apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

They have this in Malaysia too. Much more hygenic in a public restroom. No one sits on the seat anyway.

hah i grew up in m'sia and yes there are everywhere in public restroom for hygienic purposes. we even had them at home in the downstairs guest bathroom at one point. these are great for working out legs and butts muscle.

I just recently went to China and they have these there too. I didn't mind them as much as I thought I would. The public restrooms I used were certainly cleaner than many in the US.

The squat toilet is all over SE Asia. I agree it is much more hygenic and once you get the hang of it not at all difficult to use.

In Cambodia's Angkor Wat there are Western style toilets in one of the modern public restrooms. Mounted on the wall above the toilet are signs similar to pedestrian crossing signs that show a properly seated figure in a red circle next to a figure squatting with feet on the toilet seat in a red circle with a line through it. Despite the visuals there were shoe prints on all of the toilet seats.

I guess the locals were grossed out by our style of toilet.

i'm amazed by this. it sounds like a nightmare. when i was in preschool our teachers always taught us to stand on seats and squat on field trips. the school itself had commodes down to our height.

I lived in Korea and it was hit or miss with this toilet. Frankly, I hated it. It's fine if you're wearing a dress or a skirt or something, but if you're wearing jeans it's a nightmare. Plus, trying to keep your balance...let me just say that the consequences can be quite gross.

I'm sorry, but pinching a loaf shouldn't be such a chore!

in india too. the problem was the public ones were not clean. usually the floors were covered with (what you hoped was) water and mud. i had a hard time figuring out how you're supposed to keep the hem of your jeans clean.

re: footprints on toilet seat, that happened all the time in the ladies restroom at my grad school (here in the u.s.). large contingent of international students, and no amount of signs posted stopped it. :-/

Squatting helps you alleviate constipation; so the entire Metamucil isle would disappear from Walmart, costing millions of dollars in revenue from the laxative industry and (now) yogurt industry. Watch the Asian Squat link, and you'll see how it's not supposed to be a work of balance and strength, but one of Asian-persuasion fixation on relaxation.

Ah yes, the squat! Never fully got the hang of it. ;)

My grandparents' house had one of these -- I HATED visiting them as a kid because of that darn thing.

its amazing what can trigger a flood of memories!

i used these a lot when we used to go back to india on vacation when i was growing up. tolerable to use "most" of the time if u know what i mean. after our first trip back to my dad's village they could see how much i disliked it, so when we went back a few years later, they had already built an "english toilet" just for me - it was beautiful and spotlessly clean - they had never used it, saving it just for me. i was only about 8, and just thinking about it now makes me realize how much they cared about me.

thanks for the reminder AT.

well, i've always heard them called 'Turkish Toilets' in Europe (they are a little different in design -- they don't have the back curve -- but pretty much the same thing)...

Can't say how horrible I find them -- they always have them in public restrooms in Italy. Don't know why anyone would say they are more hygienic -- ALL the ones I have encountered have definitely been LESS.

However, most toilets in the west probably ARE hung too high; if you go to Falling Water, you will be told that the toilets were essentially sunken into the floor to make them as low as possible.

This kind of toilet doesn't look nice but in public restroom I never sit down on the toilet seat so, for me, it doesn't make any difference, I have to use my legs muscle anyway! Does anybody sit down on the seat toilet in the public restroom?!?!

re: sitting on toilet seats

i think oprah covered off this topic on one of her shows a few years ago... her gripe is the same as mine -- it is the people who hover over the toilet who make the mess on the seat.

...they've done germ studies, and seats are usually quite clean -- door handles, taps, etc. aren't, which are why more public washrooms in north america are moving towards touchless controls.

...and there is a big difference between the squat toilets I have encountered and regular ones: as some people have written earlier, with squat toilets, you run the risk of getting, umm, run pant legs, shoes, or long coat dirty from the floor and edges of the toilet, as many people (especially in ladies' rooms) do not have good aim. Hope I do not have to spell it out any more.

They have these in the motorway services in France and I HATE them - there is no way you can physically squat low enough to stop splash-back - disgusting!

On the other end of the spectrum we have Japan's Toto Washlet. Control panel; automatic, non-slam seat down function, "air quality control;" heated seat; and of course the eponymous washlets, followed by dryers. A friend of mine tried one out while visiting her son at his CA Google office. She says they rock!

Squatting is excellent exercise. It stands to reason we'd all be much more physically fit and live longer if we did things the Asian way, including dining seated on low cushions -- but as far as the toilets -- no thanks. Rather risk the germs, which I don't think there are many of anyway.

My impression is that regular cleaning is the more important variable as far as germs and disease.

If there are germs, there are going to be germs -- in the air and on the floor -- whether you squat or sit.

Oh, I had no idea you were to face the back! Maybe that was my problem in Japan!

Like others have mentioned...how the hell does this work wearing tight jeans or pants? Peeing in the woods is challenging enough wearing baggy hiking pants.

For those of you who squat over Western toilets, please lift up the seat first, so that it doesn't get tinkled on. If you don't want to touch the seat, wrap your fingers protectively in some toilet paper.

This brings back memories of hole-in-the-floor toilets on my post-high-school-graduation tour of Europe. Located in dirty train stations and parking garages, no less. Luckily I had lots of skirts and dresses with me on that trip, because I can't see how you could squat over one of those things in pants without making a disgusting mess or falling over

Squatting while pregnant, with a little kid or on crutches? I'll take my exercise somewhere other than the public rest room thanks. Not everything in the US or the Western World is bad for you.

I remember these when travelling around Korea when I was 8 but there was no porcelain. Being so little, I was always terrified that I'd lose my balance and fall in. It felt like the ground was opening up and I was straddling the depths of hell.

hey i used to live in china and know all about this! my one tip for traveling the world is to NOT wear chic flared or straight leg pants. there is one saving grace for "mom jeans" that have tapered legs! roll up your pant legs and carefully hold everything together while you squat. otherwise it can get messy ;)

I hate squats, here in Hong Kong they are still the main public toilets and frankly, they are usually filthy..then again, so are western style toilets (and I mean FILTHY..its still not the done thing to put used toilet paper down the toilet out here). Avoiding public loos is great exercise for the kegels though.

OK, I just tried the Asian squat and I can't do it!! I wonder if it has to do with my awful heel spurs and the fact that my calves are crazy tight... Or I'm just too fat!