How to Use a Urinal Without Splashing Yourself

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 18, 2023 References Approved

Urinals are a sanitary, convenient, and efficient tool communal bathrooms. However, using a urinal can be tricky business. Many have encountered situations at the urinal in which they find themselves the victim of urinal "splash back." In such cases a fine mist of urine, or even larger drops, may have landed on you or on your clothes. However, there is an art to proper urinal usage in order to prevent urine splash back from occurring.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Picking Your Urinal

1
Choose a urinal with privacy guards, if you can. Some public restrooms have privacy guards between urinals. These guards serve the dual purpose of providing you privacy, and shielding you from other people’s splash back. Try to find a restroom that comes equipped with privacy guards, as you’ll be much less likely to fall victim to someone else’s splash back.^{[1]
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2
Pick a urinal on the end, rather than in the middle. If you can’t find a restroom with privacy guards, pick a urinal on the end, next to the stalls or the sink, instead of a middle urinal. This way, you’ll be half as likely to fall victim to the splash back generated by the guy next to you.^{[2]
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3
Select a urinal remote from other people. Studies have shown that the closer you are to someone else, the more anxiety and difficulty you and that other person can have when it comes to peeing. The resulting panic and anxiety that you both experience might just lead you or your neighbor to create splash back.^{[3]
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- It is okay to stand and pee directly next to another person when the restroom is crowded and there is no alternative urinal available. You are not expected to have to wait in line or use a stall in these circumstances.
4
Look at the floor before you approach your urinal. Many times the floor in front of the urinal will be wet – that’s other people’s urine. Be aware as you approach the urinal, you don’t want to step in someone else’s puddle and unwittingly splash urine onto yourself that way.^{[4]
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5
Think before you pee. Sometimes we’ve really got to go, and we rush up to the urinal and get peeing in a hurry. Try not to do this. You need to think before you pee so that you’ll be able to take steps and precautions that will limit your splash back.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Peeing

1
Avoid hitting the urinal cake. Urinal cakes are designed to fight odor and are often small and placed on the bottom of the urinal. They're not meant to be targets. If you hit them, they might create splash back and deflect urine spray in your direction.
2
Hit the wall of the urinal at a gradual angle. Change the angle of your stream. Don't hit the urinal dead on. The splash back will be worse the closer it is to 90 degrees. Instead, try to hit the urinal at a soft angle -- less than 45 degrees.^{[5]
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3
Aim for splash-reducing urinal inserts. Some urinal inserts and splash guards are designed to absorb the impact of your urine stream to reduce potential splash back. Shoot for these, especially if you can pee on one that bends upward so that it is vertical and so you can hit it at less than 45 degrees.^{[6]
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4
Stand closer (but at the right angle). Splash back is greatly increased when your urine hits a surface at a sharp angle and from a great distance. After a few inches, your urine starts to break up into droplets. These droplets create more splash back than a solid stream of urine.
- Distance matters because your stream will start to break up if you are too far, and you will have a higher chance of creating splash back.
- In addition, your urine picks up a lot of velocity the farther you stand from the urinal, resulting in more splash back.
- If you can impact that porcelain before stream breakup occurs, you will be in good shape.^{[8]
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5
Don't stand too far. While you may not want to be too close, you definitely don't want to be standing too far away. Generally, your stream will begin to lose coherence and power after about six inches from your urethra, so take this into account when you pee. Remember though, there is no "magic" number when it comes to how far to stand from a urinal, because each urinal is different, every person is different, and everyone's comfort level is different.
6
Avoid “shaking” too briskly. When you’re finished, don’t shake your penis too quickly. This might cause your urine to fly through the air or it might hit the urinal and you could create splash back by accident.