# Bidets—meh **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 30, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449 "2019-08-30T01:04:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/1 "2019-08-30T01:04:49Z")
Used a bidet for the first time yesterday. Don’t understand all the fuss…after the first hour on it, it was a little dull ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/2 "2019-08-30T01:09:45Z")
Did you swish before spitting? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/3 "2019-08-30T05:25:25Z")
Somebody’s gonna say it. 🎼🎶_Ah, bidets are here again!_ ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/4 "2019-08-30T12:01:48Z")
Maybe you’re not the right [species](https://pics.me.me/toilet-water-is-so-mainstream-oprefer-bidet-lmao-58416646.png). ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/5 "2019-09-01T12:00:10Z")
You’re supposed to turn the water on. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/6 "2019-09-01T12:29:56Z")
Your experience is not universal. [Bidet Bliss](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21316260). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/7 "2019-09-01T12:39:26Z")
Having lived/traveled in places with a strong European influence, I’m accustomed to seeing bidets in the bathroom. As an American raised without them, I can’t figure out why they are there wasting space. The natural tendency is to find an alternative use for them, like … holding magazines for reading while sitting on the toilet, or doing handwash. What? That’s disgusting? Yeah, probably. So the bidet just sits there unused. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/8 "2019-09-01T12:55:14Z")
Ooh, thanks for bumping that thread. As soon as we get the bathroom work inspected and signed off on, I want to get one in the master bath. (I don’t want to hire a different electrician to add the outlet, and I want the existing job to be done.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/9 "2019-09-01T12:59:21Z")
This is, I don’t want to hire another electrician UNTIL everything has been signed off on. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/10 "2019-09-01T16:08:44Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Used a bidet for the first time yesterday. Don’t understand all the fuss…after the first hour on it, it was a little dull I find it very tiring to have to kneel just to brush your teeth… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/11 "2019-09-01T16:14:24Z")
If you’re that thirsty, keep a glass in the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/12 "2019-09-01T16:50:49Z")
Saw an actual bidet for the first time as I just got back from a trip to Sicily, as they were in all the hotel bathrooms. I saw them as space clutter and wondered if the spout of water they might spray might get messy. I wondered why they were so low too: so much so that the squat they would obviously require that there was also a trellis/ladder looking rack on the wall above it to allow a user to lower and raise themselves. Way too much engineering for a bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/13 "2019-09-01T16:52:45Z")
We have the toilet/bidet combination, which solves the laments voiced above. Stay seated, push a button, and within 7 seconds, pulsing warm water hits the pre-programmed spot. Easy peasy. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/14 "2019-09-01T16:55:04Z")
They’re so low because they weren’t designed for HUGE americans but for tiny Southern-European ladies, such as my grandma (who wasn’t a lady but was barely 5’ zip, and tall for a woman her age). And they stay that way because those of us who are not tiny find that height comfy when using them to wash our feet. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/15 "2019-09-01T16:56:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > We have the toilet/bidet combination, which solves the laments voiced above. Stay seated, push a button, and within 7 seconds, pulsing warm water hits the pre-programmed spot. Easy peasy. Oh, so they spout warm water. I’m not as repulsed then. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/16 "2019-09-01T20:03:35Z")
First _hour_? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/17 "2019-09-01T23:59:45Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > First _hour_? :dubious: It was a joke. I loved the bidet. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/18 "2019-09-02T00:08:41Z")
Well, he claims he’s the most electable, but… Oh, you said bide **t**! ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/19 "2019-09-02T05:00:23Z")
I met a guy who used the bidet to hold all the shampoo bottles and cremes and other bathroom stuff. So, you see, they are always useful, no matter what. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449/20 "2019-09-02T05:13:48Z")
My brother put a bidet seat on his toilet, and I love that thing! And I’m pretty sure it loves me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets-meh/839449.md?page=2)