post off: would you (or do you) use a bidet?
All right, Shelterrific readers: this post off might veer into
too-much-information territory, but I’m bringing it up anyways (and reading the comments section through splayed fingers). At the recent Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, I was startled to see several enormous exhibits, drawing equally huge crowds, devoted to state-of-the-art bidets. They were being fawned over like William Shatner at a Trekkie convention! The whole scene baffled me because I’ve only seen a bidet once in real life and I made it 26 years before facing that one. Could it be that I’m just out of the loop and they’re way more mainstream in the U.S. than I realize? Do any of you use one or own one? — Katie D.
Photo by Flickr user alfadana. (Incidentally, our Flickr search for “bidet” made it clear that bidets are quite popular with cats.)
I think bidets are a really good idea, honestly, and I don’t get why they’re not popular in American culture. We wipe babies with wet wipes to clean them off, why wouldn’t adults want the same for themselves?
That being said, I’ve never actually used a bidet. Maybe one day my hiney will be lucky enough to meet one.
Also, have you seen this SNL skit? – http://www.hulu.com/watch/132870/saturday-night-live-bidet
As long as the water is warm, im all for it
My Italian born grandmother had one in her bathroom but I have not seen it otherwise.
I’ve used them on vacations. I think I’m just too impatient or lazy for everyday,
It is not a part of the routine and I don’t have a desire to make my home bathroom more complicated whether with a separate unit or buttons on my toilet.
I did enjoy the public restroom options including white noise and heating levels I’ve experienced though.
Every home in France and Italy has one and have no idea why they aren’t more common in the UK and US.
I love using them – not every time, but they’re excellent when things down below get a little messy…
Saw them in Europe but never used them. A co-worker and I were oddly fascinated by this site when it was first launched. http://www.totousa.com/Washlet/WashletS400.aspx I guess for me to seriously consider the expense of changing over, there’d have to be some hard green science behind it.
I have and use one and live in the upper mid-west. It’s a “biffy bidet” that hooks onto my toilet and cost around 100 dollars. It’s cold water only and you may think that’s awful but it’s not and you adjust mighty quickly. I keep fabric “drying pads” in a pouch near the toilet. I’m the only one who uses it as we have roommates who are “afraid” but I’ve found it’s wonderful and I feel cleaner. Don’t know how else to put that one.
What I don’t get it why it’s not standard for sufferers of IBS, hemorrhoids, etc. and seen as a medical device on that level.
I’ve used the warm water ones in Japan and, surprise, am left with the wrong psychological impression with the warm ones now that I’ve gotten and am adjusted to my room(pipe in wall) temperature one.
I hope that wasn’t too much information. It took me less than an hour to install my bidet and for the price I figure it’ll take me a couple of years to add up the savings in TP but it’s a nice luxury.
Mom has one and she and my brother love it. Its one of the Totto ones with the heated seat and bidet. I was skeptical but it is good when you’ve got tummy bummers or its “that time of the month”.
I love the translation on the buttons–the one labeled “shower” actually says rear end in Japanese. :-)
I would LOVE to have a bidet. LOVE LOVE LOVE. i find them to be incredibly civilized, and SO much cleaner than just plain, dry, TP.
I have never tried one, and as skeptical as I feel about it, I think I would like to having seen all the positive posts above!
They were everywhere while I was traveling in Japan and I loved them! (almost as much as I loved that the toilet could also play music incase I didn’t want anyone to hear me haha)
My friend says that she’s really glad to have one, sand that they are especially handy if you…ah…have a very good lovelife. Ahem.
Ok, guys, am I really the only hard core dissenter here? Wash your bits in the shower like you’re supposed to. The occasional wipe down after some messy business is one thing, but there’s good bacteria in your girl parts that keep the nasties away -don’t you run the risk of washing them away if you do it too much?
When I came to the US as a young adult, I was totally freaked out about going through a menstrual period without a bidet.
I became accostumed, but I still miss it.
I used them in Italy when on my honeymoon, and uh, they were very useful then, ha ha. But I can only imagine how wonderful they would be in every day use! An easy and cheap DIY version: After I delivered my daughter they gave me a squirt bottle to clean off my stitches after I used the bathroom. I still use it now though, because it’s a great way to feel extra clean when you need it, and I don’t have to clean it or worry about wasting water or buy those expensive wipes. When they gave it to me I was a bit thunderstruck: It’s such an obvious solution, why hadn’t I thought of it before?
Bean, I think it would be an issue if you used soap each time, but regular water shouldn’t affect your pH balance or bacteria levels. In fact, most cleansing recommendations I’ve seen for that area say water above soap in almost all circumstances.
