> 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.
> 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.
> 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.
Get itchy fecal matter off behind & not have to mess with aiming bidet wand spraying maybe fecal water outside bowl or mess with a rag with fecal chunks.
> Whenever I travel I now have to carry around wet wipes or I don't feel clean. But wet wipes are apparently horrible for the environment.
Before wiping, wet the dry toilet paper with saliva.
Note to (potential) downvoter(s): I made this suggestion in all seriousness, especially as a way to avoid flushing wet wipes which besides containing non-compostable materials also frequently damage plumbing.
That's probably not the best of ideas, however the toilet paper frenzy is indeed extremely strange. If it was that crucial, humanity would collectively explode from all the stuff they could not push out of their asses before toilet paper was invented. Many times over. And it would stink to hell and back, too.
> 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.
Get a bidet, and buy a newspaper (no need to read it; it's already covered in shit).
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