Have you ever noticed a red cup under the toilet seat and wondered why it was there? For those who don’t know why it can be pretty confusing. However, there are actually a ton of reasons as to why the cup has been placed there, and you can find out by reading this article.
1. There is no more toilet paper
There’s nothing worse than sitting down on the toilet and discovering there is no more toilet paper. Luckily, leaving an empty red cup beneath the seat will tell the next user that this is the problem because they will need to remove the red cup before using the toilet.
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2. Hygenic reasons
Are you someone who hates touching the toilet seat to raise or lower it? Then the empty red cup might just become your new best friend. It prevents you from having to touch the actual seat. However, there have been studies that suggest this is more unsanitary than raising the toilet seat manually. Germs get splashed on the cup when the toilet is flushed.
3. Displays a warning
If you live in a country with many creepy crawlies, rats, and snakes, you may see the red cup as a godsend. You can place it there as a warning if any of these unwelcomed guests want to make an appearance in your toilet. The cup will fall over as they enter, and the toilet seat will make a loud bang as it closes. This will alert you if there is anything near your toilet before you use it.
People all around the world are placing a cup under their toilet seat before they go to bed at night. This simple, yet unusual trick will help you fight one of your biggest fears. With just a small amount of effort, you will prevent many sleepless nights. You will thank yourself later. Continue on to the next page for the reason why, as well as a few other easy tricks for which you only need household items.
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Placing a red cup under the toilet seat might seem like a silly idea or even a meme, but it is catching on more and more. Why?
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There are many reasons why people place a red cup or even an empty roll of toilet paper under the toilet seat. Some of these include letting others know that there is no toilet paper, as a warning system when animals crawl up the sewage system, and more.
Putting a red cup under the toilet seat makes a lot of sense once you realize what leads people to do this. Keep going with this article to understand why this trick is so popular.
Why Put a Plastic Cup Under the Toilet Seat?
You might shake your head when you first hear the notion of putting a red plastic cup under the toilet seat at night, but there is reasonable justification to do so. In fact, the impressive reasons for placing a red cup under the toilet seat seem endless, and most of them genuinely are very useful.
Let’s have a closer look at some of the most prevalent ones.
Lack of Toilet Paper
It is very unpleasant to go to the bathroom and reach for the toilet paper only to find that there isn’t any left. Of course, the best thing to do would be to check whether there is toilet paper or not before using the toilet, but most of us forget to do this.
Placing a red cup under the toilet seat at night or even during the day can let others know that there is no toilet paper. This will save people an embarrassing and frustrating moment when they need toilet paper the most.
To Warn of Intruders
You might not expect intruders to get into your home by using the toilet, but four-legged critters and snakes do this all of the time. This is especially true if you live in places like Florida, where alligators and other animals can easily find their way into homes.
There is even an urban legend about alligators in the sewers of New York City. This means that putting a cup under the toilet system as a warning system is a good idea no matter where you happen to live.
If an unwanted guest gets up your toilet’s pipes, the red cup will fall, and the toilet seat will make a banging noise as the creature exits the toilet. This will provide you with a heads-up to deal with the situation.
To Potty Train Children
Teaching children how to urinate in a toilet can be a difficult task. Using a red cup under the toilet seat as a visual aid is very effective for this.
When the child goes to the bathroom, seeing the red cup propping up the toilet seat will remind them that the seat has to be lifted. This simple step goes a long way to avoid getting urine all over the seat and around the toilet.
To Measure Urine Excretion
There are medical conditions that require people to measure how much they urinate. Putting a red cup under the toilet seat will cue a person to measure their urine.
This does not necessarily mean that you should use the red cup to measure the amount of urine. Rather, it is simply a reminder.
Hygienic Purposes
You can use a red cup to prop up a toilet seat slightly for hygienic purposes, especially in public toilets. Imagine using a public restroom and having to put the seat up with your hands. You would come into contact with more germs than necessary.
It is debatable just how dangerous germs on toilet seats are. However, human feces contain vibrio cholera, leading to more than 100,000 deaths globally each year.
The slightly propped-up toilet seat means that you can use your foot to push it all the way up and not have to touch it at all.
Red Cup or Toilet Paper Roll?
You might see posts where people talk about placing an empty roll of toilet paper under the toilet seat instead of a red cup. Does it really matter?
Yes and no. It depends on your intent. If, for example, you are using this trick or hack to point out that there is no toilet paper, both will do. However, if you intend to get a person’s attention as best as possible, the red cup will do a much better job because of its prominent color.
By the way, the cup does not have to be red. Red just happens to be a color that gets people’s attention, which is why it has become popular. This attention-grabbing color will be beneficial for children and older adults.
Solo Cup Under Toilet Seat?
As you can see, the idea of putting a red cup under the toilet seat is not so silly after all. There are valid reasons to employ this trick. But should you use just one cup under the toilet seat or two?
Placing two cups under the toilet seat might be a good idea if you are worried about it getting accidentally knocked off somehow. In most situations, though, it will not be necessary and can even be detrimental.
For example, two cups instead of one would make it harder for a child to remove to use the toilet.
We recommend using just one cup unless the need for two becomes apparent.
Conclusion – Red Cup Under Toilet Seat
Putting a red cup under the toilet seat is a trick that can seem like a fad that comes and goes, but this practice is very worthwhile.
If using a red cup for one or more of the many reasons we talked about here would be useful to you, we suggest you give it a try!