I’m new to the bidet scene, and this one has me slightly confounded. Should I install a new towel rack next to the toilet? Should my wife and I share the towel? Do you wipe first? There are so many unanswered questions in the ways of bidet-ing!

  • apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Bidet wash first. Then tp to dry and to, well there is no nice way of saying this, check how the bidet wash did its job. Used appropriately, you should use significantly less tp than before.

    • mad_asshatter@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Realise that you can spray a few minutes before you rise from the seat (especially if someone on lemmy is WRONG, and you need to thumb a reply!)

      You’ll be surprised at how little tp you’ll need!

      Also, you’re allowed to repeat, jic!

    • wjrii@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      For anyone with a sewer system built for TP, this is an ideal workflow. Poops and poopers are not identical, and bidets are not magical. Trust but verify, friends.

      • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Pet peeve. Whatever three-quarters of the world seems to believe, any sewerage system can handle TP. That is: real TP has almost zero fiber integrity, it literally turns to goop on contact with water. Goop that has no more structural consistency than an average pile of sh*t. If still in any doubt then just make sure to flush it in single sheets, each one will be a pea-sized ball of goop. This misunderstanding seems to be purely cultural. I’ve been to a ton of developing countries, all with the usual dodgy sewerage systems and narrow-bore pipes. Yet only some of them, notably Latin America, have the disgusting cultural norm of TP bins. The rest understand that there is a difference between TP and paper towels designed for the kitchen and your face. TP is always flushable, by design.

    • Sabata@ani.social
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      4 months ago

      Pooping solo, a roll of TP will last me a month or two. A pack of TP will last well over a year.

    • saltesc@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      This has always disturbed me. As a non-bidet user, when I have used them (a dozen or so times) an additional final sweep has definitely been required. And yet so many bidet users are adamant everything is magically 100% clean. I now just assume they’re walking around oblivious to a spot of wet mud peppered around the rim of their margherita.

      • apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        People are different, some folks are hairy, some folks aren’t. I am unclear as to why this is “disturbing”.

        • Wahots@pawb.social
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          4 months ago

          My hot take is that everyone should be shaving their asshole, maybe even their crack. If your ass looks like someone slammed a wig in a suitcase, you need to trim that shit before extruding play-doh though it.

          You cannot get that hair 100% clean, especially if shit dries in it.

      • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I think of it as being (sorta) similar to spraying and wiping down a dirty countertop. The spray alone isn’t going to get it fully clean, but it makes the wipe about a thousand times more effective at finishing the job.

      • Vanth@reddthat.com
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        4 months ago

        Learning curve to start, possibly above average messes on occasion? It took all of three days to get the hang of mine. The TP is just to dry, it never comes back dirty anymore unless I am having serious distress.

      • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        It took me a little bit to figure out, but it’s all about the “aim” of the spray. If you’re not positioned just right, it might not be washing the area completely. But when it does, it’s so satisfying seeing a clean piece of wet tp.

      • Jeena@piefed.jeena.net
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        4 months ago

        I personally can feel it if the water went everywhere and enough. I never had brown on the tp afterwards. You probably don’t wash long enough or too low preassure or no movement, etc.

        I can see that for a beginner there are things to figure out on how to use it efficiently. Sa.e as beginner of tp usage.

      • Vaquedoso@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I suppose it depends if you are using it correctly or not. I’ve used a bidet all my life, and where i live bidets are a separate bowl from the toilet, made from the same materials, and virtually every household has one. I’ve never had a problem of it not cleaning enough

        EDIT: Here’s an image. You can see the bidet has a kind of jet of water coming upwards with force, exactly below where you would sit. You can regulate the intensity and if done properly you can clean yourself completely https://images.app.goo.gl/6w3EMWrAk34DBwJd7

      • Bocky@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        If you have mud, your gi tract is not as healthy as it could be. Bidets are not designed to clean Peanut butter of carpet

      • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        You bidet it clean enough, then use your hand to wash your backside, then dry.

            • MudMan@fedia.io
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              4 months ago

              Is it?

              Are we in one of these social media posts where we rediscover that a bunch of people have not been washing their bums in the shower for their entire lives and we have to carry on living with that knowledge?

              • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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                4 months ago

                This is not about the shower. There’s different kinds of bidets. Some just sprinkle your nether regions. Others are a full-blown sink for you to scrub yourself. And yet others are the so-called “bum guns”, where you’ve got a hose next to your toilet to sploosh it away.

              • apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world
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                4 months ago

                Yes. Wash your hands, wash your ass isn’t as common as you might expect in North America. It also isn’t just a “Muslim thing” as you point towards. That invalidates Muslim beliefs and customs as well as reducing the pervasive and varying global cultural etiquettes around cleaning one’s self after bodily functions. A wide swath of north americans are only taught the toilet paper wipe bit.

      • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        My experience has been that it makes the perimeter squeaky-clean, but obviously with a finger, you can do some digging. And if you dig deep enough, there’s always going to be mud.

