Four and a half years after the COVID lockdown turned toilet paper into a precious commodity, a strike by longshoremen in October 2024 fueled another wave of panic buying and shortages. I observe such events with bemusement because, after outfitting my toilet with an inexpensive bidet, a single roll of toilet paper lasts for months in my bathroom. In fact, if it weren’t for the bidet-averse squeamishness of visitors, it would last for years.
Why are people around here (in California) so reluctant to use a bidet? It could be the fear of cold water, but I think it’s just habit. I lived in Japan for 10 years, and the people there have no such reluctance. One reason for this might be that Japanese bidets (they call them washlets) can deliver pre-heated water sometimes accompanied by a soothing blast of drying air, a puff of deodorant and even a chirpy little tune to mask those troublesome bathroom noises. That sounds so good that you’d expect to find a washlet in every Japanese bathroom, but you don’t. Many people there, like everywhere else, are addicted to toilet paper.
Today, toilet paper can be found in bathrooms all over the world, but people in many countries have been doing fine without it for millennia. I first learned to wash while living in India, and once, in a restroom in Thailand, I saw a poster extolling the virtues of washingin English and directed at Western tourists.
Installing an inexpensive bidet has become so easy that now might be a good time to try one out if you haven’t already. It’s convenient and soothingeven if the water is a little colder than you’d likeand it’s more sanitary than wiping.
Save the panic buying for something important.
To Wash or to Wipe?
The use of toilet paper dates back to the Zhou Dynasty in China (618-907 AD), and it replaced such practices as cleaning up with natural materials, such as leaves or stones, man-made materials like cloth or sticks or as the Romans used to do mounting a sponge on a stick and dousing it in water. All these wiping techniques were developed because water wasn’t always readily available, and toilet paper was definitely an improvement. But is it better than washing with water?
No, says a paper published by the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research, and here are some of the reasons:
- Wiping always leaves residue, no matter how thorough you are. Washing, if done properly, leaves no residue.
- Cleaning the hands after wiping is a strict necessity, but many people don’t do it, creating the risk of spreading disease. You also have to clean your hands if you use them while washing, but if you wash with a bidet, your hands remain uncontaminated.
- Wiping can cause injuries, including hemorrhoids. This can be avoided by wiping with wet paper, but who’s going to do that?
The Development of the Bidet
Washing has always been common in India and Pakistan, but one reason the practice didn’t become more widespread was that it involved direct contact with the hands. A bidet eliminates that issue because no hand contact is required. A stream of water does all the work, and all the user has to do to control the stream is turn a dial or press a button. But bidets haven’t always been that simple to use.
As you’ve probably guessed, the bidet is a French invention. The first one appeared in the 17th centurybefore the invention of toilet paperand until the mid-20th century, it was a separate toilet-shaped unit detached from the main toilet. You had to move from the toilet to the bidet to do your cleaning.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that Japanese manufacturer Toto began marketing bidet-style toilet seats (coining the name “washlet”), and they didn’t make it to the United States until the 1990s. Washlets were revolutionary because they eliminated both the need for direct hand contact and the need to move to a separate fixture. But they also weren’t widely available, and purchasing one was as expensive as buying a new toilet. Luckily, bidet development didn’t stop there.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when sanitation and hygiene became crucial issues, a number of manufacturers introduced simple bidets that homeowners could attach to their existing toilets. They are inexpensive, easy to install and easy to use.
Environmental Benefits
According to various sources, 27,000 trees are cut daily to make toilet paper. That amounts to almost 10 million trees a year. That has prompted the National Resources Defense Council to lament that toilet paper production is helping to fuel the climate crisis. What can one person do about this situation? Install a bidet!
Of course, water conservation is an equally important environmental concern, but a single use of a bidet consumes only about one cup (or less). If you have a low-flush toilet (1.6 gallons per flush), using a bidet for a week amounts to about one extra flush. Unless you live in a water-scarce area, that’s a decent tradeoff.
Brands to Consider
When it comes to washlets, Toto is the clear market leader, but because they are complete toilet seats, washlets don’t fit every toilet. Plus, because they pre-heat water and provide other conveniences, most washlets need to be plugged in, and not every bathroom has a receptacle accessible from the toilet. Several manufacturers offer much simpler bidet attachments that don’t need external power.
Tushy
The Tushy Classic 3.0 ($100 – $130) features a self-cleaning sprayer with an adjustable knob that controls pressure and angle. I installed one of these at a friend’s house and was impressed at the high-pressure spray and overall elegance of the design.
Brondell
The Brondell Fresh Spa ($28) is the model I installed on my own toilet. It features the same control knob and the same functions as the Tushy, and it’s way cheaper. It doesn’t develop the same high pressure, but it does the job, and I’m happy with it.
Brondell also manufactures the Omigo Element + ($40), which provides heated water. This one isn’t for every bathroom because it needs a hot water connection from the sink, which may not be in a convenient location.
Luxe
The Luxe Neo 120 ($39) costs a little more than the Brondell Fresh Spa, but for the extra money, you get two control knobs, one that controls pressure and one that controls direction. The direction knob is a feature I wish I had, as I find myself having to move around on the seat to get a complete cleaning.
Installation Is Ridiculously Easy
A new bidet attachment comes with a tee that allows you to connect it to the toilet supply line. Here’s the 10-minute installation procedure in a nutshell:
Start by removing the toilet seat, setting the bidet in place on the bowl and replacing the seat. The seat bolts hold both the seat and the bidet in place. Next, screw the tee onto the shutoff valve after draining the toilet and unscrewing the toilet supply line. You then screw the supply line onto one of the tee outlets. The other outlet is for the supply hose for the bidet, which comes as part of the package. That hose connects to the tee on one end and the bidet on the other. That’s it! After you tighten all the connections with a wrench and turn the water back on, your bidet is ready to use.
There’s one slight complication. Most health authorities require a check valve to prevent contaminated water from siphoning back through the bidet outlet and into the water supply in the event of a toilet backup. Many models come with an anti-siphon valve pre-installed to satisfy this requirement. If you choose a model that doesn’t, you may need a plumber to help you determine the best way to handle your installation.
Sources
- The Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research: The Butt, To Wipe or Not to Wipe?; 2019.
- Bidet King: A Brief History of Bidets; 2023.
- Natural Resources Defense Council: Toilet Paper Is Driving the Climate Crisis with Every Flush; 2020.
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