Bidet: do you have/use it?

[quattrus]

YAY, here we go with my first poll!! :tongueout:

This is something I've already written about on the old forum, but now I'd like to make a little survey.

Many times I've read - both here and on other fora - of how unpleasant it can be to deal with the cleanup when changing from a messy diaper, and how people avoid doing #2 in their diaper because of that. In fact I recognize that having to use wipes for that task can require a lot of time and often doesn't guarantee a perfect result, while having to shower everytime you change can be too much of a hassle.

The picture below depicts what I think to be the best possible answer to the problem:

A bidet. For further clarity, see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet

Anyone remembers the scene in "Crocodile Dundee " when he arrives in a big hotel in New York and takes a while to figure out what the bidet is there for? :laugh:

In fact, during my journeys around the world, I've seen that in many countries the bidet is absent even from the toilets of the most luxurious hotels' rooms (and I guess it's not very popular also in homes). Here in Italy it's a very common item, unlike in countries like France, Germany, Russia, Thailandia (to list some of the ones I remember having visited myself). And I can tell you it's VERY useful if you use diapers for their intended purposes, but I won't go into further detail to avoid this becoming too graphic and possibly disturbing... if you want I'm sure you can figure out the details by yourself...

So basically what I'd like to know is if you have it at home, if you find it useful (without being too descriptive, we don't want someone closing this topic for having become too... stinky!) and, if you like to, please also explain if it's something widespread where you live or not.

 

[Squigma]

They just spray water at your bum, right? I've never even seen one, but if I did I doubt I'd use it... it sounds kinda uncomfortable!

Besides, I don't think it'd make me feel that clean, even if it does work. I'd much rather just have a shower! I don't think it's that much hassle and I always feel clean afterwards, no matter how dirty I've gotten!

 

[Charlie]

Bidets are pretty great.
I don't have one though, but I can see how they'd be handy for cleaning up after using a diaper.

And thanks to this thread I know how to spell the word! When I read the read title I was thinking "Bi Det".

 

[quattrus]

They just spray water at your bum, right? I've never even seen one, but if I did I doubt I'd use it... it sounds kinda uncomfortable!

Not exactly. It's more like a miniaturized bathtub you sit on. Of course you'll want to first have a quick rinse with running water leaving the drain open, and when you're done with this you fill up the bidet and proceed to thoroughly wash your diaper area with soap, bath foam or whatever else. It's like having a small bath only in the area you actually need it - anytime you need it, with the same effectivity of a shower minus the hassle of all the mess running down your legs and clogging the shower drain that usually has a protection grid. In fact I also use it before getting in the shower if my diaper isn't only wet.

This way it takes only 5 minutes to change from a filthy to a clean diaper with the most hygienic procedure you can do in such a short time - works perfectly also if you're not shaven down there!

Good also for avoiding the use of toilet paper when... ehm... you're not using diapers, and 100 times more quick and effective than toilet paper.

(OMG this seems the text of an adv!! I should apply as a sales manager for some bidets factory!! ).

I'd make a monument at the guy who invented it!

 

[Tigger]

They aren't common at all here, I don't rvrn think I've ever seen one anywhere before

 

[ayanna]

I don't have one, and not likely to get one in the near future as I rent.

However, I'm quite certain a good number of my friends have one in their homes.

 

[EmeraldsAndLime]

They aren't common at all here, I don't rvrn think I've ever seen one anywhere before

Neither, I haven't seen one here before, at all. Only one or two at a business where they sell bathroom and toilet stuff.

I think they aren't very popular here as they use too much water than necessary. Our toilets have a half-flush/full-flush feature to save water, let alone a feature that uses even more of it.

 

[quattrus]

Our toilets have a half-flush/full-flush feature to save water, let alone a feature that uses even more of it.

HALT!

I'd never want to have explained myself the wrong way.... you're not supposed to do your business IN them... I mean, they're not a surrogate of the toilet... the typical bathroom configuration can be something like this:

...one next to the other.

