Talk:Bathroom

going to the bathroom in space

Hi, I was thinking of writing an article on going to the bathroom in space, when I came across this article. Are the cutural differences really so great that American bathrooms need to be listed separately? I noticed that the same picture is in both bathroom articles. Maybe a picture of a non-American loo here?

Also, there is a section called Cleanliness under the American bathroom article, but not here. I believe that non-Americans could appreciate a clean bathroom also. Rob 20:49, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

American bathrooms are listed separately because the word "bathroom" has a different meaning in America than in England. In American, a bathroom contains a toilet. In England, a bathroom is mainly for bathing. 152.163.100.204 22:57, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Request for photos

Please leave the link to the weblog with custom bathroom pictures; they are very interesting to most people interested in bathrooms and it is a non-commercial site.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.13.146.34 (talk • contribs) 08:40, 21 April 2006

Removed Criticism of Bathrooms section

I removed the criticism of bathrooms section, as it was entirely unsourced, and I've never heard anyone criticize the concept or current status of bathrooms anyway. If there is some great movement out there consisting of bathroom criticism, with reliable sources on it, find them and put this or a similar section back in the article. --Xyzzyplugh 10:53, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Merge proposal

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was merge. Kafziel 20:57, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

This was touched on at the top of this discussion page, but I wanted to follow it up. I don't see any need for a separate article dealing with American bathrooms. It will fit just fine in its own section at the main bathroom article, all semantic differences aside. That article has existed for about a year and the only thing linking to it is this article. The title makes no sense and the subject is redundant. If US-centric paranoia is really that strong that we can't possibly allow "bathroom" to discuss bathrooms, then "Bathroom (American)" can be condensed into a brief summary here with a link to toilet. Kafziel 20:00, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Poll

• Support as nom. Kafziel 20:00, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support, GilliamJF 09:21, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
• Support, Stjarna 20:17, 19 September 2006 (UTC). A small section describing the differences between US and Rest Of World use of the term 'Bathroom' would do better than two articles.

Comments

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Toilet/Lavatory

From the article: "...full bathroom, containing a bathtub, a shower, a toilet, and a lavatory"

Could someone please explain the difference between a toilet and a lavatory? The wikipedia article "lavatory" redirects to "toilet", which is what I thought it was.

thanks.

81.156.198.66 11:45, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Hey 81.156.198.66, please register and sign in next time will ya? Cheerio!--Simonay 08:37, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Globalize tag

The article seems to make reference only to developed world facilities. Claims such as, must account for the use of both hot and cold water, simply don't hold any water (pun intended) in tropical cold-water only facilities. Rambling passages about design asthetics and colour schemes have no logical place here either - now removed. Fanx (talk) 11:57, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Full/Half Bathroom

Hello :). I recently came across the term 'Half Bathroom', and I'm not entirely sure what that means. I live in New Zealand, and here a lot of houses have 'bathrooms' ie: tub and/or shower, sink as well as a separate 'toilet' next door - a small room with only a toilet and a tiny sink. But my Mum is Canadian and she never saw that in Canada and that she thought it was a 'New Zealand thing'. So I was wondering if that is what 'Full' and 'Half' bathrooms are or if it's something different, because that's the only thing I can think of it meaning. Thanks! :) Dustin ॐ 04:25, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

• In the U.S. (and possibly elsewhere as well?) a half-bathroom refers to a bathroom with a sink and toilet but no shower or bathtub. Half-bathrooms are common as an "extra bathroom" in houses in the U.S. in addition to the main shared full bathroom and any en-suite bathrooms. As separate rooms with just a shower are uncommon, there isn't a standard name for them. Houses near beaches sometimes have an extra shower in the garage to avoid tracking sand into the house, but this is treated as an additional utility shower rather than a "real" bathroom.

You may also see a more complicated system used in the U.S. that counts quarter-bathrooms. Each of the following fixtures counts as one-fourth of a bathroom: toilet, vanity sink (i.e. sink with mirror), bathtub, shower. The tub and shower can be combined as one unit and still count as two quarters; each component can only count once per room. In this system, there are two kinds of quarter bathrooms. The first is a very small room with just a toilet, which is used with a utility sink in an adjoining room (these are rare, usually found off a garage or laundry room). Another kind of quarter bathroom is just a vanity sink, usually found just outside a bathroom in a master suite, which can be used when the bathroom is occupied. These are a luxury feature and are also fairly uncommon. A three-quarter bathroom has a sink, toilet, and stand-up shower. These are not uncommon; often between the master bath and the main shared bath, one has a full tub and the other just has a shower. --Speight (talk) 22:40, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Bathrooms as standard features

Bathrooms didn't become standard in the UK until the thirties, I don't know much about the subject but it would be usefull if info of the like were included especially if it could be for multiple countries. Also, I didn't notice any mention of the Bidet. (Morcus (talk) 00:05, 5 May 2008 (UTC))

Bathroom type

There is a type of bathroom with just a toilet and shower. And there's a name for it too, but I have no idea what it is. If anyone knows they should share. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.2.242.199 (talk) 16:14, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it's called a "shower room" in common parlance. I.e. a bathroom where instead of a bath, one has only a shower. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.107.183.201 (talk) 00:09, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Errors

In the first sentence, what is a 'bathroomer'? Melvinlzp90 (talk) 14:20, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Basins not sinks!

