If there's a bad smell, slow your breathing so you don't have to inhale as much. You can also breathe through your shirt or use an odor-eliminating spray.
Always wear your own shower-shoes, sandals, or flip-flops. Never venture into the bathroom with bare feet. You never know what bacteria or viruses are living on the floor. Especially in the shower, wear flip-flops or some kind of sandals. Footwear will help keep you from developing meningitis, plantar warts (caused by HPV), athlete's foot, and staph and strep infections. Many types of bacteria, viruses, and fungi thrive in warm, moist environments like bathrooms and showering areas. To prevent warts on the feet, never wear another person's sandals or flip-flops, and don't lend out your own.
Touch as little as possible. Make sure not to touch the walls of the shower or the bathroom stalls. Wash your hands before leaving.
Be VERY careful when shaving. Because of poor lighting, it may be difficult to shave without seriously injuring yourself. If you find shaving in the shower problematic, consider waxes, depilatory creams, or an electric razor.
When all the disgusting people on your floor decide not to flush the toilet or to dirty up the seat, don't hesitate to leave a sign on the door. Signs will decrease the amount of gross things occurring in the bathroom. However, you may need to post different messages every so often if students stop being complaisant. The best place to put a sign is on the inside of every stall door: people will definitely see it, and they have a moment to read it while they're on the toilet. Attract attention to your sign with lots of color and some clip art. Short and sweet messages are best; longer ones tend to be ignored.
Make sure to clean the seat before sitting down. You may wish to hover over the seat if possible, so that your skin never actually touches the toilet. However, this posture causes the pelvic muscles to remain tensed, which may have negative effects on bladder health in the long term. In addition, voiding from a hovering position makes you more likely to spill and create a mess, which you'll have to clean up. Only use the hovering technique if absolutely necessary. A layer of toilet paper may protect you from any obvious stains and spills that are already present on the seat, but it also increases the surface area on which bacteria can grow. Toilet paper itself is also not entirely clean, since it is always in such close proximity to the actual toilet and has probably been touched by many people who haven't washed their hands yet. In the end, the best way to employ toilet paper is to wipe the seat and then sit down (or hover, if you must). Skin is an extremely effective barrier against bacteria so the chance that you'll catch something from sitting on a visibly clean seat is very low.
If possible, wait to go to the bathroom until you are in a nicer facility. Find good bathrooms that you can resort to every once in a while in order to get away from the almost unbearable bathrooms in your dorm. Try to find a less popular or less messy restroom on another floor.
Always wash your hands with soap after using the restrooms, and remind others to do the same. If you do nothing else, at least perform this step! Also, if it doesn't create privacy issues, prop the door open when you enter the bathroom. Try to avoid touching door handles on your way out, or use a paper towel, a napkin, or even some toilet paper to open the door. Provided that you wash your hands, most restroom messes are more unpleasant than unhealthy. Washing your hands frequently will help stop the spread of illnesses as well.
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