> But is it really necessary to act like everyone else are the weird ones for not giving their anus a sponge-bath in the bath tub every time they shit?
Who said anything about using a sponge?
My comment wasn't directed at "everyone else", only those using bidets at home.
Elsewhere in this thread there are numerous comments from people debating ways to dry after using the bidet, complexities surrounding dirty towels or useless wet TP which then leaves pulpy clumps on your butthole and hair. I know the problems, I've used bidets, it's kind of awful.
Why on earth would you subject yourself to this at your own home where you're in control?
At the office or in a guest bathroom, ok, I get it. I've used the Japense style bidet seat attachments at the Googleplex, and think that's a neat thing for an employer to do for employees and makes sense as an improvement in that circumstance, but it's an unnecessary compromise at home.
You presumably have proper bathing facilities. Instead of tapping into your toilet water line for some inferior fixed soap-less water splashy splash onto your butthole awkwardly sitting over the toilet, just get a handheld sprayer for your tub/shower and do it well.
It's way better, and you can properly dry off with a bath towel leaving it clean enough for reuse. Nobody should ever have to exit their own damn bathroom with a dirty bottom.
> How can it be grosser than trying to smear poop off with a paper towel!?
I understand that with a bidet one must use one's naked fingers to clean the area. That seems substantially grosser than using toilet paper. Then there's the risk of spray going the wrong direction, and of getting one's trousers wet.
A bidet sounds awesome, but terribly impractical. I wonder how people are able to use one so often.
>I am kind of appalled that the article and a lot of people in the comments seem to take the Bidet as an _alternative_ to toilet paper.
It's such a weird quirk of online discourse: any worthwhile alternative has to be a 100% drop-in replacement with no costs or trade-offs. The same thing happens in discussions of biking/transit/car balance.
You can use a bidet (or bidet attachment) with toilet paper. You'll feel much cleaner, get clean quicker, and use way less paper in the process vs. using paper only.
> A common reason why bidets aren’t used in the US is that during World War 2, American soldiers saw brothels utilizing bidets. When they came back to United States, they shunned the bidet because of the connotations.
ofc something sex-related would sink an obviously good idea in the US.
Regardless, we purchased our first bidet in 2017 after I used one in an office I visited. It completely changed how I use the bathroom.
Any bathroom without one is neanderthal to me.
The idea of using nothing but toilet paper to clean quite possibly the nastiest orifice on our bodies is mind-bending to me. (Wet wipes would be an improvement, but it's super hard to find even those in public restrooms.)
Even four-star+ hotels in the US won't have bidets! I carry my own when I travel. (The St. Regis in DC has a bum nozzle, but I think they carry those because everyone in the world comes to DC and most bathrooms of the world is with it and has at least these.)
We upgraded two of our toilets to TOTO Washlets last year. These changed the game AGAIN. THEY HAVE DRIERS. I didn't even know a dryer for your bum was possible!
I'm glad the US is finally coming to their senses on this very important topic.
> If I had poo on my arm, I'd use soap and water to clean it then rinse well.
That is why the only acceptable option is using a bidet, with soap of course. It boggles my mind that some people can withstand even the thought of cleaning themselves with just paper or wet wipes.
> Surely you would need to use soap and use your hand, which doesn't seem to be very sanitary...
You can wash yourself with soap, and then wash your hands (which you should do in any case). I don't see how you can think that leaving all that the TP doesn't take away can be _more_ sanitary than a bidet.
>Can a bidet user explain why bidets are superior to just having a nearby faucet to dampen the toilet paper, like this?
Water pressure. I live on the 5th floor of a 16 floor building with the water tank at the top. The pressure of the bidet is enough to clean everything off in seconds. The risk of splash is only when you use it incorrectly. Just sit for a minute or two extra to let gravity do it's work on the excess water present on your butt.
>Having a separate system and jet of water seems like a lot more complexity
I don't think so. In India, we just attach it to a normal water valve. The same one to which we attach taps, flush tanks, showers etc. It's a pretty standardized attachment.
