Today you have the bidets you can install on your toilet, but traditionally they were a thing on its own, that required about as much space as a toilet and all the extra pipework associated with it.
In some European/ Mediterranean countries (I suspect France may have started the trend) this caught on well, and bidets were a must have in most houses that had toilets as part of their main architectural structure. Most people in South America had bidets this way, it’s rare to see a house without at least one bidet, and this comes from the culture inherited from colonial times .
Now, things are different in othe parts of the world. England seems to traditionally have the toilet separate from the house and for some reason the bidet trend never caught on. This is in turn reflected both in USA and Australia. I don’t know about bidet popularity across all of Europe, but this is definitely a cultural thing and I suspect distance and language may have kept UK without bidets until relatively recently. And as you know, old habits die hard, so… Yeah in Australia I use the shower.
in Italy, there is literally a law obligating houses to have a bidet. the separated from the toilet kind.
not surprised that Italy (who has a history of fascism and from what I heard currently has a fascist leader) has an authoritarian law requiring that people do things in their own homes (kinda like some HOAs in the US. Although, I have to admit, we must have lucked out with a HOA that’s not one of the shitty ones you always hear about)
fascism is when regulation
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Yeah! Fucking fascists and their safety and building codes. Don’t even get me started on smoke detector and fire codes. Goddamn government always trying to keep slumlords down.
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you are not obligated to use it.
a funny story, a couple from England transformed it into a vase and planted flowers in it.
“Hey you need to build the house with these features in order for it to be approved”
“Wuh what??? This is literally fascism”
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the separated from the toilet kind.
I don’t understand how those work at all…seems like that would be a recipe for poop tracks from the toilet.
well… it is time to explain to an internet stranger how we clean our bum.
- you shit on the toilet
- you wipe with tp one or two times
- get up, sit on the bidet
- water, soap on the hand, and you scrub your ass with your hand, no this is not gay
- go again with water and soap until you feel your ass is clean
- dry with a small towel
the towel is generally personal, and we change it every couple of days.
Legit question: Do you wash your hands again after that?
oh, yes, felt like it was obvious… i’m not touching anything without washing my hands after that.
Well I mean I do that in the shower, and I don’t wash my hands again after the shower, so I have no idea what the mentality is.
What part of cleaning your ass could be misconstrued as gay? Feels like an unnecessary aside, haha. Thanks for the step by step though, that makes sense!
i legit have no idea, but on every tread talking about bitets, there is always someone that discards it because is gay to touch your own ass
That may have been sarcastic, but I appreciated the info. It beats having to take a shower.
Just another reason to like Italy even more.
That would never fly in the US. They complain about water usage so much that they regulate shower heads so that they barely drip water, and toilets so that they don’t have enough water to flush solid waste. The bidet would just blow the regulators’ heads with all the water usage.
Which would be short sightedness on their part, since bidets actually save water in the long run by reducing TP usage
The bidet would just blow the regulators’ heads
Only if they sit on it backwards for the drying portion.
brit here.
can confirm. i sit on the side of the bath and wash my arse with the shower. The only house i have seen in the UK with a bidet was essentially a mansion
Fellow Brit, I just shave my arse crack to prevent Klingons.
“today is a good day to die!” flush
“Glory! To you and your ass!”
Also in the UK, the aftermarket toilet attachments are not in line with building codes because of the possibility of contamination of the water supply, so it’s quite complicated if you don’t have room for a separate bidet.
Just get the toilet seat bidet. It’s probably like 40£
Right now I live abroad and we have just the tub, so yeah same remedy. It’s cursed and annoying though, so I hate it so much
Spain checking in here. Bidets are definitely popular in Spain. I suspect that’s how they made their way to south America.
England seems to traditionally have the toilet separate from the house and for some reason the bidet trend never caught on
Uh… wut?
This what I’ve been told- I’ve never been to England, my understanding is that back in the day this was the way especially for suburban and farmland, and that that’s why many old Australian houses still have the toilet separate. Obviously this doesn’t apply to dense or modern areas.
