Bathroom Etiquette for Overnight Guests
Thursday, 06 July 2017 - 10:23 | Views - 1,700

The holidays are coming, and with it a host of parties, events and gatherings. And it's more than likely that you'll have one or more guests sleeping over, either because they live in another part of the country or because they may have had a little too much to drink. Whatever the reason, though, sharing a bathroom with strangers can be a little awkward at times.
Wondering how you can manage having more people in your home and still give everyone some private time in the bathroom?
Here are some ideas.
2+ bathrooms? Designate one for guests
Your family has the luck of sharing multiple bathrooms--maybe one for the adults and one for the kids. Designate one bathroom to be reserved for guests during their stay--possibly the kids' bathroom--while the family shares the adult bathroom. This will give your guests some sense of privacy while they are staying with you.
Outfit the bathroom with everything your guests may need: extra towels, soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste. Maybe get yourself some of my suggestedholiday gifts to help deal with an influx of guests!
You should try to have some kind of schedule for showers and bathing, as well, since water heaters definitely have a limit. (If you live in an apartment or condo building with common water heaters, no need to worry about that!) Two showers per hour is about what a regular-sized water tank can manage.
1 bathroom? Don't panic
If there's only one bathroom in the house, or one full bathroom and a powder room, no need to panic.
You can still get everyone the private time they need with little tension.
The first thing you'll have to do is manage odors. More people = more smells, unfortunately. But an odor remover, incense or even something like Poo Pourri (awesome little product) will help keep smells to a minimum.
Make sure you find extra space to hang everyone's towels--you can never go wrong with a practical towel rack that you can tuck away after the guests are gone.
Be willing to share your soap and shampoo, and make sure to have a few extra toothbrushes on hand just in case someone forgot theirs.
For showers or baths, you'll have to manage a schedule. Hopefully you live in an apartment, which means no water tank issues. But still, you'll want everyone to take a shower, so either get up before everyone so you can take yours first, or defer to your guests and take it last. It's good to prepare a nice breakfast with pastries and warm coffee so your guests can wait their turn patiently.
Making your bathroom inviting
If you're going to share your bathroom, you'll need to make it inviting for others. The day before your guests come over, give your bathroom a nice scrub. Nothing's worse than having to take a shower in somebody else's dirty bathtub.
Try to remove unnecessary clutter from the countertop; put your medications away in the cabinet and brushes, makeup and other daily items in their respective spaces. This will let your guests set their own items on the counter when they need to.
Freshen up the towels and washcloths, light a scented candle for a few hours, and change the hand soap for something cute and fresh (or fill up the liquid hand soap bottle).
Make sure there's enough toilet paper for the extra traffic--if not, go get some now, instead of having to run to the store because you're unexpectedly out. Better safe than sorry.
Have a wonderful time
With your bathroom issues managed, you can concentrate on having a great time with your friends and family!