What It Really Means When Your Flight Attendant Mentions The 'Blue Room'

If you've ever been around a few flight attendants at the airport, or listened to them chat on a plane, you may know that they have insider terms that most people aren't familiar with. For instance, flight attendants may call someone "Bob" if they think they're attractive, short for "babe on board." There is one term, however, that isn't quite as delightful, and that's "blue room." It sounds mysterious, but if you really think about it, it makes sense. In flight attendant lingo, the blue room means the lavatory, and the name comes from that blue liquid that sits in the toilet bowl.

If you're curious what that substance is, it's a chemical called SkyKem. It both deodorizes and disinfects, and in those tiny, windowless airplane bathrooms, that's a very good thing. Look for its characteristic color next time you step inside the lavatory — and, if you hear the cabin crew talking about the blue room, you'll know exactly what they're referring to.

The airplane bathroom, or blue room, works differently than the one in your home for obvious reasons. You may have noticed the really loud sound it makes when flushed, and that's the vacuum pulling the waste into a tank in the plane. It is not, as you may have heard in the school yard, just expelled out of the plane. While there have been a few incidents of "blue ice," or frozen waste and SkyKem, falling to the ground, that is only the result of rare leaks. If all goes according to plan, waste is collected and emptied only after the plane lands.

There are a few other things you should know about the airplane bathroom. First, if the seatbelt sign goes on above you, this is the worst time to use the bathroom during a flight, as there is likely to be turbulence. Consider how hard it is to keep your drink steady if you hit a bouncy patch — similarly, things can get messy in the lavatory. It's also a good idea to avoid brushing your teeth on the plane, no matter how much you want to. According to a 2019 study by Dietdetective.com, the water in the lavatory isn't safe for human consumption. If you must swish, do so with water from your own water bottle, and definitely don't refill that bottle in the bathroom. Finally, note that if you have a medical emergency or the bathroom lock gets jammed, flight attendants can unlock the bathroom door from the outside. There's even a call button in the lavatory for the unlikely event that you do need assistance.