Bathroom Turn and Release Cylinders

A bathroom turn and release is the two-part privacy fitting on an en-suite or WC door: a thumb turn inside the room throws the bolt, and a slotted emergency release outside lets anyone open the door with a coin or screwdriver. Building safety practice requires that external release on every bathroom door in a home.

Matching the turn to the lock

The turn must match the centres of the lock and the rose diameter of the handle, so buy the turn, the handle and the lock as one specification. Complete matched sets are in bathroom door handle sets, and the locks themselves in bathroom locks.

For keyed rather than privacy doors use an escutcheon with a sash lock or dead lock. Bedroom privacy is covered by bedroom lock sets, and the wider category is locks and latches.

How the turn and release works

A bathroom turn and release is a privacy set, not a security lock. The thumbturn on the inside face throws the bolt of a bathroom mortice lock, and the release on the outside face is a slotted or coin-operated emergency override so the door can be opened from the landing if someone inside cannot open it. That emergency release is the whole point of the pattern and is why a standard keyed cylinder should never be used on a bathroom door.

Matching the set to the lock and the handle

The turn has to match the lock case: a bathroom mortice lock is normally a 5 mm bathroom spindle with a fixed centre distance between the spindle and the turn, most commonly 57 mm or 78 mm. Measure the existing lock before ordering, because a turn at the wrong centres will not line up however well it is finished. Then match the finish and rose shape to the lever so the whole door reads as one set, or buy a ready-matched bathroom door handle set and skip the arithmetic.

Finishes and brands stocked

Carlisle Brass, Atlantic UK Hardware and Zoo Hardware supply the sets here, in polished and satin chrome, satin nickel, brass, stainless and matt black, on round and square roses to suit both traditional and contemporary schemes. Pair with the matching bathroom locks, add escutcheons where a keyhole is exposed elsewhere on the same landing, and see the full ironmongery range in door hardware. Our guide to door handles explains rose, backplate and spindle terminology in plain English.