A red cup under the toilet seat lets other people know that there's no toilet paper.
Placing a red cup under the toilet seat at night or any other time lets other people know that there's no toilet paper.
Although not everyone does this but some people do.
Wiping the toilet seat does help some to get rid of germs.
However unless you wipe the toilet seat with some cleaner and disinfectant then the germs won't all be wiped away.
Bacteria can go through toilet paper as toilet paper is porous which allows things to pass through including bacteria and germs.
If using a public toilet or someone else's toilet you should cover the toilet seat with some toilet paper to help prevent the spread of germs to your body and prevent your germs from getting onto the toilet seat as well.
Although germs can get through toilet paper it helps create a barrier between you and the toilet seat.
Or if the public toilet has toilet seat covers you should also use those toilet seat covers as well.
Soft toilet seats are considered unsanitary as they can collect and harbor bacteria and they are a bit harder to keep clean.
However if you do use soft toilet seats and wipe them down and clean them with disinfectant cleaner often then they should be sanitary.
But hard toilet seats are easier to keep clean and harbor less germs and bacteria.
While pooping the toilet seat should be down so you can sit on the toilet seat.
If you're a man then you should lift the toilet seat up while peeing if you're standing up but for a woman you should sit down on the toilet seat while peeing and pooping.
Toilets in Italy have no seats as it's seen as more hygienic to have seat free toilets when stranger's are sharing the same toilet.
It's seen as unsanitary in Italy for strangers to share the same toilet seat so they don't have toilet seats in Italy.
Public bathrooms in Italy usually have seatless toilets and you usually have to pay a small fee for the service.
While using a free bathroom may sound tempting, know that they're usually dirty.
It's worth the small fee to be able to use a clean bathroom!
France, Portugal, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Venezuela, and Spain: Instead of toilet paper, people from these countries (most of them from Europe) usually have a bidet in their washrooms.
A bidet like a toilet, but also includes a spout that streams water like a water fountain to rinse you clean.
While today the bidet has somewhat fallen out of use in France, it has been adopted as fundamental part of life in Italy.
In fact the bidet is now so ingrained into Italian culture that it's a legal obligation to put a bidet in every bathroom that is built on domestic or hotel property.
When you are traveling in Italy you will see strings hanging down the wall over tubs and shower stalls.
This is actually an alarm system required by building code, especially for hotels and other places renting out rooms or apartments to travelers.
Bidets are found in pretty much every Italian home and hotel but are seen as a little too fancy for public restrooms.
(Though even that is not unheard of).
They are almost always standalone bidets, which are located next to or close to the toilet.