I remember the experiments that added an engraved “fly” to the urinal basin in the expectation that it would inspire greater accuracy among competitive male users of the urinals. But I also remember from my pub crawling days establishments that turned an entire wall into one long urinal lined by sheet metal or tiles- the trick was not accidentally stepping into the small trench at the bottom.
We had a similar arrangement at the boy's boarding school I attended in England. A long trough at about thigh-top level for the various heights of boys, with the oldest/tallest at the right-hand end. All the urine flowed to the left, so the short boys had a potential flood at the end of the trough and between classes. The full volume then went down a short pipe to a trough that sloped to the other (tall boys) end, who might have got their feet 'washed'. Masterful 19th-century design!
What I really absolutely hate are the “single axis” shower control handles, where you turn it one direction to turn it on, which gets you onto an ill-defined temperature range.
I want one axis for the flow, and a SEPARATE one for the temp, dammit!
A stream of consciousness approach that is sure to make a big splash in the restroom industry, Lloyd. Thank you for this dribble of good news about a topic that has been a fixture of barroom bandinage for decades.
A few decades ago, a pop singer from the UK by the name of Adam Ant had a few hit records. I often wondered where he got that name, until one day I found myself in a restroom in London. There I was confronted by a wall of full length urinals proudly emblazoned with the name ADAMANT. Clearly the singer had spent a lot of time staring at similar devices before he finally got a grip on himself.
My wife and I moved into our current apartment, which featured a principal bathroom with a toilet hidden behind a shower in a plastic box beside a full-length standard bathtub with Jacuzzi-style jets. The counter had the usual two sinks set in a long countertop. After a few years, we renovated to accommodate my wife's needs. We replaced the bathtub with a walk-in tub and shower, which was shorter than the 5-foot original. The plastic box was replaced by a urinal, chosen to accommodate her needs for an ileostomy and a urostomy. (I'm allowed to use it as well). Removing the plastic box shower gave her access to the toilet, should she need to use a walker (named Jonny, for convenience). We also widened the doorway to 36" to accommodate a walker or wheelchair. We replaced the double-sink counter with a centred, single sink; the left counter became the ostomy side, and the right side is designated as the 'clean' side for other medical services that require sterility. We installed custom-designed cupboards and drawers for her various needs. The mirror was replaced with an infra-red heated mirror by Redwell, regrettably no longer available in North America. We added a bidet toilet seat by Toto to the Kohler toilet. Now, we are well equipped to 'age in place'!
A few drawbacks: (1) all the issues that Lloyd wrote about above, which would be solved with the Nautilus urinal. (2) The Toto bidet seat required an additional electrical outlet with a suitable breaker (think of the potentially unpleasant - er - end result - if there should be a short circuit), and (3) the drop zone from the new toilet seat is not over the Kohler designated drop receiving area, so there is more cleanup required of the toilet bowl. Moral: don't mix brands.
A bonus: I recently read that using a bidet instead of toilet paper can save thousands of litres/gallons of water. According to some sources, producing and flushing paper uses far more water than using a bidet and drying the backside with a washcloth (which can go in the regular laundry) or using the electric dryer built into the bidet seat.
If anyone would like pictures, I'll be happy to send them, or perhaps Lloyd could post them here.
I remember the experiments that added an engraved “fly” to the urinal basin in the expectation that it would inspire greater accuracy among competitive male users of the urinals. But I also remember from my pub crawling days establishments that turned an entire wall into one long urinal lined by sheet metal or tiles- the trick was not accidentally stepping into the small trench at the bottom.
We had a similar arrangement at the boy's boarding school I attended in England. A long trough at about thigh-top level for the various heights of boys, with the oldest/tallest at the right-hand end. All the urine flowed to the left, so the short boys had a potential flood at the end of the trough and between classes. The full volume then went down a short pipe to a trough that sloped to the other (tall boys) end, who might have got their feet 'washed'. Masterful 19th-century design!
What I really absolutely hate are the “single axis” shower control handles, where you turn it one direction to turn it on, which gets you onto an ill-defined temperature range.
I want one axis for the flow, and a SEPARATE one for the temp, dammit!
I agree! shower controls are dangerous, there should be a standard. Great cartoon about this: https://condenaststore.com/featured/your-friends-shower-ellis-rosen.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqrJIcB8xFp1kjYrijW5ZLXp7B8elyRQ1Yk1KExgSVUGWveisNW
A stream of consciousness approach that is sure to make a big splash in the restroom industry, Lloyd. Thank you for this dribble of good news about a topic that has been a fixture of barroom bandinage for decades.
A few decades ago, a pop singer from the UK by the name of Adam Ant had a few hit records. I often wondered where he got that name, until one day I found myself in a restroom in London. There I was confronted by a wall of full length urinals proudly emblazoned with the name ADAMANT. Clearly the singer had spent a lot of time staring at similar devices before he finally got a grip on himself.
My wife and I moved into our current apartment, which featured a principal bathroom with a toilet hidden behind a shower in a plastic box beside a full-length standard bathtub with Jacuzzi-style jets. The counter had the usual two sinks set in a long countertop. After a few years, we renovated to accommodate my wife's needs. We replaced the bathtub with a walk-in tub and shower, which was shorter than the 5-foot original. The plastic box was replaced by a urinal, chosen to accommodate her needs for an ileostomy and a urostomy. (I'm allowed to use it as well). Removing the plastic box shower gave her access to the toilet, should she need to use a walker (named Jonny, for convenience). We also widened the doorway to 36" to accommodate a walker or wheelchair. We replaced the double-sink counter with a centred, single sink; the left counter became the ostomy side, and the right side is designated as the 'clean' side for other medical services that require sterility. We installed custom-designed cupboards and drawers for her various needs. The mirror was replaced with an infra-red heated mirror by Redwell, regrettably no longer available in North America. We added a bidet toilet seat by Toto to the Kohler toilet. Now, we are well equipped to 'age in place'!
A few drawbacks: (1) all the issues that Lloyd wrote about above, which would be solved with the Nautilus urinal. (2) The Toto bidet seat required an additional electrical outlet with a suitable breaker (think of the potentially unpleasant - er - end result - if there should be a short circuit), and (3) the drop zone from the new toilet seat is not over the Kohler designated drop receiving area, so there is more cleanup required of the toilet bowl. Moral: don't mix brands.
A bonus: I recently read that using a bidet instead of toilet paper can save thousands of litres/gallons of water. According to some sources, producing and flushing paper uses far more water than using a bidet and drying the backside with a washcloth (which can go in the regular laundry) or using the electric dryer built into the bidet seat.
If anyone would like pictures, I'll be happy to send them, or perhaps Lloyd could post them here.
I have had a Toto bidet seat (on a toto toilet) and love it, here is what I wrote when I got it. https://www.treehugger.com/why-i-spent-toilet-seat-and-why-you-should-too-4857501