There’s a reason why bus seats always have garish patterns, and it’s absolutely disgusting

UNLESS you’re lucky enough to have your own chauffeur the likelihood is that you have travelled by bus before.

And unless you were engrossed in a particularly good book it is hard to avoid the garish patterns that cover the seats on almost every bus.

While the design choice may seem a little… er, dated, there is apparently a very good reason for the busy print.

According to LadBible the bus seats are designed using “complex mind-reading algorithms” that cause our brains to become distracted by the busy patterns.

What are they distracting you from? Well the answer is quite simple (and gross.)

The patterns are designed to be this busy so that passengers don’t notice just how mucky the seats really are.

With hundreds of passengers riding the bus each day, stains and spills are inevitable but far less visible on a fabric that isn’t plain.

But that isn’t the only reason.

You may have noticed that bus seats have a rather odd, almost carpet-like texture and this serves a purpose too.

Harriet Wallace-Jones, co-founder of Wallace Sewell – the design studio that designs fabrics for Transport for London, says that wool is "naturally flame retardant, and moquette is a pile fabric which has more durability than a flat woven cloth. 

“The fabric is usually a mix of cut and uncut pile, which also makes it more durable.”

So there you have it - might be worth washing your hands next time you get off the bus.