The UK has lots of old housing stock, built before the concept of indoor plumbing, so there was nowhere to put a toilet in lots of properties when they started to become a thing, hence you’d put it seperate from the house in an outhouse style set-up. We also lost less of the country to warfare during the two wars so didn’t have to rebuild whole cities, so the conversion to move those toilets inside was still going on as we moved to the later half of the 20th century. My old man didn’t have an indoor toilet in his childhood home until he was a teenager, he was born in the late 50s.
You still go to pubs these days that are old enough that the loos are disconnected from the main building as they’ve been there for so many years.
I live in the UK and nothing you’ve said here is congruent with my experience. I don’t recall ever being in any building whatsoever that had no indoor toilet, including pubs.
there was
In the past. A long way in the past.
as we moved to the later half of the 20th century
The move to the later half of the 20th century was 70 years ago.
Near where my sister lives on the edge of Bristol there are several pubs with outdoor toilet blocks. It’s usually country pubs or ones old enough to be listed. You’re not going to find many in cities these days.
This must specifically be like, row homes, right? Where it’s too tightly packed to fit a new room.
It’s not like houses here in sweden are brand spanking new and yet they all have toilets nowadays even if some of them are ancient.My old man’s was semi-detached, but yeah density is part of the issue here too.
Lol. Out of ALL the European countries to pick as example, you chose the worst.
France definitely does not like bidets and French will even ask you why even bother having one, assuming they even know what it’s for.
Try again with Italy. Basically every household has one.
Interesting. Well, not losing sleep on that. Good on Italy and Spain though.
My nephews thinks it’s weird/gay.
They’re good boys, they’re also idiots though.
Tell them women don’t want to smell their dirty ass either.
I think the answer is just that most don’t know about them, having grown up in homes without them. They are quite nice though.
They may also be perceived as too expensive, if they only know of full toilet replacement kinds and not the seat replacements you can get for less than $100.
There are dozens of choices that work great for twenty some dollars online here in the US and don’t even replace the seat.
I got a $400 one, and it was the best $400 I’ve ever spent. It’s something I use every day, and damn does it improve my day just a little bit more.
Cost me half that and I love it. It’s a life changer.
Maybe, but I’d still go with having no idea such things exist. That was me, and the first type I knew about was the seat attachment/replacement
There are some informative answers elsewhere, however, I noticed a gap between the comments and my expectations, bidet-wise: here’s a link to the relevant SNL Bidet sketch: https://piped.video/watch?v=zQx-ZbSQSBM&t=0. Enjoy
I was overseas and recovering from surgery. I’d never seen a bidet before arriving in Argentina a few days before, so I still wasn’t used to them.
In any case, I was sitting on this bidet at 3am or something, on painkillers, and almost falling asleep while I sit there. I’m leaning forward, and turn the bidet, and it turns out this bidet has a jet of water almost powerful to reach the roof. And because of the angle I was sitting at, I get this jet of high pressure water right on my clit. I’m pretty sure the noise I made woke most of the neighbours! It was not a fun experience
That being said, I’d still get one here in Australia if I could :)
A bidet can find the clit and I can’t? WTF
/s
/s
You lie
I would never.
Why do people always act like it’s super difficult to find the clit?
Look at a medical textbook, put your face between her legs and you’ll see where it is. It really isn’t that hard.
I’m aware there are men who are so caught up with toxic masculinity that eating out a woman is not an option, and they probably actually are unable to find the clit. But do people really say “look at me, I’m a toxic person who isn’t able to pleasure their partner because of it” about themselves as a joke?
I LOVE eating out a woman. My woman is 8 months pregnant and I havent eaten pussy in most of that time and it’s killing me lol
I haven’t eaten anyone out in over a year, and I also miss it. It’s super fun seeing the other person being pleasured by my actions.