I had a bidet when I lived overseas for a few years, and I loved it. I got really used to having it around. It’s great for when you have your period or when things are a bit messy otherwise. Also, the place I lived was pretty hot in the summers, and the bidet was the perfect place to clean feet, bottom, and genitals to freshen up before bed, when I didn’t want to take a shower. It was also a convenient place to drop messy towels and washcloths before they made it to the hamper.
I don’t have one in the US, and I wish I did.
I’ve used a ‘bum gun’ when in Thailand – I think it’s a great idea. I would install one if I owned my own home.
I’m not even sure how to use an actual bidet, it kills me that they don’t have an actual seat.
We installed a bumgenius sprayer that attaches to our toilet. The main purpose was to use it to spray off our son’s cloth diapers, but we also use it as a bidet. Even after our son is potty trained, I plan on keeping the sprayer attached. It just feels much cleaner to me.
Heck no! When I was visiting family in Argentina, bidets were in everyone’s house. Everyone always talks about how much cleaner they are, but how much cleaner is it to use one and then share a cotton rag with the family to dry off? No thanks, I’ll stick to my American toilet paper.
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I have tried out all the buttons on the Toto models in Japan – the water stream is quite powerful and it feels like a self-inflicted enema! Not a very pleasant sensation at all (to my taste).
Attempted to use one in the Narita Airport in Japan because, hey! I was in Japan! The toilets had so many fun-looking buttons. One button was recorded audio of a toilet flushing to cover up any indiscreet noises you may be making. But it was so obvious it was a sound effect of a toilet flushing, making it even more obvious that you’re making gross sounds and pressing a button to mask them. As commenter Elissa stated, the current that blasted out of the toilet was like gale-force. Never. Again.
Here in Finland we don’t have bidets but we do have small hand held shower head near the toilet seat for this purpose. It is attached to the same water pipe as the water tap, so when you open your tap, you get water into that shower head. And no you, don’t get water everywhere, because the shower head has a release button, so you can adjust the water temp before you use it.
This is the one thing that I miss when I visit abroad. So handy.
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I buy baby wipes for the dogs (yes, I’m THAT kind of dog owner – they’re very small and spend a lot of time on our laps, so I want their bums to be clean) and I tend to use them for myself when I need to!
I think the idea of a bidet is nice, but I’d be nervous to use one in a public area or even in a hotel room.
I’ve never used one before, and I looked up youtube videos on how they’re used… and I’m a little confused. When you are done with the toilet, you sit on the bidet next to it? And water runs into the bowl, like a sink, and then that water (from the bowl) shoots up like a fountain at your bum? Are you using the same water that runs into the bowl? And everyone uses the same bidet, so the bowl ends up being kind of… dirty, right? Or is the water from somewhere else, so it’s clean? I’m confused on that point – I’d like to use a bidet, but not if the water is the same that runs into the bowl…
Any clarification for me?
My husband’s SE Asian family here in the States use water pitchers, similar to a watering can, for this purpose. At first, I was baffled by how one could “aim” the stream of water with one hand and “clean” with the other, all without making a mess on the floor. After hubby showed me and I practiced a little, I am now very comfortable with it — but only in MY OWN house, with my own towel to dry off with.
And I will not even dry my HANDS on the towels in other people’s houses if I see a bidet/sprayer/pitcher near the toilet… I KNOW where those towels have been!
Now to answer your question about the same water as the toilet is it safe?this water is the same water that comes into your home through your kitchen facet which is safe to drink. The bidet system is “piped” to the main water supply source not the toilet bowl so it is logical to say that you safely could drink and clean your bum bum I suggest that you try an inexpensive 64.99 bidet first the shipping is free. Its a durable real hands free bidet called Biobidet simplet bb50 that is easy to install with no major tools. It secures to your existing toilet (on the rim under the toilet seat inside of the bowl)and it has pressure control,it looks good and has a warranty! Believe me when I say it will change your mind about the whole bathroom cleaning experience! Go see for yourself at Bidetgirl.com
My family just relocated and the previous owners of the house were obsessed with everything european so of course the master bathroom has a bidet. No one has been brave enough to figure out how to use it yet but they are suppose to be very hygienic. Ours is not one that shoots up from the bowl, it has a faucet near the top the sprays down (sort of like a sink). After we moved in I researched bidets and they are more hygienic then people think because you are suppose to be clean by the time you use them. Meaning you have already used the normal toilet and toilet paper the way you usually would the bidet is there to make sure that everything is very clean which is actually much more hygienic. But our bidet still seems a little foreign to us and we would never get one if it didn’t come in the house.