Holy CRAP...where has this been my entire life?

Shawn

Shawn

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Excuse my potty mouth but Americans need to get off the pot and get on board with Bidets...

Went to my folks house over the holidays for a week and they had installed bidet toilet seats in all the bathrooms...I had always been leery cuz I had always figured it was just a spritz and I would have needed a gas powered pressure washer to be effective...well holy first awkwardly violated then pleasantly surprised. What have I been missing all these years?

There are over priced complicated powered contraptions that look like out of place robotics on the market but what they had and I also just bought and installed in my place is just an unpowered replacement toilet seat with a low profile control that just connects to the water line of the toilet tank. Some are these units are massive and overly complicated contraptions but trust me...spend a few bucks and revel in feeling refreshed!

Sure heated seats with heated water and adjustable presets might be nice but this Install was stupid easy and worth every penny for its simplicity.

Costco.com also has the same one for bit cheaper.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Brondel...riyojx18rMJefVqiPMcAGb7B0SJaGZygaAvu4EALw_wcB



Screen Shot 2026-01-06 at 2.24.14 PM.png
 
I was back in Italy a few weeks ago and once again, as I was face to face (so to speak) with a bidet in my hotel room... I still had no desire to give it a whirl.
 
Larry in TN said:
This one's even cheaper and taps into your hot water line for temperature control.
Click to expand...
They also make a dual hot water version of the one I linked but research online said that unless you have a recirculating hot water system the hot water will likely never actually reach the bidet by time you are done for the unpowered units. YMMV.
 
I have been working on Japanese projects for many years and have had several business trips to Japan. Bidets in the hotels there are ubiquitous, and a very different experience from old-school European bidets. The Japanese solution is integrated into the toilet (seat), with electronic pushbutton controls and motorized/heated apparatus to spray the water.

I recently renovated my bathroom and installed one for myself. It's a daily luxury that I consider well worth the expense. Especially in the winter. (The expense included running a new 20A circuit to the powder room specifically for that one item. Takes a lot of energy to heat the water adequately as it's being dispensed.)
 
Hooked to the cold water line with no heater? That'd turn my brown eye blue. May as well have an outhouse. :P

But yes, We have been fans of the dib that costco sold (enough heater power for endless warm water), and now the toto washlet (about 60 seconds of warm water, almost adequate to erase taco tuesday comfortably). Diss robo-features all you like, a warm seat on a cold morning is a nice place to contemplate your choices in life. :D
 
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Shawn said:
They also make a dual hot water version of the one I linked but research online said that unless you have a recirculating hot water system the hot water will likely never actually reach the bidet by time you are done for the unpowered units. YMMV.
Click to expand...
You can run it in the wand cleaning mode, which runs the water through the wand but doesn't spray it at you, until the hot water is available. It works well if your toilet and sink are on the same wall. It comes with all the fittings you need to install it and doesn't need an electrical outlet like the ones with the built in heaters.

What's nice about that one is that, if you don't like it, you're out less than $70.

I also learned about these things in Japan. About 15 years ago, I was doing some flying to Japan and it was in all the hotels. I have no idea how the European version is supposed to work.

In the Nartia airport Delta Club, you have stalls with a squat toilet, stalls with a western toilet, and stalls with the Washlet (bidet). It's like a timelapse exhibit in a museam.
 
Installed one last weekend at my in-laws place. Remote controlled heated water and seat. I didn't actually take a full test drive; however, I did test the systems. It was an easy installation (under an hour). No outlet nearby so we had to temporarily run an extension cord. They love it.
 
One spray of cold water up your tuchus on a cold winter morn will convince you to spring for one with a built-in heater.
 
We've had em for awhile. They eventually get upgraded to heated seats. Heated water, air dry models etc. Current one detects motion and raises the seat automatically and lights up. Robots for the win.
 
schmookeeg said:
Diss robo-features all you like, a warm seat on a cold morning is a nice place to contemplate your choices in life. :D
Click to expand...
Not a diss cuz if I had an outlet accessible I would be all in on a powered unit but the point I was trying to make was even the unpowered cold water unit I put in is a game changer IMO for those that don't have power or don't want to make that jump of an install yet.

