[EEGator]

I have never used a bidet. Does it get “it all”?

[Zhang Fei]

The great thing about toilet paper is that it localizes the mess. Bidets spread the mess because water just goes everywhere. For those who want the feel of a bidet without the mess, wet wipes are the way to go.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

would you consider a bidet during your next bathroom upgrade? Only if it had the "Al Bundy Whoosh!"

[Go Gordon]

When you don’t shower every day (Europeans) a bidet is a good idea/necessity.

[BenLurkin]

You mean that wasn't a drinking fountain in that Milan hotel bathroom?

[cuban leaf]

My impression, and it is only an educated guess, is that europeans tend to use a bidet INSTEAD of taking a shower.

[RckyRaCoCo]

So after “wash and rinse”...how do you dry? Your underpants?

[cuban leaf]

When my parents were building a home in the late 1960’s, there were all sorts of ads and printed materials showing bathrooms with a toilet and a bidet. I didn’t see them as a european thing. I just assumed they were one of those things that would be everywhere eventually. I was a kid. I thought every “new” thing would eventually be everywhere.

But we shower pretty regularly in the US. No real need for those here.

[humblegunner]

Apparently the authoress is one "Starre Vartan"

(Why you omitted this fact is a mystery, as there is a field specifically for such.)

Also it seems she's a dyke:

I'm going to invest in an in-toilet unit bidet for myself and my partner.

Partner, eh? Hmm. And Hmm again.

[ClearCase_guy]

Would it help if the government were to mandate the installation of a bidet in every apartment and every home?If people are not making the choice to purchase these things in our (somewhat) free market, maybe we should put a gun to their head and make them do so? Is that the new Progressive plan?

[Buckeye McFrog]

Kimberly-Clark and Scott Paper at the nexus of an EEEEEEVIL conspiracy??

[a fool in paradise]

not only does extra TP usage mean toilet clogging is more common

Only in

(i) gas station/ballpark restrooms where:

(A) someone has made a TP "cushion" 1,2, or 3 levels of toilet paper around the seat and pushed that into the toilet along with the bowel movement

or

(B) someone has deliberately clogged the toilet as a prank (and possibly even crowned the top).

(ii) "low flow" "efficient" toilets in one's home (as mandated by the government).efficient

or

(iii) small children/pets in the home

[a fool in paradise]

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.

Coincidently, a lot of those places don't even have toilet seats, you squat over a stinking hole in the ground. Turd world here we come.

[VanDeKoik]

I would get one in a heartbeat!

There is nothing impressive with having crap a paper-thin distance from your hands.

[zencycler]

Just take a few folds of paper, spit and wipe.

[SeminoleCounty]

Americans shower more often...you dont need a bidet if you already practice good hygiene.

And....bidets are not practical in much of this country. Living in Florida...a bidet would mean more risk of fungal and mold type of dieases because your crotch stays damp in an already damp climate

Euros also practice more of the American type of hygiene....so bidets there are less common now

[Mr. K]

save your money on a new ‘unit-toilet’ and just add a spray nozzle like the one on your kitchen sink to the water supply on your toilet.

I saw that In Thailand and thought it was a great idea (although a very cold idea)

[Born to Conserve]

If you, like the french, only shower once a week, you may need one of those contraptions.

[sten]

bidets are very popular... in the middle east

[RayChuang88]

Here's the problem: modern bidets require electric power to work--and that means you need an electrical outlet near the toilet. Completely uncommon in the USA, you see it standard (pun not intended!) in Japanese homes.