# Do you have a bidet or hand sprayer in your home? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2025, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392 "2025-07-02T12:20:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/101 "2025-07-11T19:27:44Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I only have one bathroom and for some reason the idea of having a bidet in the “public” bathroom in my house makes me uneasy. NO idea why. Not like I have many visitors anyway. But I just don’t want to be sharing my bidet. Mine is also in the “public” bathroom. Like you, I have few visitors. Most visitors are too intimidated by it to use it, but if they’re game to try, it’s no different than someone sitting on a regular toilet seat in your home. I just put it in the bathroom I use the most, and it happens to be the one most convenient for guests, too. No biggie to me. 🙂 I think the experience of a bidet seat is controlled by variables such as available water pressure, design and make/model. I have great water pressure on a private well, and there is never anything left over to wipe. All I do is blot away any (very little) remaining moisture. I’m too impatient to wait for the nice heated dryer to complete its work, but it does a fine job if I’m willing to linger and read another paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/102 "2025-07-11T20:37:10Z")
So everytime this subject comes up I always wonder, women have to wipe front to back, to not get fecal bacteria on the urethra where it can lead to UTIs, so if the water is just spraying upwards or angled forwards, wouldn’t it by default push it onto the vulva/urethra? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/103 "2025-07-12T01:24:00Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > so if the water is just spraying upwards or angled forwards, wouldn’t it by default push it onto the vulva/urethra? No, in the seated position on the toilet, the butthole is lower down than the vaginal area. The water just drips down off your butt. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/104 "2025-07-12T09:04:57Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > So everytime this subject comes up I always wonder, women have to wipe front to back, to not get fecal bacteria on the urethra where it can lead to UTIs, so if the water is just spraying upwards or angled forwards, wouldn’t it by default push it onto the vulva/urethra? As @needscoffee noted, it won’t really get the front wet when using the spray for the backside. On the Toto’s with a “front” button intended for that area on a woman, the nozzle drops lower to reach the front, but it also uses multiple holes and less pressure to make for a gentle spray. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2025, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/105 "2025-07-12T09:11:49Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > but the two poos I took while at the hotel…I wiped afterwards and there was still a lot left over > **Possibly TMI** > > I sometimes have hard, firm turds, and other times have soft squishy ones. With the former, i just use the bidet. With the latter, i start with a bit of paper to remove the bulk of the residue, and _then_ use the bidet to clean what’s left. Then i dry with a bit more paper, which is typically clean. But if not, rinse and repeat. As for fecal bacteria in the urethra, I’ll third what others have said. I’m not sure the butthole is lower, but the angles are such that the water sprayed from behind never gets to the urethra. And i love being able to get a quick rinse up front (with the “front” option) when I’m feeling a little grotty. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/106 "2025-07-12T22:42:28Z")
My wife bought the low end Tushy model. No power, no heat. I was skeptical but I installed it. Love it never going back. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/107 "2025-07-13T13:20:08Z")
There would probably be more bidets if people who never used them could be convinced that you’re not going to go through the ceiling the first time the cold spray hits your exhaust. Unless there’s a lot of activity, there’s usually room temperature water in the lines. So it’s not even all that cold. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/108 "2025-07-13T17:30:47Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > On the Toto’s with a “front” button intended for that area on a woman, the nozzle drops lower to reach the front, but it also uses multiple holes and less pressure to make for a gentle spray. The cheapo model we own has two spray heads, one for front one for the back. My wife’s never complained and I never got my front parts wet by using the back one so I assume the bidet water engineers knew what they were doing. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/109 "2025-07-14T12:44:56Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > In America, there is almost never an outlet within a couple of feet of the toilet, but we certainly have plenty of electricians. 🙂 > > I now have an electrical outlet about a foot off the floor in the wall behind all of the toilets in the house, none of which were there when we purchased the home. True that, but I’m not going to install an outlet there just to try out a bidet for the first time. (Or run a hot water line from under the sink.) After my wife and I have had a chance to try it out with water from the cold water line that feeds into the toilet, we can decide what we want to do from there. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/110 "2025-07-14T13:13:00Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > There would probably be more bidets if people who never used them could be convinced that you’re not going to go through the ceiling the first time the cold spray hits your exhaust. Unless there’s a lot of activity, there’s usually room temperature water in the lines. So it’s not even all that cold. There would probably be a lot more bidets if more American hotels had rooms with them. Unless you’re staying over with a friend who has one, how else are you going to find out how they clean you up after a poop, other than installing one in your own home despite never having used one before? I mean, that’s what I’m about to do, but it really would have been preferable to be able to try one out first. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392/111 "2025-07-14T13:32:40Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > but it really would have been preferable to be able to try one out first. I thank my son for installing bidets in the toilets in his house. I would never have dreamed that I would like the idea, but I became convinced after a couple of visits to his place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-bidet-or-hand-sprayer-in-your-home/1020392.md?page=5)