A handheld bidet, also called a bidet shower or bidet sprayer, is a nozzle that stays attached to the toilet. This type of bidet is manually placed near your private area to clean your genitals and anus after using the toilet, sexual intercourse, or for freshening up.
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. If your model has an air-dry feature, you may not have to use toilet paper at all. Check out some of our air-dry bidets.
Just like a shower to wash away sweat after a workout or a thorough hand-washing after working on a project, all bidets use the power of water to clean off your skin simply and effectively. Bidet attachments and bidet toilet seats might be the way of the future, but the power of water is as old as time.
Let the water do the work and wash your rear free of every schmear. Spray away for 30-60 seconds.
Potential scalding. It's also important to pay attention to your bidet's water pressure and temperature: If either is too high, you could experience scalding or otherwise agitate your bottom.
This should correct the problem, but most people will not have to worry about this, and will experience a full clean in about 30 seconds. A few people will get a full clean in less time than that.
When you first use a bidet, clean off with toilet paper first before attempting the bidet spray. You don't need to use soap to use a bidet. Some people do use the bidet like a mini-shower after a bowel movement, sexual intercourse, or for freshening up, but it isn't a requirement.
Bidets are gentler and more hygienic than toilet paper, which just smears around your poo. Bidets spray a small stream of water onto your butthole, rinsing off leftover fecal matter.
Of course, if you use a bidet that has any type of bacteria in the nozzle, it's not a guarantee that you'll develop an infection or a virus. However, it is possible. Bidet use may pose a particular health concern for people with vaginas.
Position Yourself at the Bidet
Position yourself to use the bidet by straddling the bowl. It's acceptable to sit on the rim of the bowl, but many users will squat or “hover” over the bidet.
Well, bathrooms in the US aren't really built for bidets. There's no space or additional plumbing setup for bidet fixtures. But the biggest reason it hasn't caught on comes down to habit. Most Americans grew up using toilet paper.
They make all the sense in the world - the bidet shooting a stream of water at our private bits to wash them after we relieve ourselves. But, like in the US and UK, bidets aren't commonly used here in Australia. We've never developed a culture of using them, instead opting for multi-ply toilet paper instead.
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.
Instead of excretions making the plunge straight into the water, this toilet has a prominent shelf midway to catch everything. The natural question is why, oh why!, would Germans create this? And Germans have a practical, disgusting answer. I m told that the shelf is indeed to catch one's leavings for examination.
Position yourself onto the bidet by either sitting on the rim or squatting over it. (Unlike toilets, freestanding bidets do not have a seat you sit on.) Depending on which area you need cleaned, select the setting or mode that will get the job done. To clean after urinating, select our feminine wash setting.
Pat dry with toilet paper
One way to get dry after using a bidet is with toilet paper. Since you're already clean from your bidet, you won't need much toilet paper to do so–just enough to remove any excess water. Use a gentle pat-dry motion instead of a wipe to avoid any irritation. That's all there is to it.
A case of rectal mucosal prolapse syndrome due to bidet overuse has been reported previously. There was an increased incidence of hemorrhoids and pruritus ani (intense itching affecting the anorectal area) associated with habitual users of bidets.
Loo. Despite being a very British word for toilet, 'loo' is actually derived from the French phrase 'guardez l'eau', which means 'watch out for the water'.
Ghost flushing, also known as phantom flushing, occurs when the toilet tank flapper is no longer creating a watertight seal with the flush valve, causing water to unnecessarily leak into the toilet bowl.
Well, we can thank the Germans. The purpose of the shelf is inspection. You're meant to look at the consistency, shape, color, abnormalities, etc. before flushing, and then hope that the rush of water cleans the shelf enough – otherwise, that's what the brush is for.
For anal cleaning, many Muslims keep a small vessel of water in their bathrooms, called a lota in South Asia. Alternatively, bidet spray nozzles and hoses are attached to the sides of the commodes. The lota, according to Islamic rules, is held with the right hand, while the left helps pass water over the anus.
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.
Before that, they used whatever was handy -- sticks, leaves, corn cobs, bits of cloth, their hands. Toilet paper more or less as we know it today is a product of Victorian times; it was first issued in boxes (the way facial tissue is today) and somewhat later on the familiar rolls.
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.
Bidets keep you and your hands cleaner
Washing your butt with water helps remove more fecal bacteria, potentially preventing you from spreading bacteria from your hands to your surroundings… or to other people.