Available from Dollar Tree and Home Depot for $1
These come with hair color kits, and can be washed out and reused. It's "green"!
And there's always these, available in any grocery store unfilled.
All cheaper than new plumbing.
Posted on 05/22/2013 9:49:51 AM PDT by NotYourAverageDhimmi
The U.S. has long prided itself on being a cleanliness-first nation. All throughout my childhood, I heard about "dirty" Europeans and "smelly" French folk. My school friends, and sometimes even their parents, would joke about how women in other countries didn't shave legs or armpits and how glad they were that kind of behavior didn't fly in America — unless one was a "dirty" hippie, that is.
We have been through the toxic wringer and back in attempting to keep our homes not only sparkling clean, but germ-free (which very well might be contributing to supergerms and auto-immune diseases per the "hygiene hypothesis"). And we spend tons of money in pursuit of that elusive state. Thankfully, many of us have realized the irony of bringing a plethora of chemicals into our homes to make it "clean," and nontoxic product use is on the rise. Nonetheless, we are still a dirt- and germ-avoiding nation.
Which is why it has always surprised me that bidets — which can be separate basins or integrated into a regular toilet (if one is lacking space) — are so uncommon in America.
After all, what could be cleaner than actually washing oneself after using the bathroom? Relying on toilet paper is often insufficient, and not only does extra TP usage mean toilet clogging is more common, it is clearly wasteful to use TP for a job that's beyond its powers. Bidets are a far greener solution to using reams of extra toilet paper to make sure you're clean.
And ironically, bidets save water too (even though they use it). How? Well, think about how many times you have taken a full-on shower when you didn't really need one, because you felt a bit sweaty (after sports), uncomfortable (from wearing restrictive clothing), or just not clean down below (after sex)? (Or for women, while menstruating?). Not only is it a hassle and a time-waster to take more than one shower a day, but it's a waste of water and fossil fuels for all that extra hot water.
Bidets are found throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia (especially Japan) and pretty commonly in South America (basically everywhere besides the U.S., Canada and Australia), but I know exactly one person who has one, and he is originally from South Africa.
But bidets are growing in popularity in the U.S. - the Toto Washlet being a specific brand that is popping up in all kinds of home renovations and new buildings. (I've seen them featured on house-hunting shows on TLC as well as in listings for NYC apartments; for now they are always considered a "perk" or "extra.") Here's one trend I hope will trickle down — pun intended.
The next time I know I'll be living somewhere for more than a year, I'm going to invest in an in-toilet unit bidet for myself and my partner. How about you: would you consider a bidet during your next bathroom upgrade?
Wipe until its white.
You’d think bidets would be popular in San FranStinkhole.
While I’m at it, this from the TV sitcom “Alf”:
Alf asks some human, “What’s the difference between a shower curtain and toilet paper?”
“I don’t know, what?”
“So, YOU’RE the one!”.
These come with hair color kits, and can be washed out and reused. It's "green"!
And there's always these, available in any grocery store unfilled.
All cheaper than new plumbing.
As I said, you don’t have to use the towel every time.
Next thought... after you shower and dry yourself, does your towel go straight into the hamper or do you hang it up to dry and reuse it the next day? (You do dry your crotch after you shower, right? You do realize that you’re using a ‘crotch towel’ to dry your face the next day, right?)
My experience with the bidet is this: hubby and I are ‘squeaky clean’ every day. There are no more issues with the occasional PSS (”post shower sh*t”). There are no more hemorrhoids, itching, irritation that we ALL live with (and we don’t even realize how much irritation there is until it’s all gone.)
So there is no need - in this house - for Preparation H, baby wipes, or Tucks. No more Monkey Butt powder in the summer. No more jock itch or yeast infections. As a matter of fact, the plunger hasn’t been touched once since we bought the bidet.
How hard is it to understand? Wash your crappy butt with water. Spend a little more to get the clear iodine to add to the spray and you’re actually germ-free.
If someone refused to wash their hands with water and insisted that ‘just wiping with a paper towel until it LOOKS clean’ is good enough, you’d think they were nutz.
But someone suggests the same thing with a butt and Americans lose their minds.
And yes, I keep a bottle of soap by the toilet and wash myself correctly every night before bed, rinsing with the bidet. It’s easy, fast and uses much less water than the shower.
How hard is it?
You sit your butt on the heated seat.
You poop.
You push a button to start the wash.
You push another button to adjust the flow.
You chill out for thirty seconds and think about fluffy ducks or something else that you may find pleasant.
You wipe once to dry yourself and to make sure that everything went according to plan.
You pull up your pants and walk away.
If you want to freshen up, you push a button to wet things down, turn it off, soap things up with the *smallest* amount of soap, then let the machine rinse it all off, dry your butt with a small towel and then the whole traumatic experience of getting your butt clean is over and you live to fight another day.
It is not that big of a deal.
I’m sorry, but now that I’ve lived for a year and a half *actually*really*clean*, I’m spoiled and I’m not going back to wadded up handfuls of paper. I’ll keep my ‘three seashells’ thank you.
Anyone with back problems or chronic butt problems (such as hemorrhoids or fissures) should have one of these wonderful machines.
I loved the part where he flushed, and they showed the water pressure in the fountain dropping.
Perhaps it's a lack of floor space in the typical bathroom. Just replacing a commode isn't going to open up enough room so that leaves the "dual mode" unit your only choice. That means re-plumbing for a hot water line unless your up for an ice water douche.
If upgrading your commode I would suggest changing from a 15" rim height (which seems to be standard) to a 19" unit. As you get older your knees will thank you.
Regards,
GtG
PS I grew up in Kohler Village, we had our HS football games in the "toilet bowl".
“Not just a toilet... a Ferguson, King of Bowls!”
LOL, that’s nasty.
I thought that's what the shower stall was for...
G
Coming from no doubt a fat, manless and hairy-legged French twit.
I don’t begrudge it. I just think, as many have explained here in how they use it, in terms of being less wasteful than just toilet paper, it really isn’t, you’re just shifting from using 2-3 wipes with tp to more water, less tp, and more laundry if you use cloth towels to wipe.
I already stated it probably has benefits for people with medical issues. I also think most could probably get near same relief with personal wet wipes.
Also, your hemmorhoid comment - how hard did you wipe and did you using the roughest tp possible? I’ve never gotten hemmorhoids from wiping. I’ve gotten them from pushing too hard. Not from wiping.
I’ve had one for about five years now and am almost at a loss when I have to travel.
No more hemorrhoids, no more crotch rot, can’t imagine life without it.
All those out there with all their wisecracks have no idea what they are missing.
True. Washing the butt after using the toilet is a mark of civilisation.
TP cannot even come close to the cleaning abilities of a bidet, and using TP alone means your underwears have faeces in them, and they are going into your washing machine. Blech!
Freepers often like being mean
You just weed thru them
Usually either crotchety old men or unrequited young ones
There is no scent on earth more rewarding to me than that of my woman delighted to see me
As God intended and I thank him for it
I think that we are so used to being irritated that we are used to it. Until that irritation is gone, we have no idea how miserable we’ve been for our whole lives.
My whole family is addicted to being clean.
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