3 ms·

> It works no differently for poop or spilled gravy. Let's assume you have poop on your hands, would you clean yourself with paper?

ajross 9y ago
(First off, let me just say how hilarious it is that no less than two people are actually downvoting me over a bidet comment. I eagerly await more.) If I had to, sure. You realize people did this successfully for like... always, right? Sure, detergent and water and abrasion works better, but bidets don't provide two of those three elements. What you're really wanting to compare is getting shit (just call it shit, OK?) off your hands with only toilet paper or only water, I guess. And if I was really forced to make that choice... honestly, I'd want to see numbers. Toilet paper will 100% absolutely get things visually cleaner than mere washing at household faucet flow rates. Go try it sometime.
- balnaphone 9y ago
  Water from a properly-functioning bidet certainly does provide water and water abrasion, since the pressure is far higher than an open pipe. In fact, if a bidet is activated full-blast without someone on it, it will typically reach the ceiling. Furthermore, almost all detergents will damage the anus, so that is not something desirable for this application; even those detergents that work for some people will cause excessive dryness of the skin for others. If one is willing to use their hand to provide abrasion, merely poured water enables far superior waste removal than toilet paper. This can easily be tested by using swabs and agar plates, which I did in my childhood to my own satisfaction; I'd be surprised if peer-reviewed experiments haven't yet confirmed this, but I haven't looked for them either.
  - MarkMc 9y ago
    > If one is willing to use their hand to provide abrasion, merely poured water enables far superior waste removal than toilet paper. Trouble is, you then have excrement on your hand. So perhaps there is a trade off between having a clean butthole and a clean hand? Another benefit of toilet paper is immediate feedback - you can wipe and inspect the paper, then repeat with clean paper until you are satisfied with the result. With poured water, how do you know when you are 'done'?

ajross 9y ago

(First off, let me just say how hilarious it is that no less than two people are actually downvoting me over a bidet comment. I eagerly await more.) If I had to, sure. You realize people did this successfully for like... always, right? Sure, detergent and water and abrasion works better, but bidets don't provide two of those three elements. What you're really wanting to compare is getting shit (just call it shit, OK?) off your hands with only toilet paper or only water, I guess. And if I was really forced to make that choice... honestly, I'd want to see numbers. Toilet paper will 100% absolutely get things visually cleaner than mere washing at household faucet flow rates. Go try it sometime.

balnaphone 9y ago
Water from a properly-functioning bidet certainly does provide water and water abrasion, since the pressure is far higher than an open pipe. In fact, if a bidet is activated full-blast without someone on it, it will typically reach the ceiling. Furthermore, almost all detergents will damage the anus, so that is not something desirable for this application; even those detergents that work for some people will cause excessive dryness of the skin for others. If one is willing to use their hand to provide abrasion, merely poured water enables far superior waste removal than toilet paper. This can easily be tested by using swabs and agar plates, which I did in my childhood to my own satisfaction; I'd be surprised if peer-reviewed experiments haven't yet confirmed this, but I haven't looked for them either.
- MarkMc 9y ago
  > If one is willing to use their hand to provide abrasion, merely poured water enables far superior waste removal than toilet paper. Trouble is, you then have excrement on your hand. So perhaps there is a trade off between having a clean butthole and a clean hand? Another benefit of toilet paper is immediate feedback - you can wipe and inspect the paper, then repeat with clean paper until you are satisfied with the result. With poured water, how do you know when you are 'done'?