(unless you use ONLY diapers, in which case the piece on the right is absolutely useless )

For how concerns the "half flushing" feature, it's quite common also here exp. in public places. And, after all, IMHO it's better using water than paper derived from trees...

 

[andysetra]

Low flush toilets are the devil....but back on topic, bidets aren't very common over here, but I do know someone who has one...unfortunately it's been broken since I've known here, so I've never actually used one. I'll keep that on my list of lifetime goals.

 

[EmeraldsAndLime]

HALT!

I'd never want to have explained myself the wrong way.... you're not supposed to do your business IN them... I mean, they're not a surrogate of the toilet... the typical bathroom configuration can be something like this:

I know that! I just realised I worded what I said wrong. Give me a break, I just woke up when I wrote that. >_<

What I meant to say was that governments here a becoming stringent on saving water, I don't think much good would come from having something that uses more water than is required.

But on that grammar error though, don't the Japanese have toilets/bidet's that are 2-in-1. You think they would considering their living spaces aren't exactly large.

 

[Gingy]

its a but wash!

 

[Todd]

I have stayed in hotels where they have had one, but I have never used one. However, you do make a good point about using one if it were available for cleaning up during a change. I do not mess if there is anyway possible so I wouldn't be using one for that purpose anyway but it is still a good idea to keep as clean as possible in that area.

 

[Peachy]

We don't have water restrictions here. I live in a swamp, so we have more water than you can shake a stick at (not to mention plenty of floods).
Anyway, I'Ve only ever seen one bidet, in the home of a friend of my family. I was a little kid at that time and had no clue what it was for (a urinal attached to the floor, a place to wash your feet...). I have never personally used one. I remember seeing some science show on TV that explained that the use of toilet paper for cleaning your butt is bad for your skin there and that the use of water instead would be a lot better. Despite that "fact" (not everything they say on TV is true!), bidets still aren't used often here, it seems. I'm not sure I'd want to use one too, as one would have to use some tool to clean one's dirty backside, and without toilet paper and just running water, wouldn't that boil down to using your hands?

Peachy

 

[Tigger]

I know that! I just realised I worded what I said wrong. Give me a break, I just woke up when I wrote that. >_<

What I meant to say was that governments here a becoming stringent on saving water, I don't think much good would come from having something that uses more water than is required.

But on that grammar error though, don't the Japanese have toilets/bidet's that are 2-in-1. You think they would considering their living spaces aren't exactly large.

wut huh? The government hasn't always been that obsessed about water, at least not before the last 5 or so years ago before the drought. Hell, we aren't even on water restrictions here and I'm in one of the driest places in Australia.

 

[quattrus]

and without toilet paper and just running water, wouldn't that boil down to using your hands?

Yes, but it's quite pointless to be disgusted of touching with your hands something that 5 minutes before was inside you and in contact with way weaker bodily tissues than the skin of your hands....

After all, getting your hands in contact with the surfaces of a random public place or public transportation vehicle that have been touched by X thousand random people is potentially way more harmful (and for me way more disgusting) that washing your own butt with bare hands under running water!

 

[Squigma]

You know I guess this really doesn't sound that bad! It probably just seems weird because I'm not used to it, so I'm just being a bit xenophobic. I'd probably find it great if I tried one... but I dunno where I could find one to try, they seem really rare here.

 

[ion.blue]

Have you seen Japan's bidets? High-tech stuff!


Click to link to Wikipedia article

 

[EmeraldsAndLime]

wut huh? The government hasn't always been that obsessed about water, at least not before the last 5 or so years ago before the drought. Hell, we aren't even on water restrictions here and I'm in one of the driest places in Australia.

Yes, but I think they realised that we are in a country with a not so reliable water supply. That's why someone came up with the half/full flush system! To save water!

 

[the0silent0alchemist]

good old aussie know-how...