> But when you go back to a country that uses only toilet paper you either have to go out of your way (and pay a lot of money to renovate your bathroom) to find the kind of modern automated toilet seat that does add the features you've just left behind, or you just do as everyone else does.
Having gotten use to the bidet, I now bring a bottle of water with me, and wet the toilet paper before wiping. It leaves me about as clean as with a bidet.
> Or I could have just been doing it wrong, there wasn't exactly a training class when visiting countries in which they are common.
Haha exactly, that's the difficulty! You're taught these toilet habits at a young age and it's not something that adults discuss, so if you grew up in a culture without a bidet, it comes across as a baffling fixture.
>There is a range of consistencies for which bidets are wholly useless. Specifically, sticky ones. For these, you need friction from a solid, high-surface-area object.
> No toilet jet sprays too, because Americans famously use toilet paper for poop stuff. But my roommate installed one even though it’s not allowed. Don’t tell our landlord.
The infamous "bum gun" in SE Asia.
That's because USA people believe that if they got poop on their hands, wiping it with only paper would clean it off.
Why do you bring up hands?! Well, that is what is left on your ass when you wipe it with paper. I guess you can't see (or smell) it unless you're super flexible, so that makes it ok.
FYI, you can buy and install a simple bum gun in 10 minutes for about $15-20 off Amazon. They are great, I don't even buy TP anymore. Still wet? Use a small towel to dry off.
The real-life reasons I've heard people decry bidets are absolutely bonkers. Reasons ranging from "why would I want a wet butt" to genuine beliefs that using a bidet was a manifestation of homosexuality. It's wild how insecure some people are in this country, and how unwilling they are to Even try something like a bidet.
The wetness is literally solved by a single square of tp post-cleaning. Attachments are available that can be installed on any toilet, so the "I'm a renter" excuse doesn't hold water either. Not even going to address the sexuality concerns-- I honestly think anyone who believes that shouldn't be welcome on HN.
>These toilets, known as “washlets”, have many amazing features - the most notable of which is they render toilet paper obsolete.
Uh, no they don't. And if the author is using them that way, that's fucking gross. If they rendered toilet paper obsolete then Japanese bathrooms wouldn't have toilet paper, or Japanese wouldn't use it anyway, but neither statement is true. The 'feature' of Japanese toilets is that your asshole will be clean, regardless of how dire the shit you just took is. And believe me, it's a wonderful thing, but it doesn't render the paper obsolete.
Pardon the pun, but this author is talking out of his ass.
> You can use four squares of toilet paper to wipe your butt and then bidet the rest. This is a huge savings on toilet paper.
There must be a huge variation in diet and body shape in this discussion.
Four squares is about the maximum I ever use (even if I'm ill). This is probably why I checked what's left in my cupboard (6 rolls from an 8-pack) and haven't bought any more, yet there are people loading up the trolley with 32, 48 or more rolls.
Who said anything about using a sponge?
My comment wasn't directed at "everyone else", only those using bidets at home.
Elsewhere in this thread there are numerous comments from people debating ways to dry after using the bidet, complexities surrounding dirty towels or useless wet TP which then leaves pulpy clumps on your butthole and hair. I know the problems, I've used bidets, it's kind of awful.
Why on earth would you subject yourself to this at your own home where you're in control?
At the office or in a guest bathroom, ok, I get it. I've used the Japense style bidet seat attachments at the Googleplex, and think that's a neat thing for an employer to do for employees and makes sense as an improvement in that circumstance, but it's an unnecessary compromise at home.
You presumably have proper bathing facilities. Instead of tapping into your toilet water line for some inferior fixed soap-less water splashy splash onto your butthole awkwardly sitting over the toilet, just get a handheld sprayer for your tub/shower and do it well.
It's way better, and you can properly dry off with a bath towel leaving it clean enough for reuse. Nobody should ever have to exit their own damn bathroom with a dirty bottom.
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