Dementia-friendly toilet signs

Why the toilet door is the sign that matters most

Common dementia design guidance treats the toilet as the first door to sign. It is a room people look for many times through the day and the night, and it is often behind a door that looks just like the bedroom and cupboard doors either side of it. A plain door gives nothing away about what is behind it; the sign is what tells it apart.

Guidance on what that sign should be says much the same things:

• The word and a picture together. Some people read the word, others recognise the picture first.
• A picture of a toilet. The usual advice is a recognisable image of the thing itself rather than the stick figures used on public washrooms.
• Strong contrast. Light lettering on a dark ground, or the reverse, and a sign that stands out from the door it is fixed to.
• On the door itself, the same on every door. A sign on the toilet door, at a height people look at, in the same place on every toilet in the building.

Our guide how to sign toilets so they are easy to find goes through placement in more detail, and how to sign bathrooms and toilets covers the rest of the washroom.

What our Toilet door sign is

The word Toilet and a drawing of a toilet, in white on a dark panel, set on the finish you choose. It is the door sign from our dementia-friendly range with Toilet chosen as the room.

Size and make

228 x 228 mm. An acrylic panel with a textured 3D print, fixed with the double-sided tape supplied.

Eight finishes

Oak, Walnut, White Pine, Carolina Blue, Garnet Red, Heather Purple, Sage Brown and Veridian Green.

Braille and tactile option

Add braille in the customiser. The print is textured on every version. Braille and tactile signs

Or a door decal

Rather not fix a panel to the door? Our door decals are printed vinyl applied to the door itself, in the same eight finishes. They are a flat print, so choose the sign where touch matters.

Signing the way to the toilet

A sign on the toilet door helps once someone is standing in front of it. Getting there is the job of the corridor, and Toilet is a room option on the two signs made for it, in the same eight finishes as the door sign, so the picture someone follows is the picture they arrive at.

• Directional signs are 105 x 500 mm with an arrow, for the junction where someone has to choose a way. They go up in pairs, one pointing each way, and have a braille option.
• Projecting signs are fixed at right angles to the wall, so the toilet can be read from along the corridor as well as from in front of the door.
• Door decals put the finish on the door itself where a panel is not wanted.

If you are signing more than a few doors, our order form takes the whole building room by room and we send back a priced list.

What a Toilet door sign costs

This is the shop's own price for one Toilet door sign in Oak, in your currency. The braille version costs a little more; the customiser shows both. Type how many toilet doors you have to see the total.

Want to see the finish first? Order a free sample or browse every room on our dementia-friendly door signs.

Toilet sign questions

What makes a toilet sign dementia-friendly?

Common guidance on dementia-friendly signage asks for the same few things: the word and a picture together, a picture of an actual toilet rather than an abstract symbol, strong contrast between the sign and the door it is on, and the same sign in the same place on every toilet door in the building. Our Toilet door sign is designed around those points.

Is your Toilet sign DSDC accredited?

Our Toilet door sign was listed in 2018 with a 1A rating in the Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC, University of Stirling) directory of accredited products. The listing is for that sign. Our guide to DSDC accreditation explains what the directory is.

What size is the Toilet door sign and how is it fixed?

It is 228 x 228 mm, an acrylic panel with a textured 3D print, and it comes with double-sided tape, so it goes on the door without drilling.

Can I have braille on a toilet sign?

Yes. The door sign and the directional sign each have a braille and tactile option, which you choose in the customiser. The projecting sign has no braille option. If you are signing a whole building to a particular access standard, our braille and tactile page explains how we quote that.

Which colour should I choose?

The sign comes in eight finishes. Choose the one that stands apart most clearly from the colour of your toilet doors, and use the same finish on every toilet door so the sign always looks the same. A sample of the finish shows you how it looks on your own door before you order.

Do you make toilet signs for corridors as well as doors?

Yes. Toilet is an option on our directional sign, a 105 x 500 mm sign with an arrow for corridor junctions, and on our projecting sign, which is fixed at right angles to the wall so it can be read from along the corridor. Both come in the same eight finishes as the door sign.