I went to Thailand at the end of last year and used a simple bidet (called a bum gun) for the first time. The VERY first thing I did when I got home to the US was buy one of these kits for like $30 and installed it on my toilet myself. Took like 15mins and changed my life. Now whenever I travel around the US I feel like a savage, having to take a shit in hotel and office bathrooms without a bidet.
You can also buy travel bidets. Basically squeeze bottles that you can direct to the right places. Not as good as an actual bidet, but better than nothing.
I was very happy to learn that some grocery stores and big box stores sell them (at least in the US)! I was on a trip to Salem, OR and was having a miserable time reverting to toilet paper until I grabbed one of those travel bidets at Lowe’s.
My exact same experience after having visited the Philippines. I got the washlet-style bidet that attaches to the toilet seat area, and as the other reply to your comment suggests, I have a portable bidet as well, as a backup. Bidets are unquestionably the best thing since breathable air.
And yes, if I have to scrape, it feels horrible. Like casually reaching into a septic tank and swirling an arm around.
When you get the runs, shit goes everywhere. Poop particles still fly on flush which is why closing the lid is better. If anyone has poo’d on that other than you, it probably has their fecal matter in there. How are those tubes even cleaned?
Before answering your question, I guess I’d have to ask my own:
Since poop particles will coat the inside of the toilet lid, do you wipe the lid clean immediately after the flush (to prevent bacteria from spreading all over the seat) or do you wait until you have to use the toilet again, and wipe the seat clean so your back isn’t in close proximity to the inside of a toilet lid that’s covered in poop spray?
I hear many laypeople talk about the aerosol effect, but never hear any guidance from the health authorities about it other than, “You should wash your hands after using the toilet.”
Also, the bum gun style of bidet is just like a miniature shower head. Whatever residue there may be would get washed away each use. It’s pretty trivial to wipe down your own hand-held bidet before/after each use, and the toilet seat style bidets nearly always come with a self-cleaning feature.
If you’re that stressed out over the idea, do what works best for you. Germaphobia is real. As for cleanliness, the Japanese are some of the most fastidiously clean people, and they generally have no problems using public bidets.
It would seem to me that if bidets were as unhygienic as some people find them to be, that countries where they are most prevalent wouldn’t have a prolonged history of using them, and wouldn’t be horrified by how other cultures have no problem scraping poop with their hands from between their butt cheeks.
I’m unsure of that specific claim, but they do show that it doesn’t really matter where you store your toothbrush — fecal particulate abounds throughout every home. 😶
I went to Thailand at the end of last year and used a simple bidet (called a bum gun) for the first time. The VERY first thing I did when I got home to the US was buy one of these kits for like $30 and installed it on my toilet myself. Took like 15mins and changed my life. Now whenever I travel around the US I feel like a savage, having to take a shit in hotel and office bathrooms without a bidet.
You can also buy travel bidets. Basically squeeze bottles that you can direct to the right places. Not as good as an actual bidet, but better than nothing.
I use one at home so I can use warm water instead of cold, works decently well
I was very happy to learn that some grocery stores and big box stores sell them (at least in the US)! I was on a trip to Salem, OR and was having a miserable time reverting to toilet paper until I grabbed one of those travel bidets at Lowe’s.
Truth. Ruined for life in the best way.
My exact same experience after having visited the Philippines. I got the washlet-style bidet that attaches to the toilet seat area, and as the other reply to your comment suggests, I have a portable bidet as well, as a backup. Bidets are unquestionably the best thing since breathable air.
And yes, if I have to scrape, it feels horrible. Like casually reaching into a septic tank and swirling an arm around.
Surely the in toilet bum gun isn’t sanitory?
When you get the runs, shit goes everywhere. Poop particles still fly on flush which is why closing the lid is better. If anyone has poo’d on that other than you, it probably has their fecal matter in there. How are those tubes even cleaned?
The mere thought stresses me out.
Before answering your question, I guess I’d have to ask my own:
Since poop particles will coat the inside of the toilet lid, do you wipe the lid clean immediately after the flush (to prevent bacteria from spreading all over the seat) or do you wait until you have to use the toilet again, and wipe the seat clean so your back isn’t in close proximity to the inside of a toilet lid that’s covered in poop spray?
I hear many laypeople talk about the aerosol effect, but never hear any guidance from the health authorities about it other than, “You should wash your hands after using the toilet.”
Also, the bum gun style of bidet is just like a miniature shower head. Whatever residue there may be would get washed away each use. It’s pretty trivial to wipe down your own hand-held bidet before/after each use, and the toilet seat style bidets nearly always come with a self-cleaning feature.
If you’re that stressed out over the idea, do what works best for you. Germaphobia is real. As for cleanliness, the Japanese are some of the most fastidiously clean people, and they generally have no problems using public bidets.
It would seem to me that if bidets were as unhygienic as some people find them to be, that countries where they are most prevalent wouldn’t have a prolonged history of using them, and wouldn’t be horrified by how other cultures have no problem scraping poop with their hands from between their butt cheeks.
You’re gonna love the episode of Mythbusters on precisely this.
Is it where they demonstrate that the toilet seat may be the cleanest surface in the house?
I’m unsure of that specific claim, but they do show that it doesn’t really matter where you store your toothbrush — fecal particulate abounds throughout every home. 😶
Okay, yep, I pulled up the list summarizing their experiments, and saw this listed there. We’re on the same page, then.
You talk about residue getting cleaned away, but without soap, that will not be effective.
As for wiping down toilet seat, depends. My own home, no. Outside, toilet paper and sanitiser.
It is a different level of risk when something touches skin compared to contact with an orifice.
Separate bidets don’t concern me like integrated ones inside a toilet as contamination risk is much less.
Based on what you’re telling me, you should continue to follow your current hygiene practices and disregard the use of bidets altogether.