With the Covid pandemic of 2020 causing a massive run on toilet paper, many Americans are considering a new approach to bathroom hygiene: bidets. Turns out bidets are superior investments for many reasons, with or without a pandemic. Here are the top five facts about bidets that will make you reconsider buying one today.
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Fact 1: Bidets save you money on toilet paper and help save the Earth
As mentioned above, perhaps the number one reason Americans have been Googling bidets in 2020 is because of the toilet paper shortage caused by hoarding shoppers. Bidets significantly reduce a person’s need for toilet paper.
That is because instead of wiping after you use the restroom, a steady stream of water cleans you. Plus, many models of bidets offer built-in warm air dryers, so you don’t even need toilet paper to pat yourself dry after you’re clean.
This elimination of or reduction in toilet paper use is significant.
Think about it: if every American converted to bidet use, we could spare the 9 million trees that are chopped down annually to make toilet paper in our country.
Not to mention, we could save the millions of gallons of water required to manufacture toilet paper as well. When people hear about the water saved, they often ask: “But don’t you use water when you clean with a bidet?”
The answer is: Yes. But the water used is far less than the water that goes into manufacturing toilet paper. The simple truth is, bidets save you money on toilet paper, they save you ever having to worry about a toilet paper shortage, and they help preserve our earth’s natural resources.
Fact 2: Bidets are more hygienic than toilet paper
Picture yourself changing a toddler’s diaper. He wiggles around while you do the deed, and suddenly you find some excrement on your wrist.
Do you clean it by wiping it off with dry paper? Or do you get it wet? Most people in the world would choose the second option.
Yet, many Americans don’t feel the same way about their behinds. They’re content to use dry paper to wipe themselves clean after they defecate.
Incidentally, it’s worth noting that Americans are one of the only peoples in the Western World who believe in the “dry toilet paper” method of hygiene. From Europe to Africa to Asia, the citizens of most civilized countries use bidets to clean themselves. In fact, Italy even passed a law way back in 1975 requiring its citizens to have a minimum of one bidet per household.
Besides offering a superior clean, bidets also greatly reduce the likelihood that your fingers will come in contact with your waste when you’re wiping.
Residual excrement left behind on your hands and fingers from when they accidentally touch your waste during wiping is one of the main health problems associated with toilet paper. Again, using a bidet eliminates that problem since your hands and fingers never come near your waste.
If those reasons aren’t enough to convince you to buy a bidet right now, consider that the steady stream of a bidet cleansing is more effective and efficient at washing away the E.coli bacteria that, when left behind on our sensitive areas, can cause urinary tract infections for women.
They’re also more effective and efficient at cleaning away the bacteria that, when left behind, can cause bacterial prostatitis in men. Plus, bidet cleaning can help everyone avoid colorectal issues caused by residual waste sitting on your bottom all day.
Fact 3: Bidets are easy to install and easy to use
Most Americans have the misconception that bidets are some free-standing toilet-sized unit that you install in your bathroom. However, modern bidets are actually replacements for your current toilet seat and almost all of them can be easily interchanged with your current toilet seat in about 20 minutes with a few simple tools – no plumber required.
Please note: most high-end bidets usually require an outlet in your bathroom so you can plug the bidet in and enjoy its luxurious bells and whistles – like a heated toilet seat, a warm-air dryer, a nightlight, programmable wash settings, and more.
But besides needing an outlet, no other hardware is required. Then there’s the ease of use. Once your bidet is plugged in, just do your business on the toilet like normal, and then press a button on your bidet to start your wash.
Depending on the fanciness of your model of bidet, you will have a range of options for what happens next, but on the most fundamental level, what occurs is: a nozzle will appear from which a steady stream of water will flow for a certain amount of time until you’re clean.
It’s as simple as that. You don’t have to stand, you don’t have to move, you don’t have to shimmy! You just sit calmly on your toilet, press a button, and let your cleanse begin.
Fact 4: Bidets are comfortable
As referenced in the previous paragraph, bidets like the Brondell Swash 1400 offer a wide range of options for your wash.
The fancier your bidet, the more options you will have. Most mid-to-high end models offer you a heated water wash, and the higher-end models let you program the temperature of your water to a precise degree. Plus, most models also let you choose the strength of the wash: do you want a firm, steady stream that cleans you quickly and efficiently?
Or perhaps a gentle, wide spray that serenely sprays you? How about an oscillating spray? An enema wash? It’s your choice. And this choice comes into play for all sorts of people. Imagine being a new mom who has recently given birth and has a sore bottom.
Would she rather wipe with abrasive paper or a soothing warm-water bidet wash? The choice is clear. Or what if someone has frequent hemorrhoids or fissures due to medical issues?
Again, wiping with toilet paper can bring tears to the eyes. But a warm-water bidet wash can actually soothe you and help your problems go away quicker.
Fact 5: Bidets offer bathroom independence
For many older people, losing bathroom independence can be humiliating. Luckily, bidets allow people to have bathroom independence for much longer and can spare that humiliation. With a bidet cleaning, people don’t need help wiping.
And if you buy a model with an air-dryer, you can clean and dry without assistance. This means a bidet plus well-placed grab bars can give older people years of continued bathroom independence.
But bidets aren’t just for the elderly. Anyone who has suddenly found themselves with a hand, wrist, arm or shoulder injury is keenly aware that going to the bathroom presents a major challenge.
Not so if you buy a bidet. For the same reasons mentioned above, an injured person can continue to use the bathroom independently.
