In those cultures which use it habitually, such as in parts of Western, Central and Southern Europe, Eastern Asia and some South American countries such as Argentina, it is considered an indispensable tool in maintaining good personal hygiene. It is commonly used in North African countries such as Egypt.
From Japan to Italy, the bidet is a standard fixture in any bathroom. Bathrooms and toilets around the world commonly feature a bidet or some type of water cleansing device like a spray hose like toilets in the Middle East commonly feature. Yet bidets are curiously absent in the United States.
While households in the U.S favor dry toilet paper to this day, bidets are the dominant cleaning method in places like France, Japan, Italy, and Portugal. In many Asian countries, you will find bidet attachments fixed to the toilet bowl in public restrooms and the same can be said in Western Europe.
There are few reasons why most Australians do not use a bidet in their bathroom. The first reason is their geographic location. Australia does not get a lot of rainy days so water preservation is a must for everyone and so using a bidet could be seen as wasteful in times of drought.
Bidets, which originated in France in 1600 as an upper-class way for personal hygiene, are quite popular in parts of the Middle East, Europe, Australia, and Asia & have now turned out to be a popular installation across the world.
The practise of using a bidet, has always been very popular in Europe and Asia. In Australia, bidets are not yet as commonplace as they are in Japan or Europe, but they are receiving an increasingly warm reception. Most people's first encounter with a bidet seat is during a stay in a luxury hotel, usually in Japan.
In the United States, bidets recalled all kinds of feminine failings: women's sexuality, women's unwanted pregnancies, and women's biology. As such, they were shunned. Meanwhile, other countries continued to embrace the bidet. As it spread into northern Europe and southern Asia, the design morphed a bit.
In Europe, the country that uses the bidet the most is Italy. There is even a law in Italy that says that every home has to have a bidet in it. There are a few other countries where they have become popular.
Ask for bidet permission
This fixture is very much a personal care item. And some homeowners might not be keen to let a guest mess around with it, especially a first-timer. So when you see a bidet and feel like trying it out, take the homeowner aside first. Then politely ask if guests are allowed to bidet or not.
Yes, bidets are sanitary. In fact, using a bidet is more sanitary than using a traditional toilet and toilet paper. Bidets use water to cleanse and wash away any leftover urine or fecal matter – no wiping required.
If you're Muslim, however, there's an additional bathroom need that has to be met: There must always be a small vessel, to be filled with water, with which to wash your nether regions. For Muslims, toilet paper alone doesn't cut it. Our tech predates it. The vessel can look any number of ways.
If you are using the bidet properly, and if your bidet is of high quality, you should not have to use toilet paper to wipe yourself clean. A high-quality bidet will clean your backside more thoroughly than any amount of wiping. However, you may want to use a small amount of toilet paper to dry yourself.
Bidet showers are used by Muslims in Muslim countries and all parts of the Arab world as well as in Asia in order to cleanse themselves with water after using the toilet. Here, water is commonly used instead of, or together with, toilet paper for cleaning after defecation.
It's clear that the widespread use of bidets in many countries has its advantages. The lack of popularity in the UK and US likely has to do with a combination of factors: unfamiliarity, lack of space, cost, and more.
1. Hygiene. The top reason for investing in a bidet is that they are more hygienic than paper. If your hands get dirty, you wash them with soap and water and wouldn't dream of rubbing them with some soft paper to get the dirt off.
Conclusion: Warm-water nozzles of bidet toilets are contaminated with a wide range of bacteria, making them a potential vehicle for cross-infection.
Keeping the bidet clean and properly maintained is key.” Based on the limited research regarding bidets, it's generally considered safe and effective as a hygiene aid. It's important to follow usage instructions, though, particularly with jet stream pressure and water temperature.
However, excessive bidet use potentially causes anal pruritus and anal incontinence (AI). Physicians are advised to instruct patients with anal pruritus to avoid excessive cleaning of the anus and those with AI to discontinue bidet use.
During World War II, the Times notes, American soldiers saw bidets in European brothels, "perpetuating the idea that bidets were somehow associated with immorality." Another issue is bathroom size. Most bathrooms in the U.S. aren't big enough for an extra appliance.
Toilet paper is used in Japan, even by those who own toilets with bidets and washlet functions (see below). In Japan, toilet paper is thrown directly into the toilet after use. However, please be sure to put just the toilet paper provided in the toilet.
As far as historians can tell, the bidet is a French invention. Spearheaded by French furniture makers around the late 17th century, the bidet is a grown-up version of the chamber pot or bourdaloue, which was a small, portable chamber pot classy ladies would take along with them on extended trips.
Bidets are in fact a legal building requirement in Italy and they have been so for nearly 50 years now. Article 7 of a Ministerial Decree issued on July 5th, 1975 states that “in each house, at least one bathroom must have the following fixtures: a toilet, a bidet, a bathtub or shower, and a sink”.