There’s one good reason to wear shoes to the toilet on a flight

Nothing is more relaxing on a long flight than taking off your footwear. You don’t need to wear shoes, as you’re going to be chilling with a movie or perhaps reading a book to make the journey pass by as quickly as possible. No doubt you’ll leave your socks on for extra comfort.

During the flight, you’re also probably going to visit the toilet. Without thought, you pad off to the cubicle, go through the routine and head back to your seat. Nothing to worry about, right?

Here’s Why You Should Wear Shoes

For the uninitiated, there is something you need to know about the cabin atmosphere on board an airliner. Air is provided to you from outside, and at high altitudes there is very little humidity contained in it.

This is what makes the air feel dry and why a common travel tip is to drink lots of water to stay hydrated. There is another consequence of this low humidity.

Any kind of fluid that is dropped anywhere on a plane is therefore going to dry quite quickly. Now consider the variety of people using the unisex toilets on an aircraft. The possibility of turbulence. Throw in the fact certain members of the male persuasion have an issue with aim/drips/the shake off, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Spillages on the floor of toilets will evaporate, leaving no evidence to the naked eye. But you can be sure that your besocked foot is doing the cleaner’s job for them and wiping it up quite nicely. You’ll then put that foot back in your shoe and forever have a souvenir of your flight. Tasty, right?

Overall Thoughts

So what is the one good reason to wear shoes to the toilet? Shoes will protect your socks, your feet and the inside of your shoes from any… let’s just say “residue”, from previous users of the facilities.

Crew I have known say it’s their one cardinal rule that is never broken, because it can be one of the dirtiest places on board. Especially when it’s many hours in. Keeping the bathroom cleaned is part of their tasks, but it’s never going to be perfect

What say you? Are you someone who would wear shoes to the toilet? Or do you throw caution to the wind and happily go in socks? Maybe you’re a real hippy and dive in bare footed? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image via Thai Airways.