An Ode to the Bidet

When you travel to new countries you expect to try new foods, get lost in the winding alleyways of historic villages, and maybe even have a misunderstanding or two when trying to communicate in a foreign language.

One expects to be challenged, that’s the fun of it.

But you don’t expect to be challenged by humankind’s most basic need.

Two round tables at a sidewalk cafe by a glass divider with a WC sign

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I asked for directions to the toilet of a restaurant in Istanbul, then climbed up an impossibly narrow staircase to the third floor that housed only one tiny room: the restroom.

I didn’t find the toilet I expected, but rather a porcelain hole in the floor.

I vividly remember turning tail and going back down the stairs, only to pause, because well, nature called.

I turned and went back up, then paused again and went back down.

That went on for a while before I finally sucked it up.

And it was fine.

My point of this embarrassing, overly informative story is that going to the bathroom may be a universal experience, but it’s not exactly universal.

There are so many ways to go about it, and everyone’s thoroughly grossed out by everyone else’s way.

There are holes in the ground, squat toilets, bidets, tabos in the Philippines, toilets in Japan that are more high tech than a smartphone, and, of course, there’s toilet paper.

But when the pandemic recently caused nationwide toilet paper shortages, the entire population of the United States was forced to consider alternatives (or get into fistfights over TP in embarrassing viral videos).

I present to you, the bidet.

Despite living in a predominantly bidet nation for over a decade, I remained resistant to the idea until very recently.

I was stubborn. I’d cleaned myself just fine for 35 years, why change things up now?!

Then I had a baby, and other mothers will understand what I mean when I say it was time to change things up (even if temporarily).

So as America fought over the last roll of Charmin, I also said goodbye to TP and finally tried the bidet.

Y’all.

The heavens opened, beams of light poured from the sky and the angels sang.

It’s so much better! Everyone was right.

A toilet and a bidet in a bathroom with yellow wallpaper

I had this conversation with a childhood friend who was visiting Buenos Aires once.

He made the compelling argument that if for some ungodly reason you had poo smeared on your arm, would you simply wipe it off with a piece of paper or would you wash it off. I think you’d wash it off.

Other friends couldn’t believe I waited this long, lamenting about how their bidets were what they missed most about Argentina.

Well, as the cliche goes, better late than never. I’m a total convert.

Now, when I walk into the bathroom in a nice restaurant in the US and don’t see a bidet…

I’ll turn tail and walk back down the stairs, then back up… pause, and repeat until I finally suck it up.

Bidet Attachments

In Argentina, Europe, and elsewhere the bidet is a separate, stand alone fixture.

No matter how tiny the apartment may be, room is always allocated for the bidet.

But despite having an abundance of room in American homes, none is saved for a bidet!

Never fear, there are cheap and easy-to-install attachments that convert your toilet into a bidet.

And hell, it’s probably easier because you’re saved the awkward toilet to bidet shuffle. All business can be conducted in one place.

To convert your toilet into a bidet for under $100, get this bidet attachment. It has nearly 30,000 positive reviews!

Update: When I first wrote this post it had 10k positive reviews, today there are nearly 90k! That is a lot of new bidet users!!! Join the club here.

LUXE Bidet NEO 120 - Self-Cleaning Nozzle, Fresh Water Non-Electric Bidet Attachment for Toilet Seat, Adjustable Water Pressure, Rear Wash (Blue)

It’s easy to install and functions just like any stand alone bidet would, basically hands free.

Want a little more control over the situation?

Try this hand-held sprayer (basically like the one in your shower or kitchen sink).

Alternatively and even better, free, if you already have a shower head like that and your toilet is near enough to the shower… then problem solved.

What shortage?

If you’re not already ordering your very own bidet attachment (and if you’re not, why not?!), then I hope you’ll at least brave trying it on your next European or Argentine vacation.

Try new things, experience new cultures…in every possible way.

I hope I’ve convinced you and next time the world melts down and there is a run on the supermarkets, you and I will be sitting peacefully at home with our bidets.

7 thoughts on “An Ode to the Bidet”

  1. I have to smile at this topic because it’s a discussion we Europeans have between each other too. See, the bidet was invented by the French but its use dropped in France in the 1970’s (whatever Wikipedia.en may say). Nowadays, very few people use it there. On the other hand, it’s an essential fixture in Italian homes (which might well be the reason for its usage in Argentina) and in Portugal. I haven’t seen it often in Spanish households.

  2. The bidet is so polarizing! Hahah, I agree it must have arrived in Argentina with the Italians (like so much of the culture here).
    That’s interesting about France, I had no idea bidet use had dropped off there!

  3. It is very used and common in Spain! The northen of Europe don`t know it. Most of all the arabic countrys use water afterwoods, even in the public toilets. They don´t use bidet they have a waterhose hanging at the wall. I love the bidet culter and have never understood how people use paper instate of washing. And when traveling i use liniment oleo calcaire is an old farmacy recipe from france, allways have with me.

  4. The thing I don’t like about bidets is that I hate having a wet undercarriage, front or back. At least the Japanese ones have a blow dryer to look after that.

  5. I am a convert to what I call the Asian Bum Gun! Originally from London and after travelling all over SE Asia, I now have a Bum Gun installed at home in UK and its brilliant. Conversations at parties go along the “smearing” lines you mention above and I laugh at most responses but I would not be without it.
    Clean as a whistle as we say around these parts!!!

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