A man checks into a hotel after several days of journeying by plane, train, and automobile to [insert some "backward" country]. He's absolutely exhausted. He lugs his bags to his hotel room and crashes on the bed. He'd sleep but he feels disgusting--he's sweaty, stinky, and hasn't had a change of clothes in days. As much as he just wants to sleep, he simply won't feel comfortable and back to normal until he can take a nice, cleansing shower. He walks to the bathroom but to his surprise all he finds is a toilet. No sink, no shower, no bathtub... nothing. WTF!? Maybe it's one of those "European" hotels where the showers are shared. He walks up and down the hallway, but can find nothing of the sort.
Exasperated and exhausted he goes down to the lobby to inquire with the clerk. Demanding to know exactly what he's supposed to do to bath himself--what anybody is supposed to do to bath themselves in this land--the clerk, who spoke little English, was puzzled. The traveler resorted to mime by pretending to wash his head, arms, and body as if using a bar of soap or washing cloth. To this the clerk perked up knowingly and pointed to a large stack of fresh newspapers.
[end of story]
The point of the story was to illustrate how backwards Americans are for using toilet paper rather than a bidet or hose like in many other parts of the world. I've never used a bidet or hose, but it's what prompted me to begin experimenting with flushable wipes. And I can tell you this: once you start, you can never go back.
Using dry paper seems normal and you feel clean. But you'd feel the same way if you simply wiped yourself down with a newspaper every day rather than bathing with water. But the moment you begin bathing with water, the newspaper (or any dry paper product) will always leave you feeling dirty and unfresh. You can't unknow something--the experience is a one-way street. It applies equally or perhaps even more strongly to defecation hygiene as it does to sweat and body oils.
FWIW, I doubt flushable wipes would be sufficient for those used to bidets or hoses. But at least I now understand this.
When you have children and wipe their butts a lot you realize how difficult it is to get clean even with a moistened diaper wipe. Even when they start having more normal stools or are old enough to use the toilet (but not to wipe themselves).
Personally I installed a Toto Washlet - one with a built-in water heater. You get used to it quickly and it makes using a standard toilet seem barbaric by comparison.