I have always thought that bathrooms have basins and kitchens have sinks. I see that in this article the reference is to sinks. Is this because it was written by someone from the U.S and maybe that is what they are called there, or has it been incorrectly written. I would be interested in any feedback.Carolanne49 (talk) 08:09, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

This comment is contradictory. It admits that Americans use the term sink for both bathrooms and kitchens yet it claims that the word sink is being used improperly. They can't both be right. If you want to complain about improper use of English then please do something about Indian English. Sam Tomato (talk) 21:02, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

En suite

"En suite" redirects here, but the article does not mention the expression at all. I am loath to start on this as I have no doubt it will be a cultural minefield, but should some attempt not be made to cover it here, or elsewhere perhaps with a better redirect? Cheers and happy bathing, DBaK (talk) 10:34, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

As part of my last rejig edit, I added a stub "En-suite" section which may help (but it needs expansion). I note that there are En-suite, Ensuite bathroom, Ensuite and En suite redirect pages, so spelling varies, but can always be changed somewhere. Tim PF (talk) 00:28, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

2.5 bathrooms

I feel like the article should note that .5 method of "half bath" counting is kind of ambiguous. This must be why the newer version is different and more precise? Anyways, the current sentence reads:

One method is to count a half bathroom as ".5" and then add this to the number of full bathrooms (e.g., "2.5" baths would mean 2 full baths and 1 half bath).

I propose changing it to:

One method is to count a half bathroom as ".5" and then add this to the number of full bathrooms (e.g., "2.5" baths could mean either 2 full baths and 1 half bath, or 1 full bath and 3 half baths).

Thoughts? AgnosticAphid talk 00:05, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

History of Bathroom

The history section of this article lacks references. Specially this part:

"Although some sources suggest that bathing declined following the collapse of the Roman Empire, this is not completely accurate. It was actually the Middle Ages that saw the beginning of soap production, proof that bathing was definitely not uncommon. It was only after the Renaissance that bathing declined; water was feared as a carrier of disease, and thus sweat baths and heavy perfumes were preferred."

It has a link to Soap. You go to history of soap and then you find that there's a lot of evidence that soap was already produced well before the middle ages. I don't know whether the other claims are true or false, but I know this particular claim is false because it has a link in it that allows us to discover it is false. I am therefore removing it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.129.147.107 (talk) 18:53, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Rewrite proposal

This article needs some serious attention. It lacks a worldwide view and skimps on history. It should focus on bathing (baths and showers), and make toilets subsidiary, with all the appropriate links. I have a feeling I may soon be bold, so if anyone wants to pre-empt me, now would be a good time. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 11:35, 4 August 2016 (UTC)

Toilet

Do bathrooms in Britain contain a toilet? Why?37.76.121.10 (talk) 06:38, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

In houses built in the first half of the twentieth century, typically there would be one room containing a toilet (and possibly a handbasin) and one room containing a bath and handbasin. Most of these houses have since been renovated, often multiple times, so this layout is now very uncommon. In houses built after a certain point, these functions would be combined into one room. It is only in the past generation or so (1990s onwards?) that many new houses are built with more than one toilet, bath, or shower, and thus have more than one room, usually a bath + toilet, and a toilet (room). Source: general observation. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 10:57, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Bathroom. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110907074629/http://www.lrc.rpi.edu:80/programs/lightHealth/AARP/designers/lightingRooms/bathroom.asp to http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/lightHealth/AARP/designers/lightingRooms/bathroom.asp

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}).

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 08:45, 28 October 2016 (UTC)

Re-focus on rooms for bathing

I removed a quote pertaining to toilets. The source is questionable anyway:

The third millennium B.C. was the "Age of Cleanliness." Toilets and sewers were invented in several parts of the world, and Mohenjo-Daro circa 2800 B.C. had some of the most advanced, with lavatories built into the outer walls of houses. These were "Western-style" toilets made from bricks with wooden seats on top. They had vertical chutes, through which waste fell into street drains or cesspits. Sir Mortimer Wheeler, the director general of archaeology in India from 1944 to 1948, wrote, "The high quality of the sanitary arrangements could well be envied in many parts of the world today."

