The Foot Flusher is designed for use by individuals with limited use of their upper extremities or limited coordination and balance of their lower extremity while flushing the toilet.
Step 1: Gather Materials.
Materials:
2 Paper Towel Rolls.
1 Wire Hanger.
1 Kiwi Express Shoe Shiner (or similar).
1 Package of 3M (I used the "Utensil Hooks" but technically any one of these Command Strip products will work - more on that later).
1-5 Rubber Bands.
Some tape or glue.
Optional Things:
Spray Paint to paint the paper towel rolls.
Some Goo-Be Gone will help.
Step 2: The Paper Towel Rolls.
Note: Technically you do not have to use paper towel rolls. You can use a hollowed out broom stick, shower curtain rod or whatever you may have depending on your ambition. Some users like the rolls because they are cheap, easy, and paintable - however, you technically don't have to use ANYTHING, as the only purpose this serves is to hide the hanger. If you don't care that the hanger is visible, then forget about this step and move on.
Assuming you do not want the wire hanger to show, you're going to want to cover it up with something nice. Take the two paper towel rolls and shove them into each other so you have one long tube. Squeezing it and misshaping it is fine, and you can technically glue it on the inside for extra support, but you don't have to as the spray paint is sticky and when drying will stick them together.
Do this step first as the spray paint needs time to dry and will require numerous coats - but each coat must dry before spraying a new one. This whole process will take maybe an hour, but you can do other things while waiting for it to dry.
SPRAY PAINT IS DANGEROUS! Only use it if you are an adult and know how.
Step 3: The Wire Hanger.
This step depends on how high up your toilet is. Remember that this project can be done on any type of toilet. Some users use a “flushometer”, but it will work on flush handles as well. Find the approximate distance between the floor and the handle and, using pliers, keep bending the hanger back and forth until the piece is straight and the excess has been taken off.
The wire does not have to be perfectly straight either, as once the paper towel rolls are over it; you won't see the hanger at all.
Step 4: The Foot Pedal.
This is the most important part. You need to get a foot pedal. I had a hard time trying to figure out what would make a durable, yet cheap, foot pedal and then I came across this Kiwi Shoe Shiner. I took the plastic case cover off and threw the rest away. I was left with a perfectly foot-shaped durable piece of plastic.
It costs approximately $4.00 and the tip of the foot pedal has a plastic ring meant to be used for placing on store shelves. We'll be using it to attach the wire hanger.
Step 5: Attaching the wire hanger to the pedal and the rubber band.
You are going to need some pliers or some really strong hands. What you need to do is place the wire hanger around that plastic ring and then close it off with some pliers.
On the other end of the hanger, place the strongest thickest rubber band you have around a hook. Double up the rubber band as much as you can because it needs to stretch, but it also needs to PULL. That is the key. This rubber band will be pulling the handle of your toilet. Once done, use pliers again to close it off.
Step 6: Almost Done.
This next step is not necessary, but it makes everything look nicer. This step involves taking the sticker off the pedal. This is by far the HARDEST part of the steps. Again you don't have to do this step.
Step 7: Attaching the Foot Pedal
This can be tricky but fortunately there are numerous ways to do this. You must put a hole in the back of the pedal to attach the 3M hook. This hook will be what sticks to the floor in your bathroom. Technically you don't have to use this. You can use glue, Velcro or whatever. But the fact that these can easily be stripped and taken off so if you mess up you can easily take it off and try again makes these easy.
To create a hole you use a drill and drill through it really quickly, use a pin and then increase the size of the hole. Once you have the opening, place the 3M piece through it. Feel free to use a small piece of tape to hide the strip handle.
Step 8: Last Step.
Now you just have to put it all together.
First place the paper towel roll over the wire hanger.
Then go to your bathroom and attach the rubber band to the handle.
This part is a bit tricky. You need the perfect compromise and it may be tricky to find. What you need to do is make this pedal far away enough so that your putting strain on the toilet handle, but not so far away where it becomes obtrusive and in the way of your daily bathroom routines. Play around with the area before sticking it to the ground; use your hand to see if it works from each position while you're down there.
Finally, once you have a nice happy spot, follow the directions that 3M provides.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Foot-Flusher/?ALLSTEPS.