Now I am not a fan of some of the clunky hardware hanging off the side of the toilet which is why I like the Brondel above but that is more of a subjective opinion.
 
I've never used on or even seen one in real life... so what happens if it's operated with nobody sitting there, I presume the floor gets wet? And how do you get it aimed right?
 
Dana said:
I've never used on or even seen one in real life... so what happens if it's operated with nobody sitting there, I presume the floor gets wet? And how do you get it aimed right?
Click to expand...
Yeah...it is a fountain if operated while not seated. On most units other there is a both front wand and a rear wand that pop out which are selectable...the unpowered units you have water pressure control but you just adjust your body position accordingly....some of the fancier powered units there are wand position settings you can program.
 
Whatever you do, don't connect them to the internet. You never know when someone hacks into some embedded camera used for auto-adjustments and you (involuntarily) become famous.
 
Jim_R said:
I have been working on Japanese projects for many years and have had several business trips to Japan. Bidets in the hotels there are ubiquitous, and a very different experience from old-school European bidets. The Japanese solution is integrated into the toilet (seat), with electronic pushbutton controls and motorized/heated apparatus to spray the water.

I recently renovated my bathroom and installed one for myself. It's a daily luxury that I consider well worth the expense. Especially in the winter. (The expense included running a new 20A circuit to the powder room specifically for that one item. Takes a lot of energy to heat the water adequately as it's being dispensed.)
Click to expand...
20 amps plus water delivered right to my un-shielded bum sounds like an invitation to Murphy
 
I put in a heated seat a number of years ago in the main bathroom. Will upgrade to the bidet when the bath gets remodeled sometime in the future. Finished the kitchen today, except I still need to clean, sand and paint the existing cabinets.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to put a heated seat in the small room off the kitchen, so that one won't get the same upgrade.
 
Randomskylane said:
20 amps plus water delivered right to my un-shielded bum sounds like an invitation to Murphy
Click to expand...
Literally millions of Japanese have had these for decades and yet people aren't getting toasted on the toilet. I think they've got it figured out.
 
We've used the Bio Bidets and other brands you can get off of Amazon for many years. We're building a house at NC26 right now, and every bathroom except the one in the hangar will have a bidet.

As others have said, if your hands are really dirty do you just wipe them on some paper and call it good?

Bidets are simple luxuries everyone should use--especially if you're on a septic system.
 
So...uh...how does that work logistically speaking? Does it have an air dryer? Or you just leave with a wet bum?

Signed
Someone with no experience with a rear washer
 
midwestpa24 said:
So...uh...how does that work logistically speaking? Does it have an air dryer? Or you just leave with a wet bum?

Signed
Someone with no experience with a rear washer
Click to expand...

THANK YOU. I see so many posts on the Interwebs extolling the virtues of these things. No one ever says exactly what the benefits are and how it works. I just always imagined the bathroom getting sprayed with water like a water pik.
 
midwestpa24 said:
So...uh...how does that work logistically speaking? Does it have an air dryer? Or you just leave with a wet bum?

Signed
Someone with no experience with a rear washer
Click to expand...


I’d imagine you’d have to use…wait for it…toilet paper to dry off lol.
 
midwestpa24 said:
So...uh...how does that work logistically speaking? Does it have an air dryer? Or you just leave with a wet bum?

Signed
Someone with no experience with a rear washer
Click to expand...
Fancy ones have dryers. The cheaper ones we have still require a little TP for drying.

1767800223704.png
 
Is there a portable model for those that just have to squirt water (or coffee) up their business end.??
 
Bill said:
I’d imagine you’d have to use…wait for it…toilet paper to dry off lol.
Click to expand...

mark.staggs said:
Fancy ones have dryers. The cheaper ones we have still require a little TP for drying.
Click to expand...

Therein lies my question. In my personal "experience", TP doesn't work the greatest in overly "wet" situations.

Not the type of conversation I thought I'd be having on the internet today.
 
midwestpa24 said:
So...uh...how does that work logistically speaking? Does it have an air dryer? Or you just leave with a wet bum?

Signed
Someone with no experience with a rear washer
Click to expand...
Reality is just a "pat" with some TP to dry off but can be much less TP than the typical wipe. If you wipe the freshly spritzed wet bum, then yeah some TPs start breaking apart wight away.
 
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