Many people see it as totally unnecessary. TP works just fine.
To me at least, it also looks messy and unsanitary.
See, for me, TP is a lot messier and unsanitary. I use about 1/4 to 1/8 of the TP I would use normally use by using the spray bidet. I understand some people have very sanitary shits that take up exactly one square of toilet paper to wipe up. I’m either not one of these people or I’ve just been doing it wrong all these years.
Doesn’t your hand and the sprayer get all wet from the water falling back down from your ‘washing’?
The thing is, I’ve never come across anyone who has actually tried it and still held to the view that TP is (subjectively) better. I’m not trying to assert that TP doesn’t work just fine. Just that people who try both tend to prefer spray + TP. Again, I’m not saying it’s impossible for people to try both and prefer TP(or that it’s worse in any way), I just haven’t come across any who do. That seems to suggest that the spray + TP experience actually may be subjectively preferred by most people, it just so happens that they haven’t gotten to trying it. What I’m wondering is how come, given that a clearly preferred option may exist, it hasn’t gotten to be more widespread.
Is it that people are entirely ignorant of the option, that they know but it seems ‘squicky’? That cold water is an issue? That this is just the sort of thing that you never end up having the opportunity to try, so there’s never a chance for it to spread?
You know, I’ve not noticed, to tell you the truth. I’m sure it must get somewhat wet, but it gets cleaned up with the toilet paper and then a rinse in the sink. Like, seriously, I use a lot less toilet paper this way. And toilet clogs have significantly decreased.
I think you may be under the impression that you’re spraying up at your arse. When you lean forward, reach back and spray, you’re actually spraying at closer to a horizontal angle. So water falling back down on your hands doesn’t happen, because your hand is not in the way of falling water.
Honest functional question…
TP has an inherent performance feedback loop. I.e., you know that you need to wipe more if the previous wipe is streaky.
How does it work with a bidet? Do you just have faith in that if you spend enough time, that you are guaranteed clean? How do you know there isn’t a stubborn tetherball remaining that is merely getting batted around by the water spray? Unless the bidet has the force of a paint-stripper, then it simply is not going to clean a sticky poo off of your backside, especially of the more hirsute folks, it will only soften it up for later skidmarking of your underwear.
I speak from experience of trying to spray cat and dog crap off of my patio with a garden hose. No matter the pressure or the attachment stream, it takes a long time to get clean, with a long intermediate phase of progressively drippy smeary mess. Are bidet bowl butt physics using different universal constants than the rest of the universe?
For one thing, I think a bidet is something else all together. What I’m talking about is occasionally referred to as a bidet spray, but I don’t think that’s settled nomenclature.
As to your question, the method is spray + TP. The feedback loop that you mention is not cut out.
Here’s what you need. Includes self-sterilizing nozzles, heated seat, and wireless remote, among other features.
- I don’t know of any places where I could try one of these things.
- I’m certainly not going to go to the trouble of buying and installing one without having tried it first.
- I really don’t see any point in it. (Or, if you prefer, I don’t feel a need for it.)
Got it, thanks. So, bidet/spray is more like a Rube Goldberg device for manufacturing just-in-time moist towelettes?
At least I’ve understood how (I think) to use them from reading here, I’ve always been too flummoxed by them in person to figure them out. The key point I’ve learned is never, ever, ever use a hand towel that’s hanging in someone else’s bathroom 
If you like. Here’s a thought experiment that may be helpful. Next time you’re cleaning dog/cat poop off with a hose, think about having to do it with toilet paper.
I have one of these on my home toilet. I was doubtful, but decided to give it a chance when it was under $40 on woot.com. Easy to install, easy to use. if I lived in a colder climate, I could have gotten one that attached to the hot and cold lines so I could adjust the temp to my liking. As it is there have only been a couple of times that I was cringing at the cold initially.
It’s very much cleaner feeling. To dry, I just pat with a little toilet paper - that way I also know I’m clean. It’s fantastic during my period too. And if you have any hemorrhoid issues, the cold, at least for me, was very soothing.
1 and 2, fair enough. As for 3 - I’m sure people who have made this switch didn’t ‘feel a need’ before they’d tried the spray either. Need is often just a search for things that you prefer more to things you prefer less. Now you know there are people who’re similar to you in the sense of they’ve always used the same method to clean themselves after going number two. They happened to try a different method, as pulykamell did, and universally(that I know of) found they preferred it. Does that fact make you curious? Open to the idea of trial?
How does it work? I can’t understand it from the pictures.
There’s one in every bathroom in our flat. So far, in the 4 months I’ve been here, I’ve used them for: filling mop buckets, rinsing the dust off my feet into the toilet and sluicing out my daughter’s potty. I may be inspired to try their actual purpose after this. I shall not report back.
I kind of always associated them with ritual washing before prayers.
Huh. Might be a bit a geometry problem with the way I’m thinking. I’m 6’4". I have long legs. All toilets in my house have elogated bowls and are the high kind. The sit about 2"s higher than regular ones.
If I where to lean forward and put all my weight on my legs, and spray horizontaly, I suspect I would get my genitals quite wet and the dirty water would be running over them. And if my aim is bad, I’d spray the floor in front of me.
Well, whatever. It works for many people. Whatever floats your boat.
Hahaha. Good Luck. Reporting back would be helpful. No details are required of you after all.
I have a rig from American Biffy. It’s a wand that manually swivels into position and then automatically starts spraying water. It uses cold water and that is not a problem at all. The science is that your nethers don’t feel cold or hot the same way your face and hands do and so therefore the water temperature is not an issue. With the already compact spray area manually directed there is little sloppy soaking of any area beyond where it’s needed. The only part of the device that touches you is the handle that you operate outside of the bowl. Clean up is usually one normal length of toilet paper used to pat the area dry.
I fought getting one for years, but I finally did 15 years ago and have never looked back. Ignorant conjecture stopped me from getting one. Don’t let that stop you. It costs a little over $100.
I also spent extra money on a small tank that was offered as an upgrade. This tank is installed in the feed line to the unit and sits on the floor behind the toilet. It’s stated purpose is to allow water to warm to ambient temperature before it is drawn out to be used. However, given that the water temp is a non-issue, it’s real value is trapping any little particles that might be in the lines before they get into the device. This could be accomplished with a simple screen.
I believe the tank is sold to placate the ignorant whose first question to the sales people is always, “It uses COLD water!?! No way!” and then won’t believe the salesman’s explanation of why it’s not an issue. When I first made inquiries it was the first question I asked too and the salesman said it’s the first question everybody asks.
Y’know I’ve found it surprising that so many people have brought up the cold water thing. It’s an aspect I did not appreciate about my fellow human beings. From your post and pulykamell’s and my own experiences I’m reasonably sure that the cold water actually doesn’t matter. Maybe the perception that it will matter matters though.