Everything You Wanted to Know About Bidets

Bidets are in the news now because of pandemic toilet paper hoarding. Still, I recommend bidet toilet seats because they are more environmentally sound, sanitary, and easier on your tushie than using toilet paper. There are toilet paper historians that can trace the timeline from leaves to paper rolls, but all you might want to know right now is a bidet right for you?

How is rinsing with water better than paper?

According to Dr. H. Randolph Bailey, a colorectal surgeon at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School in Houston, you’re never going to get as clean wiping with paper as you will washing with water. Cleanliness matters since you can get seriously ill from diseases transmitted via feces. Cholera, hepatitis, and E. coli and urinary tract infections are prime examples.

What about wipes?

Wipes can contain irritating chemicals or fragrances, and they also clog residential plumbing and wreak havoc with city infrastructure.

But don’t I need toilet paper to dry off?

Bidets also have a drying function.

What is the environmental cost of toilet paper?

According to Ecowatch, Canada’s boreal forest (the largest intact forest in the world) is a significant source of northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp, the U.S.’s most favored grade of virgin softwood pulp for tissue products made by major brands like Charmin. This forest is critical in the fight against climate change, storing the carbon equivalent of nearly twice the world’s recoverable oil reserves in its soil.

But isn’t toilet paper made from sawdust, a by-product of lumber mills?

It is if it’s recycled, but according to Procter & Gamble, “by using virgin fiber from responsibly managed forests, our products are more absorbent so that consumers can do more with less waste. Paper products made from recycled materials are less soft, less absorbent, and lack the strength that products manufactured from virgin fibers can provide.”

Don’t bidets use a lot more water than regular toilets?

A bidet function uses about a 1/8th of a gallon of water on top of the 4 gallons per flush of a typical toilet. Americans use 36.5 billion rolls of toilet paper a year, and it takes 473,587,500,000 gallons of water to produce all that paper and 253,000 tons of chlorine for bleaching, according to Scientific American. Manufacturing t.p. requires about 17.3 terawatts of electricity annually, and there are significant amounts of energy and materials used in packaging and transportation to retail outlets.

Are there other environmental advantages to bidets?

Toto’s bidets use EWATER (electrolyzed tap water) to clean the wands and toilet, eliminating chemical cleaners flushed down the drain. EWATER returns to ordinary water over time.

If bidets are so great, why aren’t they as common in the U.S. as they are in Europe and Japan?

Probably because of prudishness. In American minds, bidets became associated with European hedonism during WWII. It was an American, Arnold Cohen, who invented the bidet toilet seat with a rear wash function in the 1960s, but the U.S. wasn’t ready. A Japanese company licensed Cohen’s design, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that sales took off in Japan (now 80% of homes have them) perhaps due to a marketing campaign featuring a pop-singer trying to get paint off her hand only using paper.

Popstar Jun Togawa popularized bidets in Japan in Toto toilet commercials

But I don’t have room in my bathroom for another plumbing fixture!

It’s possible to add a bidet seat like Toto’s Washlet to an existing toilet.

How do I add a bidet seat to my toilet?

For most, you’ll most likely need an electrician to add a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlet near the toilet. You’d need a plumber to install a new toilet, but most people can install a bidet seat.

How much does a bidet seat cost?

Depending on the functions you want, a bidet seat can run from $1,000 and up for a heated seat, deodorizing, and warm air (even music) to $60 for a Blue Bidet that uses water and no air-drying mechanism. Most seats cost around $500 (not including installing an electrical outlet), and since most Americans use 50 pounds of toilet paper per year at $2.50 per pound and a cost of $125 a year. If you’re a couple using one seat, the payback period could be two years.

What do you recommend?

Toto’s Washlet is a good choice. It has a front and rear cleanse as well as a warm air dryer. If you don’t have a Toto toilet, they have a guide that tells you what other manufacturer’s toilets a Washlet can fit.

Toto’s Washlet bidet seat

The DVX AT100 (a division of American Standard) is another a good option. It has the same features as the Washlet and also requires an outlet nearby. The list price for the AT100 is $1,025.

The DVX AT100

For the ultimate hygienic bathroom, experience buy an auto-flush toilet with a bidet seat, and you don’t have to touch anything (but still wash your hands). Toto’s G400 is a great choice but at a high price: over $3,000 list.

Toto’s G400 integrated bidet and toilet with auto-open and close

Is there an easier to install, less expensive option?

For less than $100, Tushy makes a bidet attachment that does not need an electrical outlet. It hooks up to the existing clean water line into your toilet and uses water pressure to clean. It is doesn’t have all of the functions of more expensive bidet seats like dual wands and air dry, but it gets rave reviews.

The Tushy is economical, easy to install and does not need an outlet

Can I try before I buy it?

Seattle has plumbing showrooms that let you discretely experience bidet options. Best Plumbing and Seattle Interiors have Toto models installed, and Ferguson carries American Standard’s DVX. If you’re interested in visiting, please contact them first.

If you have any more questions (including what is the original meaning of bidet in French?), please email me or give me a call.