Not wanting to eat out their significant other isn’t necessarily correlated to toxic masculinity; I think you’re conflating two different things. It’s possible to be selfish completely unrelated to toxic masculinity. Not every instance of a male doing something wrong is attributable to toxic masculinity.
So people are saying “look at me, I’m selfish” as a joke?
You’re completely right that not every bad behaviour in a male is toxic masculinity. And a completely non-sexist person may just not want to do it out of pure selfishness. However there are plenty of jokes about the gayness of a man eating out a woman. I’m pretty sure these topics are closely related. The logic of those men usually looks like this:
Eating a woman out => submissive => weak => bad
I don’t think I’ve ever heard that.
No idea tbh. It’s not hard to find. Sure it’s hidden under a good but it’s not exactly hard to see. Learning how to use it though seems to be more of a mystery. I mean shit, the majority of the time my wife struggles to know what she does and doesn’t like.
I found that discovery to be a highly welcome one personally
I mean, maybe in other circumstances, but I was not ready! :)
You can definitely get one in Australia. They are like $30 on the internet delivered right to your house and attach to your toilet in under 5 min.
Those ones aren’t even close to the same. They’re not worth the effort in my experience
Serious question: you use it instead of wiping, not in addition to? I have a hard time imagining the bidet would be more sanitary without the use of mechanical force (wiping) and/or soap. Is it really just a jet of water that is supposed to remove any residue, regardless of consistency?
The water jet is the mechanical force. But unlike wiping, it doesn’t smear the shit all over your ass hair and rub it into your skin pores. It just liquifies it so that it gets rinsed away.
I use it in addition to. My culture has shower style bidets and I have no idea how “normal” bidets are supposed to work without getting your hands in there
My toto, you don’t need to wipe at all. Heated seat, multiple nozzles, heated water, dryer built in. Powerful enough to give you a full clean, it even oscillates to get better coverage.
My grandparents got one after going to Hawaii, where they are prevalent. Then I got one during the pandemic. Then my family bought two after trying mine. Then my relatives all got at least one. It’s Japan’s gift to the world, haha. I feel bummed out whenever I have to go somewhere without it, as you can never get as clean with toilet paper.
The recent articles about all TP being treated with PFAS to make them dissolve faster in water makes me even happier to use a bidet.
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Have you ever used a pressure washer before?
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YMMV but personally it makes everything 1-2 wipes to ‘verify’/dry. Got one in 2020 to lessen TP usage, which it does really well. I think you’re underestimating how strong the stream is (which is variable/controllable) and overestimating how ‘stuck on’ any residue is. Works kinda like a pressure washer where you can’t move/angle the washer (on the affordable ones) so you move the thing being washed for full ‘coverage’.
Regardless, if I got muck on my hands would rather rinse them in water than just wipe them off with a paper towel.
You wipe too. Just- much less. Bidet cleans all of the shit away, toilet paper wipes off the excess water.
sounds like I can do the same with an extended showerhead massager which is what I do at my apartment - then I don’t have to worry about using TP for it even. And my asshole is actually clean after.
That’s exactly how many bidets are designed too. Essentially, a hand-held shower-head.
Mine is built into the toilet (or, well, is permanently mounted to it). Just twice the knob, and automatic water where it needs to go.
Yeah, I feel like I get this done in the shower just fine without needing to buy extra equipment and I don’t have to worry about getting a UTI if I don’t get the aim right apparently.
Assuming you shower after every poop!
well obviously I can’t do that in a public restroom but outside of that - yeah I’ve got it covered with using a shower head.
It’s a matter of planning and availability. In my country people don’t renovate their houses often and even rarely build them from scratch. Having a bidet requires planning and leaving space for it. Japanese style toilet seats are easier to install in smaller toilets, but they require electricity and/or hot water.
Washlets don’t require hot water or electricity, though, they can pull right from the toilet water supply
I’ve had no issues with the cheap $20-40 USD bidets from Amazon, while I’m sure the fanciness of a heated bidet would change my life I don’t see the need.
