But often it’s hard to install one in bathrooms that are not designed for it. So a Japanese toilet is a somewhat over the top solution in our house.
Well ... I don't have a bidet but doesn't mean I don't wash my buttocks after doing business. Unfortunately it's a bit of a taboo subject so it's not discussed, not taught in school / hygiene classes, just let it be.
Best example I heard from someone is this: imagine you dip your hands in Nutella. Then try to clean them just wiping with toilet paper, for more authenticity, without looking. Then look at the result, that's your ass, good thing you got underpants! Compare that with washing with soap and water!
So how do I do it?
- First step it to use wet toilet paper. I can't stand raw toilet paper, it scratches my hemorrhoids, so I pre-soak it in water from the tap if available or just water I keep in my mouth if in a public place / at work. I hate public places for this matter. This way it's much gentler for the tushy, it also pre-washes the area and third advantage, it's much less likely to clog the toilet when I flush, being already soaked.
- So after the first step I'm closer to washing Nutella than wiping it. If in a public place, that's the best I got. If at home, next step is wash my butt with soap and water in a plastic bucket. There, that's your bidet! For 2 bucks, you too can get one! :) Sure, you have to squat and not wear any pants, but you're in your own freaking bathroom. Dry with paper towels which you throw in a bucket. Plus, comes the third step anyway and you won't be wearing any clothes for that.
- Third step is taking a quick shower. At this point you won't be leaving a trail of poo into the shower drain or bath tub (I shower in the bath tub) but still get to clean your general areas that were in contact with the toilet, hence e-coli and sh*t (no pun intended), plus shower feels good.
So there's that: my overly complicated toilet routine that takes some 3 minutes extra after finishing with the toilet proper, which leaves me perfectly adequate for entering a pool. Unfortunately I also know that 99.98% of the population entering said pool has their Nutella butt washed for the first time in said pool, so no pools for me if I can avoid it.
Sorry for intruding, but the water from some public place is the last thing I want in my or anyone else's mouth. May I suggest a water bottle or even a flask?
Or if you already tried that, can you explain why it didn't work for you? Just an idle curiosity. Thanks in advance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tJlfj6C0sA
Loose translation: When you get your hands dirty you wash them right? You wouldn't just wipe them right? Your butt is the same.
I assume it's Italian/French style bidet (a separate item from the WC) and not the Japanese/SEA thing where it's a WC addition.
The fact we use the same term for three different kind of things is deeply confusing.
A GFCI outlet is needed if your breaker is not GFCI already, but this receptacle is something that isn't terribly expensive.
Even in the US, I can’t imagine installing a nozzle here in Seattle, but we also don’t have central heat (just a heat pump with remote units in a couple of rooms).
I'm so terminologically confused at this point by comments like this. In Texas, many people's central heat is a heat pump. My current house's heater is the first I've lived at in over forty years that wasn't a heat pump (this one is gas). High end homes, cheap rentals, everything in between, heat pump central heating.
So…is a ductless mini split heat pump supplemented by a bunch of resistive walk heaters, one gas fireplace, and no central thermostat really considered central heating?
In China, this becomes even more pronounced, northern cities provide central heating from heating plants…so central means “central” in a much stronger sense. Apartments are poorly insulated from each other so it makes little sense to heat each unit separately. In southern China (and lots of older Japanese housing), you don’t even have good insulation so all your heating is localized (eg via a kotatsu and heated toilet seat, or heated train seats which are really nice). That is a lot less centralized than a minisplit (which are catching on in southern China these days as well).
I'm not sure electricity is required for basic operation but at least most models are designed to be plugged in.
Things get interesting when the remote dies in the middle of the ordeal or the stop button could not be immediately located.
No outlet near the toilet.
Non-conforming/non-standard shape of seat and/or tank.
Nowadays many people use wet wipes. Probably less environmentally friendly, but they solve the same problem.
Also used water sprays all my life
Maybe someday Americans will notice that they are the different ones.
[0] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/28/spain-to...
Edit, to clarify: The wipes in question have been certified according to the EDANA Flushability Guidelines, which have been adopted into law in some countries, and there is also a related Spanish standard UNE 149002:2019 (“Acceptance criteria for disposable products via toilet”). The producer (Essity) claims that they dissolve similarly quickly to regular toiled paper.
It might very well be that the wipes still cause problems, but it’s not like these are plastic items that are flushed down the toilet in an unregulated way.
So what do people do? They buy the cheap, non-dissolving ones and flush them anyway. Then when they inevitably clog, they call the plumber and insist they bought the correct ones when asked. So now there's widespread confusion about whether the dissolving ones work.
The news article was essentially a public service announcement to not flush those wet wipes unless you want a sewerage problem down the line.
There is also that they’re kind of a contradiction in terms anyways, they’re wet … wipes. If they were dissolvable in water, the wetness of the wipes would cause dissolvement.
What many people are not even aware of is that even all high end toilet paper in the USA is a major headache for sewer systems because even that “paper” does not dissolve well at all, because they’re so focused on making the “paper” feel soft or be durable, it’s technically not even paper anymore and actually more like a cellulose felt.
I used to use wet wipes and flushed them, now I have a bidet and have only ever used wet wipes when traveling, where, ironically, Spain’s issues with basic things like flushing toilet paper, make disposing/not flushing wet wipes easy because many bathrooms have a lidded trash can next to the toilet/in the stall.
Ironically, their bigger issues produce a solution to a different, bigger problem.
Note: Yes, I’m aware it’s not everywhere in Spain or only Spain, but I am curious to hear where everywhere everyone has encountered having to put their toilet paper on a trash can instead of flushing.