The “Commode” Toilet Seat. Prior to the flush toilet, the renaissance era saw toilets that consisted of a box with a seat and a lid covering a porcelain or copper pot to catch the waste.

There is still a strong argument for keeping the toilet seat down in one very specific scenario. Dr. Shanina C. Knighton, PhD, RN, CIC, an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University ...

Green lasers reveal you should close the toilet lid before ... that reaches more than 5 feet above the seat. ... another disadvantage of traditional Western toilets and our strong ...

"The closed lid can disperse the germs back onto the toilet itself and the surrounding floor area. Think of the water going up, hitting the barrier, and then coming back down," Dr. Knighton explains.