        And also in my experience, this digging doesn’t actually help. You’ve got a great gate down there. If the outside of that gate is clean, you’re clean. Digging out from behind that gate doesn’t do much, because new mud will push up against it pretty soon.

  • isolatedscotch@discuss.tchncs.de
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    4 months ago

    Copying the text from another comment i made here:

    I have a standalone bidet, not the toilet bowl attachment, which is basically a mini sink, and it works like a sink in that you can regulate flowrate and temperature with the handle

    with this kind, you have 100% cleanliness since you use your hand to clean everything, and after it there’s a mini-towel for each person, usually in a towel rack near the bidet so no-one gets confused, and usually in a smaller size then normal towels.

    If you’re worried about the idea of using your hand being unhygienic, rest assured, there’s a radical invention called washing your hands afterwards, which, by the way, you should do anyways even if you use toilet paper.

      • Sneezycat@sopuli.xyz
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        4 months ago

        What’s demented is guys scratching their crotch and wanting to give me a high five afterwards

      • dustyData@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        People would rather have a filthy body than touch their own bumhole. I don’t get it, it is your own body, what is so icky when you are in the process of cleaning it? Would you rather live with a stinking baby with a dirty diaper, or change the diaper and have a clean space? Same thing, just deal with the thing asap and be done with it. This is why we invented soap. I swear to god this is same people who would scratch their navel then smell their fingers, or would eat earwax, but won’t touch their bums in a shower because it is gay. Guys would decry bidets but then go eat ass and pussy without a hint of self-awareness.

        • Feathercrown@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          None of this explains why it’s not cleaner to use toilet paper than your hand after using a bidet…?

          • dustyData@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            You don’t use your hand afterwards, you use your hand to wash along with the bidet, then you dry with TP or a towel. It is not demented. It is just washing like how you are supposed to wash when you shower.

            • rishado@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              I learned some time ago that some Americans just will never be ready for the bidet conversation, just let those people live in filth

          • stephen01king@lemmy.zip
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            4 months ago

            Because dry spreading your poop with toilet paper is not cleaner than washing your butt together with water.

              • rishado@lemmy.world
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                4 months ago

                No one only uses their hands guys. You use your hands in tandem with the running water to get all the shit off. Then you wipe with TP (modern) or a towel (more common before TP).

          • Bahalex@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Read the comment with instructions man. Wipe with toilet paper first, as normal. Then wash with soap and water. Then dry with a towel. If you’re smearing poop all over everything you’ve got other issues to work out.

            To answer your question, it is cleaner than just using toilet paper because you are wash with soap and water after you use the toilet paper. If you manage to get poop all over the towel when you’re done washing, then TP alone was never going to suffice.

    • jqubed@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I saw one like this at a hotel in Austria once and was trying to figure out how to use it. I couldn’t figure out how the water stream was supposed to spray and clean coming out the side like that. Do you almost lay on it, face down or on your back to get it to spray your bum clean?

      It never occurred to me that the spray wouldn’t be used to clean at all.

        • jqubed@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          When I was six or eight my parents were looking at houses and one had a bidet in the master suite bathroom, the kind that sprays up from the bottom of the bowl. I legitimately thought it was a water fountain for drinking and excitedly pointed it out to my parents. They did not buy that house.

    • gigachad@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      Why are people so confused about this comment? I live in a backward society that does not use bidets. However those from the image are the only ones I know from Spain. What is wrong about them? Or is it the hand thing? If yes, what is the alternative? Please, can somebody explain, I am serious.

    • BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one
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      4 months ago

      You touch your bare shit covered ass?

      I bought a cheap $30 Chinese bidet that uses water pressure to blast the shit crust off without touching anything or even getting off the toilet seat, then I wipe dry with TP.

      Your setup looks and sounds barbaric.

      • isolatedscotch@discuss.tchncs.de
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        4 months ago

        You touch your bare shit covered ass?

        Yes, absolutely, and then I proceed to wash my hands because I’m not a Neanderthal

        it might look and sound barbaric but it feels amazibg

      • edric@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        I assure you, people who bother to wash their asses with a bidet and soap using their hands definitely wash their hands with soap and water afterwards and are cleaner than people who don’t use a bidet.

    • HKPiax@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Every time the bidet thing comes up, people are just DUMBFOUNDED by it. The sentiment is always “you smear shit all over your hands??” lmao.

      No, first thing is you wipe thoroughly, then you use it aiming the faucet tangent to the bumhole, and with liquid soap on your hand, you clean it. Water is constantly flowing above your hand and against your hole, with soap on every contact surface. Afterwards, you wash your hands in the sink like normal.

      Never had my hands smell like shit, never.

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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    4 months ago

    Just use TP. The manual (yes, I RTFM for my bidet) said that people in Europe have a dedicated bidet towel but that sounds gross. The bidet doesn’t always remove 100% before I first go to wipe.

  • fogstormberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 months ago

    follow-up question. how do you deal with ice cold water in the pipes? do you have to turn on the tap every time you sit down to get the hot water going?

      • Vanth@reddthat.com
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        4 months ago

        Hot water isn’t even that fancy anymore. My ~$30 Amazon bidet ties into both hot and cold taps. I just let it run slow enough to not hit my butt as I’m pooping, which is more than enough time to flush the tubes with warm water, then crank the pressure up to reach my ass with a warm spray. No icy shock needed.

        No electricity needed, purely pressure from the water lines and a mechanical valve.

    • Jeena@piefed.jeena.net
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      4 months ago

      Mine heats the seat and the water with electricity. They are not so much more expensive but what a comfort, especially in the winter.

    • isolatedscotch@discuss.tchncs.de
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      4 months ago

      we have a standalone bidet, not the toilet bowl attachment, which is basically a mini sink, and it works like a sink in that you can regulate flowrate and temperature with the handle

    • Evkob@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      I bought the fancier model that can connect to the sink for hot water and never bothered setting it up, you get used to the cold water fast enough.

      I honestly like it, a blast of cold water up the ass perks me up better than coffee in the mornings.

    • tenchiken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      4 months ago

      An extra $10 and you can get a model that can pull from a hot water line under a nearby sink. Then you get a dial to adjust the temp.

      A little extra work putting in, but worth it for folks with scar tissue from surgery etc.

      To purge the line, most have a self clean that gets the water from the heater ready simply enough.

    • Mine too. I look specifically for this feature when buying.

      I still do a TP dab-dry first; even with a heated fan, it takes forever to fully dry with only the fan. But a couple of TP squares to dab most of the water away, and the fan makes fast work of the rest.

  • Jeena@piefed.jeena.net
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    4 months ago

    In a hot climate I don’t dry it, the water dries very fast, like a little bit of sweat.

    When it’s cold, two sheet of toilet paper.

  • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    If you feel like you have a bunch of shit stuck on your ass, probably wipe first and then begin the spray. I wouldn’t want shit-clumps splattering all around the bowl area.

    What I do is alternate the water and the TP until the TP shows nothing but water. It may take a couple of sprays and wipes, but the end result is a much cleaner ass than wiping alone could ever accomplish. I might be using about 60% as much TP as without a bidet but I don’t care, because my ass is very clean.

    BTW this requires decent TP that will hold up to gentle wiping of wet areas, not the cheapest weakest TP will suffice.

    • MudMan@fedia.io
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      4 months ago

      Honestly, if you do the job right the towel is the right implement, in that you’re just patting dry any stray droplets left over.

      For insecure bidet-ers, a preemptive TP run to verify you’re ready for a towel is a bit of insurance, I suppose.

      Just… have one for each person in the household. It’s one thing to be secure in your technique, quite another to hold everybody’s destiny in your grasp.

    • Bender12@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Toto bidet owner here, mine has a warm fan that only needs about 5 to 10 seconds to dry off. Then check, verify dryness and cleanliness with a bit of TP. But a little bit of wetness dries off quickly anyway.

  • surfrock66@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    My mom had Crohn’s so she was on the toilet a lot, and my dad got her a toto washlet, the fanciest one possible. It uses the seat as a warm water reservoir (never a cold toilet seat), has a light, and has a heated air dryer. When I grew up and we redid a bathroom, that was my single ask…and outlet next to the toilet and that device. It’s absolutely key, we put an unpowered bidet in the other bathroom and no one will use it.

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I solved this by purchasing 2 sets of 15 white cotton rags. When I finish evacuating my bowels, I use the bidet. Then toilet paper to make sure everything is clean. Then I use one of the rags to dry off whatever water happened to get on my genitals, before giving the backside a good wipe down as well (women learn this young, but for the men, ALWAYS CLEAN FRONT TO BACK. NEVER BACK TO FRONT. That’s how you get a UTI). Toss the rag into a small laundry hamper I keep in the bathroom, and voila! You’re clean, dry, and ready to go. Just wash the rags with some bleach, and you can fold them as you take a dump instead of doom scrolling.

  • Vaquedoso@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I’ve already commented this down below, so i’ll just copy paste here.

    I suppose it depends if you are using it correctly or not. I’ve used a bidet all my life, and where i live bidets are a separate bowl from the toilet, made from the same materials, and virtually every household has one. I’ve never had a problem of it not cleaning enough

    Afterwards i’ll just dry a bit with a towel specifically used for that

    Here’s an image. You can see the bidet has a kind of jet of water coming upwards with force, exactly below where you would sit. You can regulate the intensity and if done properly you can clean yourself completely https://images.app.goo.gl/6w3EMWrAk34DBwJd7

  • shortypants@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Ryobi cordless leaf blower. You have to aim for the rim because if you hit home it makes you burp.

    Actually though, just dab with TP. You’ll use much less TP and not need “flushable” wipes that still clog your main sewage line