A flight attendant has explained why she always avoids loo roll when using a plane toilet.
Brenda Orelus, from Miami, has been a flight attendant for nine years and shares travel tips and insights from her time in the skies on her TikTok channel @flightbae.b.
The cabin crew veteran digs into a whole range of topics on the channel, including why you should never use toilet paper while in the air. Brenda claims that the suddenness of turbulence means that sometimes passengers are stuck in the toilet when it strikes, which can complicate the process.
"Little boys who are pointing and shooting, they kinda point and shoot everywhere so that usually ends up on the toilet paper," the flight attendant explained.
To avoid having to deal with damp toilet paper, Brenda reaches for the hand tissue paper rather than the roll, as it's usually up and away from the actual toilet.
Brenda goes on to speak about the the dirtiest parts of the plane, which is surprisingly not the toilet but the seat pockets. She argues that these are "dirtier than the lavatories, they're dirtier than the seat cushions and they're dirtier than the tray tables."
She added: "All the cleaners do is go in and take out the trash so all of those germs have accumulated and there's no real regular maintenance or cleaning of those surfaces whereas lavatories are regularly wiped down and sanitised," Brenda, who has visited 90 countries, said.
Generally the flight attendant's advice is a bit less stomach churning and candid, and covers such important topics as how to ensure you don't miss your connecting flight.
Her advice is to leave at least two hours between the different legs of your journey for domestic travel and three for international trips. "The only constant in aviation is change, so it is highly probable that one of your flights will in fact [be delayed]," she reasons.
"That cushion time will actually end up being your saving grace to allow you to still make your connecting flight. I've seen it time and time again, you don't wanna put yourself with a 30-minute or 45-minute window because that's giving you zero time to account for any delays changes in aircraft or even changes in airport. I've seen the craziest things."
Given how much she flies and how much of her life is spent in the air, having the right equipment is important for Brenda. In a recent video she gave a rundown of the five things she always carries with her. They include moisturiser, as "flying is drying", and perfume, as the schedule of a flight attendant can be unpredictable.
Sun cream with a high factor number is also in the bag, as flying at high altitudes can increase your risk of exposure to UV, as is a hydrating mist and hair gel. Brenda swears by compression socks, which help "promote blood circulation" and stop "extreme swelling" - something many flight attendants and frequent flyers suffer from.
Another of Brenda's top tips is don't threaten "any kind of terroristic activity" - solid advice if ever there was any. "Come on now, I don't care if it's a joke, it's not funny, we're on a plane. We don't know if you're serious or not," she said. "If you carry on about having a bomb, transporting a bomb or doing anything of that sort you're going to be on the no-fly list."
