Top 5 Reasons to Use a Bidet
Bidets have traditionally been more popular in continental Europe than the UK and USA, but that is changing as people are coming to realize why using a bidet is such a good idea. So here, in no particular order, are our top 5 reasons you should be using a bidet.
1. Personal cleanliness
Whichever type of bidet you plan on using, be it the traditional toilet-style ceramic type, an electric toilet seat bidet, or a manual hand-held bidet sprayer; one of the main reasons people use them is personal hygiene.
Using a jet or spray of water to clean your nether regions after you do your bathroom business is simply cleaner than trying to wipe away any remnants with toilet paper. This is particularly true if you are suffering from diarrhea or have looser stools for whatever reason. Whilst toilet paper on its own obviously cleans you to some extent, actually washing your rear is bound to be more efficient.
2. Bidets can save you money
Considering it’s something you literally flush away, toilet paper can be an expensive household item. Economy toilet paper is not pleasant to use, and the paper can be so thin that you need so many sheets per bathroom visit that you wipe out (pun intended) any cost savings. The median price of a reasonable quality toilet roll in the USA is about 90 cents, and an average-sized household will go through several per week. In fact, the average American gets through around 141 rolls of toilet paper per year.
While you will still want to have some toilet paper on hand if you have a bidet – for example for drying off if you don’t have a bidet with a drying attachment – you’ll be using considerably less. You can start seeing savings in your household budget quite quickly if you switch to a simple handheld spray bidet.
3. Help save the environment
Toilet paper is obviously a single-use item and its manufacture is unequivocally bad for the environment. Trees from old growth forests are often used in its production and the process itself requires large amounts of energy and water to create the pulp. Chlorine is usually used to bleach the pulp and other chemicals, for example dyes, may also be used.
Once you add to this the cost of transportation, the plastic packaging, and the addition of used paper to the sewerage system, it’s easy to see that cutting down on the use of toilet paper can have a big impact on the environment.
4. Comfort
If you are one of the millions of people who suffer from hemorrhoids or other similar issues, using a bidet to spray that area with water rather than repeatedly wiping it, is a lot less uncomfortable. Menstruating women report that using a bidet leaves them feeling clean and fresh.
5. Bidets are easy to install
Some people may be put off buying a bidet because they think they require specialist know-how to install. While this may have been true for the traditional ceramic bidet, modern versions can be installed in a few minutes by simply attaching them to the water inlet behind the toilet using the provided adapters. No plumbing skills necessary.