The article needs to focus on bathing (ablution - cleaning of the body) and toilet (room) can cover excretion. Otherwise we just have articles endlessly repeating each other. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 23:16, 1 December 2016 (UTC)

Agree with you, thank you. EvMsmile (talk) 22:21, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Cut confusing material

This is all unsourced. Better out than in.

An additional complication is that there are currently two ways of notating the number of bathrooms in a dwelling. One method is to count a half bathroom as ".5" and then add this to the number of full bathrooms (e.g., "2.5" baths would mean 2 full baths and 1 half bath). The other, newer method is to put the number of full bathrooms to the left side of the decimal point and to put the number of half bathrooms to the right of the decimal point (e.g., "2.1" would mean 2 full baths and 1 half bath; "3.2" would mean 3 full baths and 2 half baths).

Carbon Caryatid (talk) 00:10, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Photo for lead?

I would prefer if the photo for the lead showed more of the bathrom (sink, bathtub, shower) and no toilet or the toilet in a less obvious place - to ensure we are mainly talking about non-toilet aspects in this article? EvMsmile (talk) 22:36, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Good idea; can you suggest one here? You don't have to paste the image itself, but just the link to Commons.Carbon Caryatid (talk) 17:38, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I added two that came up in a search in Commons at the top (there are loads and loads of bathroom photos...). What do you think, is one of them suitable to replace the one currently in the lead (i.e. less emphasis on the toilet)? EvMsmile (talk) 22:17, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

I think your photos depict bathrooms that are quite fancy, and I'd prefer something more basic, like what many of our readers could recognise. I suppose the Lygon Arms one is the best of the three up there now (and really there should only be one). I began to look through Commons: Bathrooms and you're right; there are so many!

Maybe not as extreme as this (because it's dirty):

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catetinho_completa_60_Anos_08.jpg

But these ones strike me as usefully plain:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Badewanne_fcm.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BAUHAUS-DESSAU-2009_022.jpg

Any thoughts? Carbon Caryatid (talk) 11:37, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

I think you found good photos and we should include all of them to show the great variety all over the world. Is it perhaps better to put them into a gallery style format? EvMsmile (talk) 22:06, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

<unindent>Wikipedia has guidelines - of course - about image galleries, as well as technical advice. To bear in mind:

... the use of a gallery section may be appropriate in some Wikipedia articles if a collection of images can illustrate aspects of a subject that cannot be easily or adequately described by text or individual images. The images in the gallery collectively must have encyclopedic value and add to the reader's understanding of the subject. <snip> Images in a gallery should be carefully selected, avoiding similar or repetitive images, unless a point of contrast or comparison is being made. Just as we seek to ensure that the prose of an article is clear, precise and engaging, galleries should be similarly well-crafted. See 1750–75 in Western fashion for an example of a good use of galleries. However, Wikipedia is not an image repository. A gallery is not a tool to shoehorn images into an article, and a gallery consisting of an indiscriminate collection of images of the article subject should generally either be improved in accordance with the above paragraph or moved to Wikimedia Commons. Links to the Commons categories can be added to the Wikipedia article using the {{Commons}}, {{Commons-inline}}, or {{Commons category}} templates. One rule of thumb to consider: if, due to its content, such a gallery would only lend itself to a title along the lines of "Gallery" or "Images of [insert article title]", as opposed to a more descriptive title, the gallery should either be revamped or moved to the Commons.

So I read that to suggest that we proceed with caution. There may be better solutions than a gallery. If you do want to go ahead with creating a gallery, perhaps one way to go is a "typical" image example from several countries - a typical Hong Kong bathroom, a typical Japanese bath, a typical British bathroom 100 years ago, etc.Carbon Caryatid (talk) 15:07, 11 December 2016 (UTC)

Makes sense. Sounds like a lot of work! I won't tackle that but perhaps someone else can some day. :-) At the moment it looks a bit ugly because we have now more photos than text. EvMsmile (talk) 14:06, 1 January 2017 (UTC)

It probably is a lot of work. I think it looks OK for now; the photo/text balance is OK on my computer set-up. I don't feel the need to do much more to the article at this point. I encourage anyone else who wants to! Carbon Caryatid (talk) 15:15, 1 January 2017 (UTC)

Have taken another look and improved captions and removed that photo from Hong Kong which was confusing and not typical (I've travelled a lot but never seen a setup like that); if anything that picture would fit better with the article on toilet (room).EvMsmile (talk) 13:29, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

Hand dryer

Some bathrooms have hand dryers. Can you add to WP? I also searched on Google “hand dryers on bathroom” and I found it. 87.241.185.195 (talk) 06:55, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion. This article is about private rooms for cleaning the body. Are you thinking of public toilets? An image of a hand dryer would be appropriate there. By the way, Wikipedia uses images from Wikimedia Commons, where material is freely licensed, which is not the case for most results on Google. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 10:32, 28 December 2016 (UTC)