I lived in a hotel room in Spain once that had a bidet. It didn’t have a spray just two taps, a bit like a sink really. I didn’t know how to use it for its intended purpose, but it came in handy for washing my shirts.
Here’s hoping they didn’t end up smelling like shit!
My brother-in-law installed a musical one in his house that plays Let’s All Sing Like the Birdies Sing (my sister is a HUGE fan of The Enchanted Tiki Room).
I don’t know but I think we should. Just using TP is gross.
Two guys are in adjacent stalls in a public restroom. They discover that both stalls are devoid of toilet paper. One tells the other, ‘Wipe with a dollar.’ He finishes first and is washing up as the other comes out later than expected, and with feces all over his hand. ‘What happened?’ said the first man. ‘Didn’t you wipe with a dollar?’ The second replies, ‘Yes! But do you know how hard it is to wipe with three quarters, two dimes, and a nickel?’
Why don’t we use bidets in the US?
Because we all know about the three shells! (movie reference)
My job is my cite. Knowing about housing and real estate trends is part of my profession.
FWIW, cites for the 1970s bidet fad in the Anglosphere:
Australia: Bidets: where the 70s went wrong
UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertynews/8080653/Death-of-the-bidet.html
Late addition to thread, but wanted to mention that I have a (very cheap, unfancy) in-toilet bidet, and I would never, never choose to go back. Bought it on a whim off an “online deals” site a while back for something like $40.
I feel much cleaner much quicker, and I buy toilet paper at roughly 1/4 the rate. It feels goofy gloating about a bathroom fixture, but I’m pretty darn happy with that purchase.
I’m unaware of a 1970s bidet fad as well. I see from here that Toto started selling washlet seats in the US in 1990, that Kohler introduced its first washlet in 1980, though they have produced bidets since 1928. As of 2007 it was allegedly a growth market, though I suspect the Lesser Depression put a damper on things.
Since I’m here, which is better a washlet or a bidet, assuming cost and space are no object? Also, has anybody used one of those dunk bidets (faucet only) as referenced upthread?
When you say bidet, are you referring to one of these(the standalone type where you submerge your nethers afterwards)? I’ve never used one so I shouldn’t comment, but it doesn’t seem like a pleasant or efficient experience.
The distinction I can tell you about is the one between the washlet/handheld nozzle. I’ve used both plenty of times, and I prefer the handheld nozzle because I can direct the jet of water.
What’s pretty normal here is something like this http://sallykneidel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Danum-Valley-toilet-resized-1024x768.jpg
And yeah - it does mostly make me feel “cleaner” than just paper
Your cite for bidets being standard equipment in the U.S. is an article about bidets in Australia, and an article about bidets in the U.K.?
m’kay…
Could it be that there are too many manly Americans who don’t like the thought of something going up their ass feeling good?
Yeah, that’s the one. Note though that the stand alone in the picture appears to have a fountain device: that one at least apparently doesn’t work wholly via the immersion principle.
I’m embarrassed to say, but it hadn’t occurred to me that the cleaning up process could be pleasurable: I thought it was merely efficient. I’ve seen bidets (long ago), though I’ve never used one. I found them too puzzling I guess. None came with instructions and I still find the immersion ones to be somewhat baffling. (~_~;)
:dubious:
I think you’re doing it wrong.
Au contraire, mon frere! Maybe I’m doing it right.
Mine has the “shoot it into the air” type nozzle as opposed to the immersion type. I’m not ashamed to say that warm water on my but feels good.
Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy…
I’m Italian an maybe can provide some informations on the subject. Bidets are common items in Italy, as someone said above.
In 1988 (i was 15) I went to USA and spent some weeks at my uncle’s house. I noticed the lack of bidet but really didn’t mind a lot (see later).
Then, some days after my arrival, some guests came to meet my relatives and they started talking about some acquaintance of theirs renovating their house, and somebody said something along the lines of “they’re spending a lot of money and going for very fancy stuff: the even had bidets installed in their bathromms”. I found it very odd, because, to me, having a bidet in the bathroom was no index of wealth, being absolutely natural, like having a toilet: they had to explain to me that in the US this was not the case.
Why you use it.
You use it because you can clean yourself much better than with paper. Imagine you have to clean your hands and you can choose between washing them or just wiping some paper on them. When I was a young boy it didn’t strike me as being so important, but growing up, well, I started to realize that there are many reasons (both personal and “interpersonal”) to keep the area clean. Also, having a shower every time you need to clean only a little part of your body is impractical or might be just impossible.
How you use it.
It looks like a little bathtub, you use it as such. You sit on it (How to Use a Bidet: 10 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow has the process wrong: you sit FACING the faucets, not as in pic. 4, because you want to control the pressure and temperature, not take a leap of faith and scold/freeze your sensible area or gee splash everywhere) , and wash the “parts”. If, as should happen, you have already done a rough cleaning with toilet paper, you just have to finish the job: soap and warm water will provide a complete cleaning and refresh the whole area (a good thing if you consider that it stews all day long in your underwear, pants, etc). Some bidet provide a jet from the bottom, others (more typical in my experience) have a faucet similar to the one in sinks, but with an orientable jet, pointing towards you (search for “rubinetto bidet” in google to get a picture).
Then, you can dry with a towel, just like you do after a shower (remember you cleaned the area throughly, you just need to dry out). Usually, hotels in Italy provide you with three different towels: a big one for shower, a mid size for the parts you wash in the sink, and a smaller one that is intended for use with bidet: In private houses, there’s a bidet towel for each person).
To finish this lengthy entry, I’d offer a possible explanation for the “embarrassment” surrounding this humble bathroom item. It is non impossible that the stigma comes from association with prostitution.
I gather from various sources (about Italy and other countries) that prostitutes operating in brothels (they were legal in Italy until the 1950’s) or in houses, would use some device (a basin and a pitcher, before tap water) to clean their patron’s parts as a “warmup”, to (try to) prevent disease or just for cleanliness reasons. Obviously, also the prostitute would frequently use the device, for the same reasons.
This probably led to an association between frequent cleaning of genital area and prostitution that might have influenced some cultures more than others. In Italy, the habit to shower (as opposed to the more time consuming bath) is a relatively recent phenomenon so, probably, the utility of the bidet was strong enough to offset the negative connotations.
regards
Hmmm… I wonder how sanitary that really is. If you’re dunking your whole butt in a basin full of water, are you really cleaning it, or are you just spreading the germs around? I think Americans used to wash their hands in a basin full of water, and then gradually developed the idea that it would be more sanitary if you washed them with soap and then rinsed them with CLEAN water, not the same water you just washed them in. When you see a really old sink where the fixtures haven’t been updated, the faucets don’t stick out far enough to get your hands under, and the hot and cold are separate. They don’t make them that way anymore.