The year 2020 brought many new sights and shortages of household goods that had never been scarce. Global supply chains ceased to keep up with the burgeoning demand for toilet paper, and some of us were left sitting on the toilet with nothing to wipe with. According to Google Trends, the search term “bidet” skyrocketed in popularity in March 2020. This is no coincidence, as media outlets throughout the country were reporting toilet paper shortages.
A wave of bidets
While the pandemic decimated many businesses, this was great news for the bidet industry. Although the bidet has existed for over 400 years, lack of knowledge and reluctance to discuss posterior hygiene had hindered widespread adoption of bidets. An estimated twelve percent of the American population has regular access to a bidet, which means the majority of us do not know the benefits of using one!
Benefits of bidets
Men, women, and children of all ages and abilities can all appreciate a bidet, because we all move our bowels. Possible benefits include:
• Better personal hygiene, we wash our hands and should also wash our behinds.
• Allows those who cannot use toilet paper effectively to be clean.
• For women, bidets have a front wash handy for preventing urinary tract infections (UTIs), and maintaining cleanliness during menstruation.
• Reduce irritation caused by extra wiping for those with chronic gastro-inflammatory ailments, like Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
• Save money on toilet paper
• Reduce waste and stress on plumbing.
• Greatly reduce environmental impact.
Cultural consequences
You may have heard about “Japanese toilets” or the prevalence of bidets in Japan. They call their bidets Washlets, which is a branded term coined by Toto, a Japanese manufacturer of toilets and other bathroom fixtures. The Japanese highly value personal hygiene, and it is no surprise they developed sophisticated technology to keep your rear clean at all times. Compare this to Western culture, where it is either taboo or humorous to discuss one of the most basic bodily functions.
Common misconceptions
If you have never come into contact with a bidet, it is not likely you will see one outside of luxury hotels and other accommodations for rent. Before we can all welcome bidets into our homes, we need to address concerns that stem from a lack of knowledge about them. Many wonder how they work, if they are sanitary, or if you need to be a woman to use one:
• Bidets don’t touch you, they simply spray your bottom with water. Think a more directed water fountain for your undercarriage.
• Many bidets clean themselves automatically by rinsing their nozzles after every use. Some use germ killing solutions and use materials that are naturally antimicrobial such as silver.
• Bidets have retractable wands. The nozzle that sprays you never hangs out unless it is being used, thus saving it from the typical abuse that a toilet bowl withstands.
• Modern bidets are integrated into toilet seats. This means that they do not add much cleaning to the standard regimen since the toilet they rest on is already on a cleaning schedule.
In conclusion
The best way to appreciate the benefits of a bidet is to install one in your home. According to a consumer spending survey from Japan in 2016, 81% of Japanese households have a bidet. In Japan, it is common to see a bidet in a public bathroom, because their culture dictates they be available at all times. When American culture shifts to emphasize posterior hygiene, we will start to see them everywhere.
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