Thanks to bans on pay toilets dating back to the 1970s, people in the US have become accustomed to enjoying free access to public restrooms almost wherever their travels take them. Depending on the town or city, however, restrooms aren’t necessarily plentiful — or well-maintained, for that matter.
Instead of the state’s political drive to build more — and better — public toilets, enterprising developers and entrepreneurs have tried to tackle the problem in a variety of ways. Beyond maps that track public toilet locations, startups like Throne are developing high-tech, self-cleaning and autonomous portable toilets that can be reserved via a mobile app.
But what about opening the many, many professional bathrooms that already exist?
A new venture starting at CES 2024, Rinse off, wants to do just that — rent restrooms to customers in coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and other high-traffic areas. USC computer science graduate Elle Szabo founded Flush after frustrating experiences trying to find public restrooms while on diuretic medication.
“I’ll never forget the day I went out for a big dinner and we all piled into the car to go hang out in Pasadena, where I knew there wouldn’t be any open bathrooms,” Szabo told TechCrunch in an email interview. “We had been driving for a few minutes when I had to force the car to stop at the nearest building — which in this case was a hospital! If taking this drug was a problem for me, I wondered how many other people it was a problem for.’
Flush is a two-sided market for bathrooms, basically. Business owners can rent their bathrooms, for $5, and users can find and reserve available bathrooms through Flush’s online app. Flush takes a 5% cut on every booking.
Image Credits: Rinse off
To combat bathroom soiling guests, Flush has a built-in rating system, which providers see when approving a toilet booking. (One hopes there are measures in place to prevent abuse; Szabo didn’t say.) Flush is also exploring some form of insurance to reimburse businesses in the event of damage caused by visitors, such as a major plumbing issue.
“Using Flush, a cafe or coffee shop can create an additional revenue stream without increasing expenses,” Szabo said. “In addition to the added revenue stream, Flush provides a unique means of attracting new customers without additional marketing.”
Szabo is very bullish about the idea, stating that Flush could someday “fix the distribution of bathrooms to people.” But aside from buying coffee as a courtesy, I’m not convinced the average person would be amused by paying $5 to use the bathroom even in an emergency.
Speaking as someone who didn’t grow up in a country where paying for the toilet is the norm, it would be a difficult mental adjustment. Even Europeans might balk – pay toilets in countries like Italy tend to be much cheaper (around a euro or so) than what Flush is currently asking for.
Now, to be fair, there are some situations – say diaper changing – where I could imagine an orderr be able to justify the Flush fee, particularly if there are no other viable nearby options. And Szabo envisions businesses creating dedicated Flush entrances that allow customers to skip lines and cover charges (think a busy bar or club), which admittedly has some appeal.
But the idea of renting a toilet has been tried before – and it wasn’t a huge success, exactly.
Good2Go, like Flush, once partnered with local businesses to rent out their bathrooms, charging a membership fee that was split with the owners. Despite securing early high-profile customers like Peet’s Coffee and raising a $7 million funding round, Good2Go — which also partnered with restroom renovation businesses — eventually turned to selling generic door access control technology after it failed to the financial results.
Restpace, another bathroom rental service, is still alive and going. But it charges on a per-minute usage basis (eg $15 for 15 minutes), a potentially more profitable business model than Flush;s.
Flush users can view photos of a bathroom before booking — and read reviews. Image Credits: Rinse off
Even if Flush, which is starting in Pittsburgh, where Szabo is based, catches on, I’d imagine it would eventually become difficult for businesses to handle the logistics of figuring out who bought access to which bathroom — and which customer was next in line. Flush is considering buying smart locks to allow users to self-serve, but Szabo isn’t committed to that idea yet.
The elephant in the room is the harm that platforms like Flush can do to those who cannot afford to pay the fee.
Some might argue that it’s up to governments, not businesses, to build and service more public toilets — and this writer doesn’t disagree. But since there doesn’t seem to be much appetite for that kind of infrastructure spending, private toilets have become vital resource for homeless populations who would otherwise be forced to urinate or defecate on the street.
However, Szabo doesn’t see it that way.
“Homelessness is a growing problem and some providers are concerned that a homeless person may damage or dirty the bathroom,” she said. “Flush provides a way to access and provide access to a clean, reliable bathroom… Airbnb has been so successful because it provides something we all need — a roof over our heads — and Flush does the same for bathrooms.”
Flush, which Szabo runs and codes herself, is currently bootstrapped. It’s in the process of registering businesses and lining up investors (hence the media tour at CES) and plans to hire an employee this year.
