Four years after the toilet paper shortage of 2020, bidet converts say they’re never going back

While the toilet paper shortages that hit the United States during pandemic lockdowns in the spring of 2020 ultimately eased up, they’ve had a lasting impact on one industry: the bidet business.

“The industry here in the U.S. just blew up. You couldn’t get a bidet if you wanted to,” says James Lin, founder of BidetKing.com, an online marketplace for all varieties of the bathroom appliance. “We all sold out. … There was a huge scramble to get more.”

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      I have the ghetto 35$ version that just blasts your ass with cold water. Even that is heavenly compared to wiping.

      But to answer question, your butt is wett and you dry it with toilet paper. The difference is that it’s almost always 2 sheets of paper and there is no real rubbing as you’re just drying the water off. With paper it can be tons of sheets and I still might not be convinced I’m clean.

    • SparrowRanjitScaur@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      You dab with toilet paper afterwards to dry. Bidets do still require toilet paper, but significantly less and they leave you significantly cleaner.

    • bradorsomething@ttrpg.network
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      8 months ago

      You accidentally place your hand in poop. You wipe it with dry paper until it doesn’t smear any more. Why does that count as clean for your butt and not your hand?

      • Sodis@feddit.de
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        8 months ago

        Yeah, that’s what I also never got. If you have dirt in the kitchen, that’s semifluid, no one in their right mind would clean it without wetting it. But for the butt that does not count. I do not have a bidet, but I can reach the faucet from my toilet. So I just wet the toilet paper and produce far less toilet paper waste thanks to this.

        • Pulptastic@midwest.social
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          8 months ago

          Only poop goes in the butt. I’m not putting it near my mouth like I wood my hands. If I am going to eat ass I want it washed first.

    • bitchkat@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      So a little dab, the toilet paper gets wet and you’re all clean. But without the bidet, there is just so much more to clean.

    • Mine have warm air blowers. You can either sit for an admittedly longish while whilst the dryer blows you dry, or you can dab with a couple of squares and then let it blow dry you fairly quickly. It’s the difference between a roll a week, and a roll every month or two. Or, none, of you’re really patient.