1.20.2023

Potty Talk

I know that I said I was not going to talk about toilets again, but I lied. Actually I am not going to talk about toilets; I am going to talk about the bidet. 

The bidet has been ridiculed by Americans for years; every time we go to Europe, we laugh about the "two toilets," "the low sink" or the "weird looking drinking fountain." I have to admit to seeing one for the first time a long time ago and knowing what it was used for but not really how it was used. It was in the bathroom of my boyfriend's mom, who was American, but had traveled a lot for work and had lived abroad for a long time. Apparently she liked it so much she had one installed in her house in California. 

I never used hers though. The first time I used a bidet was maybe five years later, when I went to South Korea for the first time. Their toilets not only squirt water, but they have heated water, air and a heated seat too. You could spend a very long time in the bathroom in South Korea. 

I think this one was in China.

Last year I bought a bidet. My bidet is not that fancy. It just attaches to your toilet on the side. It takes about 10 minutes to set up and is not obtrusive or anything. I call it the starter bidet. Here's the funny part; I liked mine so much I bought one for everyone for Christmas. There have been mixed reviews and comments so far. 

My dad and my mom both tried it without sitting on it and sprayed the bathroom wall, even though the instructions say not to turn it on if you are not sitting. When my mom first turned it on while sitting, we heard a loud yelp come from the bathroom. It does have pretty strong pressure! My brother went to my parents house and fell in love with the bidet right away. Little did he know he was getting one too! However, his girlfriend is less than thrilled. I think she has this idea that you can get dirty stuff in a clean place by using it? But let me clear up some of the mystery. 

When you turn the water on, the little sprayer wand pops out of its protected home to spray you. So you are not using dirty water to spray yourself. The water pressure (and temperature if set up that way) can be adjusted, as can the angle, so you can aim it where it is best for you. After you are done, you can dry off using TP or a towel that you then wash after a couple of uses. It saves a lot of TP, let me tell you! This is nothing new; people have been doing it for many years, but it is new to me and I have been very happy with my new toy. You know how sometimes someone gives you a gift and you think you are never going to use it and then you get a ton of use out of it? This is one of those things. 

Have you ever used a bidet? If so, what do you think!? If not, what's holding you back? If you don't want to talk about toilets, what item have you thought you were not going to get any use out of and then it became your favorite thing? 

8 comments:

  1. I have never used a bidet, but am sooo intrigued. Friends of ours have one in their bathroom, but separate (so not attached to the toilet).
    My husband travels a lot for work and has raved about the integrated bidets in Japan (SO many bells and whistles and heated water and white noise sounds etc).
    I'm intrigued by this "starter" bidet. Do you have a link you can share?

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    1. One day I aspire to have a cool Japanese bidet with all of the heated nonsense but for now, here is the link to mine! https://amzn.to/3QXbxze

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  2. I have never used a bidet, but that is because I have never had access to one! At least, not that I know of. I would be open to it for sure.

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    1. I find it interesting that in certain cultures it is so normal to have one, while in others, we never even knew about these... I was talking to a friends kids about the different bathroom practices of different places around the world and they were fascinated by the differences!

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  3. I have never used one, although the ones I have encountered are not as high tech as this appears to be? I feel like they required 'manual use'? And kind of more so remind me of the diaper spraying attachment that we have on our toilet in our bedroom for spraying poopy diapers. We sold our cloth diapers soon so we will be disconnecting that but Phil needs the help of his handyman cousin to do this.

    Phil often comments on how much toilet paper we go through, so he would likely be more on board with this although I imagine his use of it would be limited? But I think he would get behind the idea! It makes sense that some countries have adopted this more than others if it has to do with what their sanitation systems can handle? I think other countries systems might not be equipped to deal with flushing toilet paper?

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  4. My parents have a bidet in their bathroom, but I am honestly not sure how much it has been used over the years. It's not attached to the toilet, but rather next to the bathtub. I have used them before but I am don't have strong feelings about bidets LOL

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  5. I used a bidet for the first time last month, and I am a changed woman! I need one, and even made it one of my 2023 goals to get a bidet. It'll be slightly trickier living in an apartment but I imagine my maintenance team could help me with that. I can't wait to live the bidet life all the time!

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  6. I used a bidet for the first time last month, and I am a changed woman! In fact, I put "install a bidet" as one of my 2023 goals, haha. I can't wait to live the bidet life 24/7. I don't understand people who aren't all about bidets. It just seems like such a better and more sanitary way to deal with that situation. ;)

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