As longtime Pingers – all 4 of you – may know, Ryan and I have more than a small fascination with toilets. It’s not just a matter of the miracle of the plumbing or how they work or what-have-you: it’s about the experience.
Many years ago I had my first encounter with a bidet at a hotel. After the initial usual American confusion (“WHY TWO TOILETS? HA, TOILET TWO IS TINY!”) I put two and two together and found the bidet to be a truly lovely experience. I vowed then and there, much to the chagrin of my wife, that once we got a house, I was damn sure going to install a bidet.
We got our first house over a decade ago and while I had plans for a bidet in the basement bathroom, it never happened. (Plus, said basement bathroom was prone to light flooding, and who wants that?) Once we got our current house a little over three years ago, the bidet plans came back to life.
Bidet technology has improved a lot since then and while I’d love to get a super deluxe model that dries and deodorizes one’s bottom while on a heated seat, I added a simple “Let’s see if this works for me” model to my wishlist back in 2018. And, as a half-joking gift, I got one for Christmas in 2018.
A year later, I wanted to provide a very necessary report on things. Overall, life with a bidet is good. The Luxe Bidet model I have is, uh, not very luxe but is innocuous enough to blend in with the toilet in our master bathroom and not be a weird “WHAT IS THAT” setup. And for people who don’t want to use the bidet, it’s easily ignored.
That said, a few points.
First, the water temperature isn’t a concern. I was very worried about not having a heater element – this model uses straight-up cold water from the line – but those worries soon subsided. It’s not a thing.
Second, cleanliness is up. Obviously. I use a few sheets of TP to pat dry when done, but otherwise, it’s pretty simple. (This has had the fortunate side effect of reducing our overall TP usage.)
Lastly, it’s just an enjoyable experience. I’m now at the point in my bidet journey where not using one feels antiquated and weird.
I feel the same way about bidets that I felt about TiVo 20 years ago. It’s something that is fantastic, revolutionary, better, and everyone should have it.
Posted in Toilets
