A self-lifting toilet seat system includes a toilet seat configured to be sat upon by a user. The system has a hinge configured to rotatably couple the toilet seat and a toilet bowl. The hinge is configured so that the toilet seat is transitionable from an up position to a down position. A lifting system is configured to raise the toilet seat towards the up position. A sealed hinge housing has at least a portion of a delay system therein. The delay system is configured to cause a time delay before the lifting system causes the toilet seat to self-lift towards the up position. The delay system is configured so that the time delay begins after removal of a threshold downward force on the toilet seat.