I was talking to friends about bidets and was asking them if they would like to have one. They answered me things like: “I wasn't planning on renovating my bathroom soon” or “My bathroom is too small!” ".
For some of them, the word bidet meant:
Photo planetebain.com
In my head, here's what it meant:
Photo LUXE bidet®
In short, I realize that we don't all have the same notion of a bidet.
It's a bit like my tissues... people still think that reusable tissues = handkerchief = large square of cotton that you put back in your sleeve after using it.
Those days are over!
Thanks to the new bidet options that have emerged in the last few years in North America, we can now rinse ourselves right on the toilet, and that's fantastic.
There are bidets that you install under the seat or even AS the seat, bidet sprayers, and even portable bidets.
These new types of bidets can be installed in a few minutes, making it easier for us to transition to cleanliness without the need for a complete bathroom renovation.
THE ORIGINAL BIDET BOWL
Don't worry if you still think that a bidet is a porcelain installation. It's still true. In Europe, this is what we see in many places.
The basin bidet has the advantage of being used for many things other than rinsing. For example as a foot bath or as a sitz bath. It has a bowl so you can fill it and wash yourself with water. Some models allow us to send the jet of the faucet into our buttocks and the water flows downwards. Often, people use soap to wash after rinsing with the bidet toilet.
Furthermore, at my parents' house, we still find a porcelain bidet in the bathroom. But it's not a faucet model, it's a model that makes a very small fountain in the buttocks. When I was young, I thought it was a urinal. Given the very minimal force of the fountain, it is mainly used to relieve hemorrhoids rather than washing. It's way too far from the toilet anyway!
THE TOILET BIDET
Increasingly popular in North America, the Bidet Attachment is conquering our bathrooms for its practical, hygienic and ecological aspect (because we reduces our consumption of toilet paper).
This type of bidet is generally mechanical, no need to plug it in, so the water pressure will activate the jet. The bidet is installed under the seat and is connected to the water inlet of the toilet, so the basic models are cold water (if this ever troubles you, you can read our article that talks about Cold water ). There are hot water bidets, sill mechanical, which can be connected to the hot water inlet under the bathroom sink.
On a bidet attachment, the spray comes from the back and directly reaches our buttocks. It's a strong enough stream to rinse thoroughly, even for the stickiest feces. There are various types of sprays available: you can have a front spray, a rear spray, and the nozzles can be dual (one spray for each direction) or single (a single fixed or adjustable spray).
THE BIDET SEAT / THE BIDET TOILET
There are seats that act as bidets. We replace the entire seat and that's it! Same goest for the toilet with an integrated bidet.
Some models are mechanical, so they work like the bidet attachments (you plug in the water and that's it). Others are electric, or even intelligent (you have to plug them into a power outlet) and have additional functions such as an integrated dryer, heated seat, LEDs or even music. These are much more expensive! Japanese toilets are mostly electric.
THE SHOWER BIDET
The handheld bidet is affordable and installs easily at the toilet's water outlet. It attaches between the tank and the toilet seat, so there's no need to remove and reinstall the seat, allowing us to direct the spray exactly where we want it: front or rear. If there's a need to clean the perineum or the upper thighs during menstruation, it can be easily done.
The handheld bidet is extremely convenient for cleaning a menstrual cup right on the toilet or rinsing cloth diapers before putting them in the washer—it effectively removes stubborn fecal matter! Its only drawback is that men may find it challenging to direct the front-to-back spray due to anatomical obstacles, so they need to activate the bidet from the rear and aim it upward (toward the anus), which can be a bit less intuitive.
THE PORTABLE BIDET
Since I've known it, it's one of my favorite bidets. You can take it anywhere and be clean even on vacation, even in the office, even on a boat! Hihi.
There are many models of portable bidets, but generally, it looks like a bottle with a long nozzle and a tip with small holes to create an upward-oriented spray. So, on the toilet, you flip the whole thing upside down and pass the bottle behind your buttocks; you lower the nozzle into the toilet and align the tip of the nozzle with your anus. There you go! It does exactly the same job as a bidet attachment!
Its major advantages: It requires NO installation and is really inexpensive! Around twenty dollars. So, it allows us to experiment a bidet to see if we like it (and if we do, we can get a bidet attachment for our toilet and keep the portable one for outings). The other advantage is that you can put water in it at whatever temperature you want! So, you can try warm, lukewarm, cold, or even icy if you want. In short, it's ultra-convenient.
IN CONCLUSION
So anyway, I wanted to talk to you about bidets, because it's cool, and because our reusable toilet papers are an excellent solution when you want to pat dry after splashing yourself!
For some, the bidet will lead them to reusable items. And for others, it will be the opposite: our toilet paper will lead them to the idea of having a bidet.
