By Mashum Mollah
Bidets are commonly used in bathrooms around the world, but in the United States and a few other countries, they’ve failed to catch on – in part due to lingering misconceptions about how bidets work.
The reality is, bidets are inexpensive to purchase, easy to install, and they come with a host of benefits for users, so there’s no reason not to try them.
That said, let’s explore some of the most common misconceptions about bidets – and how people can get these pieces of bathroom equipment so wrong.
The Biggest Misconceptions About Bidets
These are some of the biggest remaining misconceptions about bidets:
Bidets are expensive
If you want a top-of-the-line, super bidet that stands alone and offers a solid gold seat, then yes, bidets are going to seem expensive. But modern bidets offer a wide range of options, many of which are perfectly affordable. You can find a comfortable bidet that attaches to your existing toilet for just a few hundred dollars – and if you want extra features like heated seats and remote controls, you won’t have to pay much more.
They take up too much room
If you have a small or cramped bathroom, you might be stuck wondering where you’d fit a bidet. But like we mentioned in our previous point, modern bidets can be attached to your existing toilet – no extra space is necessary.
Also Read: Our guide on avoiding mistakes while installing bathroom showers.
They’re hard to install
It’s easy to imagine the experience of installing a bidet to be messy, disruptive, and time-consuming. After all, you might need to tear up the floor, install new plumbing, redesign your space, and attach the unit. But for most people and most bathrooms, there’s no need to go through these steps. Instead, you can make use of the plumbing – and the toilet – that you already have in place. Most people can install bidet toilet seats in a matter of minutes, with no previous experience or plumbing expertise; they’re that simple.
Bidets just make a mess
If you’ve never used a bidet, you might believe them to be a messy experience. Using your imagination, you might picture an inaccurate, unfocused burst of water splashing your backside, ultimately getting water all over yourself and all over your surroundings.
But messes are a rare experience with a bidet; modern bidets offer users the option to control the position and pressure provided by the water, so you don’t have to worry about making a mess.
They’re unsanitary
If you’ve used toilet paper your whole life, you might believe that bidets are an unsanitary option. However, this simply isn’t true. In fact, bidets are much cleaner and much healthier than toilet paper. Toilet paper tends to simply smear residue around, while a jet of water from a bidet can actually remove it. Think about it this way; washing your hands makes them feel much cleaner than simply wiping them with a napkin or paper towel, right?
Bidets waste water
Some people raise concerns about using bidets because they don’t like the idea of wasting water. But there are several things wrong with this sentiment. First, bidets don’t use that much water; they’re inexpensive and highly efficient. Second, bidets work to (mostly) replace the use of toilet paper, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars per year and reducing your environmental impact in the process.
They’re useless without soap
Soap and water are both required to clean the rest of your body, so don’t bidets need soap to work properly? The short answer is no. Warm water, without soap, is the recommended way to clean yourself after using the bathroom.
Bidets are for women
There’s also a lingering misconception that bidets are mostly for women, or even exclusively for women. But while there are some unique advantages that women can enjoy, the central bidet experience is androgynous – and men can enjoy the benefits just as much as their female counterparts.
Also Read: Importance of Bathroom what we think of.
Are Bidets Uncomfortable?
There’s one additional lingering sentiment about bidets that isn’t quite true. Most people who have never used a bidet imagine that bidets are uncomfortable to use. And intuitively, this makes sense; most of us don’t like the idea of a cold blast of water on sensitive parts of our bodies. This didn’t make the list of “misconceptions” because for some people, it’s true – there’s no denying that some people will be uncomfortable using a bidet, at least at first.
However, most people who use a bidet and get over their initial discomfort end up finding the experience much more pleasant. The jet of water provided by a bidet is typically neither cold nor harsh and since it provides a much better, more refreshing clean, you end up much more comfortable than you could have gotten with toilet paper alone.
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