I hate automatic flushing toilets! You know the kind with the motion sensor on the back of them. They automatically flush when you move away from the toilet. Some of them even flush when you don't move for a while. Those are the ones I absolutely cannot stand!! They flush without warning! Va-whoosh! And your back side gets sprayed. Don't the inventors of these things understand that some of us have bathroom issues and may need to hover over the bowl longer than most people!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to trick the sensor?

Yep!...just make sure you're chewing gum when you go to the loo, and simply take your gum and cover the sensor with it while you're sitting on the loo (it will stick to the sensor, which is usually a small black piece of glass). Once you're finished your business, simply take the gum away and throw it in the toilet. It blocks the sensor, and makes it think someone is sitting down...it may cost a few pennies worth of gum, but welll worth the money, and it works every time! Hope this helps,

Cheers!
Eric

I'm wondering whether a small post-it stuck just above the
sensor would work, since that way there would be no risk of
ruining the sensor ... oh, now I see why you use the gum

I hate them!! They go off at least twice before im finished. Then it takes even longer for me to finish because i keep having to dry myself off. Then once I am finished, I cant for the life of me get it to flush again

How about restrooms with timers on the lights? I was "trapped" in one mid-poo when the light went off . . . couldn't see my hand in front of my face. Couldn't get up. I had to struggle to finish and get clean enough to exit the stall and find the door to trigger the light to come on again. YES! We need more time in the loo . . . and more time to finish our business!

Oh, Debra, that must have been a horrible experience.

Have you seen some of the public portable toilets that have a timer on them? I saw one in Boston near the New England Aquarium. It's a pay toilet. After you pay the door opens to let you in. Then you have 15 minutes to do your business. If you are not done in 15 minutes, the door automatically opens and everyone on the streets of Boston can see you! This type of portable toilet also has a self cleaning feature. I used it back before my surgery but I don't think I would risk it now!!!

How about when your in the process of wiping and the dang thing goes off!

Here's a trick that I use. Before you sit down, take a little bit of toilet paper, spit on it right at the top center then stick it to the wall above the sensor. The moisture will hold it to the wall, and you will not be disturbed.

While these all sound like novel ideas, I really can't condone putting your spit on the fixtures. Granted, we should consider all these areas dirty and wash our hands before touching ourselves or anything else. However, I will certainly think twice before handling the autoflush system in the future, after reading here. I think the Post-It idea is a good one.

Jan

Kwad, I will be right near the aquarium next week, I am going to make a point to go use this bathroom.

I wish I had known about this before though. So many times I have wandered the north end after eating a plateful of pasta and realized that there was not a bathroom in sight that I would be allowed to use.

That self-cleaning public pay toilet with 15-minute time limit sounds
like a godsend to me. If I were waiting to use one, I might even
advocate a shorter limit; maybe there could be a 5 minute express lane

I recall a 2001 story about such toilets in New York City (without a limit?):
http://www.gothamgazette.com/iotw/bathrooms/
Lawsuits were filed on behalf of the disabled, so the authorities
decided: no such toilets for anyone! I see they finally got some of these:
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2008/01/11/...an_pay_toilet-1.html

Wow, this is a serious topic:
http://www.americanrestroom.org/pr/index.htm

I was in Newark airport, trying to put the paper seat cover on the toilet seat when it autoflushed and splashed up in my face. That was probably the most disgusting bathroom experience I ever had.

I hate it when they flush and steal my "ass-gasket" seat protector before I sit down!

They have them at my work so I always put some toilet paper over the sensor before I do anything.

And how about when they breakdown and don't flush, that just as bad!