Indeed, the differences apparently go all the way to the microscopic level. They leave behind more paper towels, and men's rooms usually smells worse. There are apparently two reasons for the higher level of germs in the women's room. First, women tend to bring children into the bathroom with them, and children tend to bring in germs. Second, women's restrooms just get more traffic than men's rooms.
Women use the bathroom more often and stay longer.
To cut down on the chances of getting a germ-laden restroom, Gerba recommends good hand washing and picking a bathroom with the right number of stalls. Because if they have only one stall, it tends to have more bacteria that potentially could make you ill, and if you have five or more, the number goes up again, probably because of heavy use. Inc. All Rights Reserved.