have children someday, or to hope that you don't.

And if "nobody ever worried about her drowning herself", then your sister isn't the only one who's retarded.
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Fecal Matters.

Some people need to be given the Darwin Award if they are old enough to know better yet drown in a toilet or a bucket. Lame comment, but it had to be said.

As far as having children, don't worry. Lots of people are those who would be bad with kids, then suddenly they grow up one day and decide parenting isn't so bad.

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"Double the flush, double the fun" --The Amazing Anus

"...Lots of people are those who would be bad with kids, then suddenly they grow up one day and decide parenting isn't so bad..."

Not so bad for whom?
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Fecal Matters.

Well, GGG, le's look at it like this. One day you never have kids, don't have patience, etc. Then one day you're fine with having a kid and are willing to do what it takes to child-proof your house and keep your kid out of trouble.

To answer your question, not so bad for the parent.

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"Double the flush, double the fun" --The Amazing Anus

My lid stays open because for some reason the toilet seat material on this one seat causes evaporation from the bowl. Every time I lift it up the thing is dripping with toilet water. When the lid is open there is no problem. However, if I do that I have to keep the bathroom door closed because one of the cats likes to play in the toilet bowl.

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"That was a very disappointing party. I showed up and everyone left!"- Camille

I have mine closed because I have a fuzzy cover with butterflies on it. Ahhhhhh. It's like I'm crapping in a meadow.

I alwas keep the lid up. It is very convinient when that turd has the industrial strength battering ram out, and is shouting "full steam ahead" and I'm holding in for dear life, praying that the gates hold up to the latest assault.
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Jammin' lo'flo's since 1977.

For once and for all, the argument is NOT about the toilet “seat” being left up or down, it’s the “lid” of the toilet that the argument is all about!!!!

In 1975, Charles Gerba published a scientific article describing the phenomenon of bacterial and viral aerosols due to toilet flushing. It states, every time a toilet is flushed, an aerosol plume of contaminated water droplets is ejected into the air and lands on everything in the bathroom, including you, your toilet paper, clean towels & toothbrush! During the study, gauze pads were placed around the experimental bathroom and close-up photos of the germy ejecta taken that looked like “Baghdad at night during an air attack.” The study showed that significant quantities of contaminated bacteria & virus filled microbes of urine and fecal matter floated around the bathroom and for at least “two hours” after each flush.

So guys, pleeeease, just CLOSE THE LID!

go, read, push, read more, push again, reduce weight, read the comics, stand, wipe, flush and start producing again by eating a pizza ;)

Im pretty sure this is one of those social class things like whether you put the milk in first when pouring tea. Putting the seat down is a bit genteel?
I also have an envolved cat who prefers it to be left up.