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!
if you have to wipe with toilet paper anyway, doesn't that defeat the purpose of having a bidet?
Actually I'm a lemmy user, I use Arch btw, live in my mom's basement, I've never been on a date and I never go outside. Of course I've never used water to bathe before.
if you have to wipe with toilet paper anyway, doesn't that defeat the purpose of having a bidet?
No. The purpose of the bidet is to properly clean your posterior which cannot be achieved with toilet paper alone. Also the amount of toilet paper needed to dry is lower than the amount needed to 'clean'
No such thing as a flushable wipes. It's just defective marketing. Plus there is no need to use one after the bidet. Toilet paper is perfectly fine to dry.
yeah they definitely need to improve degradation time, but there absolutely is reason to use them instead of TP.
I don't use all the time but tried them during recovery based on the recommendation of the surgeon that removed my hemorrhoids.
significantly easier on the healing bum than tp was, bidet gets most of it but you're not 100% clean every time.
(I don't think I've ever not had to wipe a time or two even after lots of movement and higher pressure on bidet. wipes clean better than tp, and bidet just doesn't get everything unless you're one of those lucky people that wouldn't use much tp anyway)
I'm not saying they aren't better, what I'm saying is they aren't flushable. If they don't clog up your system, they fuck up your septic tank, or the city system.
If you have legitimate medical reason to use them, knock yourself out, but otherwise they should be avoided. And stop calling them flushable because they aren't. They're just wipes.
if you have to wipe with toilet paper anyway, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of having a bidet?
The purpose of a bidet isn't necessarily to make toilet paper unnecessary, it's to clean properly. Before getting a bidet I would just step into the shower and use the removable shower head to wash my ass with a little soap and warm water, towel off after, bam super clean. I still do that, but now the bidet can save a step if I'm in a hurry.
Basically, try this experiment. (Quoted from some comedian) Smear some poop on the back of your hand. Then wipe it with dry paper and nothing else. Do you feel clean? Ready to go through the day? Of course not! You want to actually wash that off, and that's the pleasant feeling from using a stream of water to feel thoroughly clean, not just removing residue but getting up in there into the outer wrinkles of the butthole, reduces the chance of getting the itchies later.
(This is particularly of consequence if there is ANY chance whatsoever of ending up naked with another person. You might not notice it, but other people would get hit with a musk the moment your underwear drops, and not the nice kind.)
Why are people so confounded by these things? Have y’all never used water to bathe before?
I feel like some people were never given actual hygiene instructions from their parents growing up. I can only imagine the way some people are so hung up on genitals and waste products that they can't even think about it, those kinds of people going on to have kids... do we really think they're going to pass on useful information on self-care?
And it's not like there's tons of social messaging and helpful guides all over the place on proper bathroom habits, it's purely a passed-down skillset.
Every time this comes up on reddit, there are a lot of people sharing stories about knowing men who literally don't wipe their own ass or touch it while showering and just constantly walk around with shit all over their ass. I used to think it was a meme, but then met people in real life who also had encounters with men who thought touching their own ass would "make them gay."
So yah, people getting anxious about using a bidet? That tracks. I think a lot of people are at very least, just anxious because they've never really been shown anything and might be doubting their own habits. Basically the bathroom and poop and related topics are just this mysterious realm that nobody talks about. Insecurity over our most intimate and private acts is a tradition as old as time itself.