No matter how many times they’re asked to do otherwise, some men will just never leave the toilet seat down. At this point, you might as well accept that and focus your energies on figuring out a different solution instead. That solution is exactly what the SmartNudge brings to your toilet.
Designed to mount on the underside of the toilet seat cover, the device, basically, detects when the toilet seat is up and automatically nudges it back down after a certain time has passed. That way, your husband, boyfriend, or whichever other male person you’re living with doesn’t have to remember to put the toilet seat down – the contraption can take care of doing that on its own.
The SmartNudge has a sensor that can detect when the toilet seat is up. Once it makes that determination, it starts a 90-second timer, which activates a built-in mechanism that pushes the toilet seat with enough force to send it back down to its place on top of the bowl. According to the outfit, those 90 seconds should be enough time for any dude to do their business in the toilet (an average pissing session supposedly last 21 seconds), so the seat doesn’t have to remain up for any longer than the situation requires. Suffice to say, if you amble into the toilet after somebody who pisses standing, you can expect to find the toilet seat properly set down.
An adhesive strip in the back of the device allows you to easily affix it to any toilet cover, although the strip isn’t reusable, so you’ll need to use a fresh two-sided adhesive tape if you want to put it back after swapping batteries. For that reason, each set includes a magnetic mounting kit that you can use in place of the double-sided adhesive, in case you want to be able to easily remove the device and snap it back in place at any time.
The SmartNudge uses four AA batteries for power, with a fresh batch rated to keep it running for up to 18 months of standard use. By standard use, we’re assuming they mean when the device is installed at home, so expect a shorter operating timespan if you’re setting this up in a unisex wash room of a restaurant or coffee shop. Dimensions are 5.7 x 3.3 x 0.8 inches, so it’s quite a big object to add to your seat cover, which means it’s definitely going to be noticed by people who use the toilet. It also means the cover won’t close flush on top of the toilet seat anymore, unless you used the magnetic mount, which allows you to snap the device off the cover any time you like.
Of course, using these with toilet seats that aren’t “soft-close” could create another annoyance – that of hearing the toilet seat slamming down every time a man in the house goes in to do their business. To minimize any further fallout from that, they also included four “slam stoppers,” which are designed to soften the impact each time the toilet seat falls on top of the bowl.
A Kickstarter is currently running for the SmartNudge. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $29.