If you’re like most Americans, the word “bidet” conjures up images of a malodorous Frenchman squatting over a strange-looking bowl that shoots a stream of water on his derrière. But, newsflash: that mental association is way out of date!
First of all, bidets may have been invented in France, but they are not exclusive to France.
In fact, bidets have been popular in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and most European countries for almost a century! The Italians find bidets so important, they actually passed a law in 1975 mandating that their citizens have bidets installed in at least one of their bathrooms at home.
Secondly, bidets don’t require squatting. Bidets have made huge progress in their design and comfort over the past several decades, and now most models are designed to be sat on like a regular toilet.
In fact, most bidet seats can be easily and quickly exchanged with your regular toilet seat.
Third, the French aren’t the malodorous ones. We are! After all, we’re the ones walking around all day with “leftovers” on our behinds thanks to cleaning with dry toilet paper alone.
Now that your stereotype of bidets has been disrupted, what follows are the top 5 facts that will make you want to invest in a bidet today!
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1. Washing is better than Wiping
Think about it: if you spilled a glass of orange juice on your arm, would you sop it up with a dry paper napkin and call it a day?
No. Because you know that if you did that, hours later, you’d still feel sticky orange juice residue on your skin.
Instead, you would rinse your arm to completely eliminate the orange juice.
Similarly, if you spill soda on the floor, do you throw a paper towel on it and walk away? No, you wash it with water.
Why? Because, once again, water removes sticky residue better than dry paper.
So, let’s make the leap to our posteriors. Is wiping with a wad of dry paper really enough to eradicate fecal matter? Of course not! The far more hygienic option is to wash our sensitive areas after urination and defecation. That’s where bidets come in.
Bidets like the Toto S550e Washlet literally wash away bacteria. Women: if you do a bit of research on urinary tract infections on the trusted medical websites such as Mayoclinic.org, you’ll learn that the majority of UTI’s are caused by e.coli bacteria.
When used properly, a bidet can easily wash away e.coli bacteria, which will keep you out of your doctor’s office and UTI-free! As bidet-users like to joke: a rinse a day keeps the doctor away!
Likewise, men: left-behind bacteria can cause bacterial prostatitis and/or cause you to have colorectal issues. Again, bidet-use rinses away those issues.
A further bonus: bidets are an excellent choice for new moms. As any woman who has recently given birth can attest to: a bidet cleaning with soft, warm water is a far gentler way to sanitize yourself down below than the friction caused by scratchy, dry toilet paper.
Bye-bye hemorrhoids!
2. Comfort
New moms aren’t the only ones who will find bidet-use to be ultra-comfortable. Think about the times in your life where you’ve had to wipe multiple times with dry toilet paper. It can get quite abrasive on our sensitive areas – to the point that we often call it quits.
Adam Sandler even has a hilarious part of his “100% Fresh” Stand up special on Netflix in which he discusses this exact topic: “Are you ever wiping yourself, uh, back there… You’re wiping up pretty good, and then you keep wiping.
And then you’ve really… you’ve got to keep wiping. And you wipe again, and then you wipe another one. Then you go, “You know what? Just out of principle, I’m stopping after this next one. It’s F***’ing enough already. I don’t care if I’m done or not.” Sandler’s funny and spot on!
That’s why switching to a bidet would solve your problems. Once you start using a bidet, wiping issues are permanently eradicated. Gentle water is never abrasive on your derriere, and it does a far superior job cleaning you!
3. Customized Wash Settings
Virtually all wash settings of your Bio bidet seat can be customized for your preferences. You can select the water pressure you would like – for example, a gentle and wide spray wash, or a firm and narrow spray wash.
You can also choose the water temperature you’d like because, for most people, getting a blast of cold water on your sensitive areas is unpleasant. But if that’s your thing, you can select a cool water wash.
If you prefer warmer water, you should know that some bidets allow temperature control down to a precise degree and certain models have the type of continuous hot water heater that can guarantee you will never even get a second of cold water!
Finally, you can choose the position of the spray depending on your needs – a posterior wash, a front wash, or an oscillating spray.
You have so much control over your wash settings that certain bidet seats decided to offer user presets where you can pre-program your particular wash preferences so you don’t have to make the same selection each time you use it.
4. Bathroom Independence for Those Who Need It Most
Any person who has broken an arm injured a shoulder or sprained a wrist knows that sometimes using a bidet seat is not an alternative, but a necessity. By pressing a simple button, cleaning yourself becomes a hands-free experience.
On some bidet models such as the Brondell Swash 1400, you can even press another button to activate a hands-free air dryer to help with residual moisture. And bidets aren’t just useful in cases of injury.
Bidets can offer bathroom independence to older people or those with medical and health issues who would otherwise require personal assistance.
5. Eco-friendly
Did you know that every year, over 9 million trees are chopped down to manufacture the toilet paper we use in the United States alone? Plus, it takes about 255 million gallons of water to manufacture than toilet paper.
Think of the trees and the water you’d save by doing something as simple as cutting down your toilet paper use!
If you’re still on the fence about making the switch, take advantage of the 30-Day Trial Program offered by bidetsplus.com. With this program, you can install a bidet in your home and try one risk-free. So, stop wiping and start washing today!
Author Bio:
Jensen Lee is the Founder and Managing Member of bidetsPLUS, an online retail store specializing in bidet toilet seats. Prior to bidetsPLUS, Jensen held management positions in technology-related fields, in both the U.S. and Europe.
He has held the position of Product Manager of Global Network Services for British Telecom. Most recently, he held the position of Executive Director of Product Marketing at AT&T Interactive, AT&T’s internet advertising division.