When you say bidet you are referring to a toilet seat with water or separate wash head next to toilet. When I say bidet am referring to what french call bidet, a separate toilet-like utensil next to toilet. Those things require planning and space since they require drainage, water source, etc.
I think it’s more common now to call a bidet insert a bidet. So just an inser that you fasten between the seat and bowl with an arm for turning on and off the spray. That connects to a T adapter at the inlet on the toilet. Works really good and costs 20-80€/$
a toilet that requires electricity is mind-boggling to me, an american
Yeah, because they have many nice features, from warming the seat to drying and washing.
I neeeeeeed one of those!
There’s a lot of misunderstanding in this thread. Normal bidets that you buy on Amazon just get fitted under the toilet seat and connected to the water line that drives the toilet. There is no electricity wiring or extra .doodads needed
Unless you want heated water. My bathroom water gets pretty damn cold in the winter, but honestly, you get used to it. I don’t have hot water to my bidet, but I survive
I purchased a bidet insert that has a valve that can intake hot and cold water (2 pipes) and output a medium temperature as part of the bidet. It was slightly more expensive, but in winter, is worth it. No electricity needed.
This right here. Winters can be really cold and I think with water that cold my anus could cut rebar.
Same here. Warm water might be even better, but I don’t want to know so that I can continue installing dirt cheap bidets that require no extra work or plumbing :)
It apparently used to be a thing over here when my grandparents were young. People just liked toilet paper better.
Personally I find them uncomfortable
Not an answer for everyone, but I won’t be making the switch any time soon
I love mine but I use the bidet before I wipe. Then it doesn’t take much paper at all.
Eh… That’s exactly how you’re supposed to use it…
You mean other people don’t wipe after they use the bidet and let poop-laced water drip down their butts?
Only a problem if you’re one of those maniacs who stands up to wipe
It’s quite widespread in some places. When I lived in the Middle East, every bathroom had one, a separate porcelain unit beside the toilet. Apparently the electronic ones built into the toilet seat are very popular in Japan. And bidets are taking off big in the US now too. Those are just the places I happen to know. How widespread do you need them to be? ;D
We have them like that in italy and I don’t know anyone that uses it. We used it as a second toilet as kids. Pee only.
I don’t want water blasting up my asshole
Well I do and now I have recently purchased my own home I will have it as soon as my finances recover to the point I can afford it
If you have shit on your hands, do you clean them in the sink, or just wipe them with toilet paper and go on with your life?
Do you eat with your asshole?
It doesn’t matter what body part it is. Replace “hand” with “knee”. Do you eat with you knees? No (if yes I want proof!), would you wash your shit stained knees? Yes.
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It sure can work that way. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
The classic Italian bidet doesn’t have water “blasting” and especially not up the asshole
non sei più uno scrollone eh
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With my bathroom, the answer is simple. I would have to nail the bidet to the wall because of the lack of floor space, which would make it’s use rather awkward.
All normal modern ones are just a simple toilet add on. Take up no space whatsoever.
Is your toilet a urinal then? I imagine that’s already awkward to shit in.
I suspect it’s a case of “We always did it this way, so it’s the superior way”.
This. In my part of the world, Nordics. No one has it, except really old bathrooms that have a separate bowl with o detachable shower head. But I only saw that once in my life. I installed one a year ago and it’s a game changer.
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Fellas, is it gay to have a clean butthole
I’m just worried I’m going to turn my sack into a punching bag.
I know it’s extremely unlikely. But, I’m roerty sure hot baths have already killed the workers.
From experience, I can tell you that your bag is safe lol
They are designed so that the angle of the spray comes nowhere near there. You’d have to do some sort of gymnastics moves to be able to whack the piñata with it.
I don’t know where I was coming from pretending I wouldn’t want to experience. Thinking about. I kinda do.
Even still, even the alt blast modes are very gentle. This isn’t exactly the sorts of pressure you’d be using for cleaning lichens off sidewalks, haha.
