What is a Bidet and How Do You Use Them
A bidet is a piece of toilet furniture which is used to clean your body parts after being at the toilet.
06/05/2019
Bidets are more common in some countries than in others and for those who have never used a bidet or had experience of them, it can be a bit of a strange experience to begin with. The bidet would appear to have made its first entrance around the late 17th century although its origin is unclear. Put simply, a bidet is a piece of toilet furniture which is used to clean your body parts after being at the toilet. The running water from the bidet replaces the toilet paper and in that way for countries who find it difficult to dispose of toilet paper through their plumbing systems, it can be a very useful piece of equipment, saving the less than hygienic practice of leaving old toilet paper lying in buckets around the toilet. Many find using a bidet to be a much more hygienic practice.
So, how do we use a bidet?
Once you have used the toilet, you can either choose to use the bidet straightaway or you can use toilet paper first, it is a matter of preference and different people will do it differently. Probably the most commonly encountered bidets are the stand alone bidets which, as the name suggests are a low structure with taps, located close to where the toilet is. If there is not space for a stand alone bidet, a toilet can be fitted with a built in bidet. A hand held bidet is another option, it is a spray which is attached to the wall on a flexible hose which can be taken and used in the desired position.
If you are using a stand alone bidet, you would normally straddle yourself across the bidet, you would need to remove any restrictive clothing. It would be your preference as to whether to sit facing the controls or to sit away from them and with practice, you will come up with your optimal positioning on the bidet. You would set the water to come on at your desired temperature, taking care not to burn yourself. You can sit on the bidet, it will support your weight.
A built in bidet is activated after you have been to the toilet by using the control panel supplied. A stream of water will be activated and it is positioned so as to clean you.
Some bidets come with a built in dryer and some do not. If there is no dryer, you would use toilet paper for the purpose of drying yourself off.
When you have finished your cleaning process, it is a matter of courtesy towards the next user for you to clean the bidet, leaving no trace of your use. People who regularly use bidets do that as a matter of course and if you look at the bidets you will generally find that they are all very clean.
To finish the process, you would then wash your hands.
Bidets are not intended to be used as a toilet, they are only for cleaning after having been to the toilet.