AIBU to wonder why bidets are common in Italy but not England?

Why Humber Bridge? Am I going to have to google it?

When I used to lurk here, I'll always remember one poster saying that she never felt right unless she'd washed her 'Humber Bridge'.
This has stayed with me. 😁 and probably always will.

I feel the same!

I live in the southern hemisphere and don't know anyone with a bidet.

The 70s new build I grew up in had a bidet in the bathroom... but the toilet was not in the bathroom
We used it for sandy feet, it was brilliant for that.

Well, this thread has explained to me why the staff in our Rome hotel stopped giving us little towels after day 2 🙃

(It had actually been really handy - used one of the face towels as a hand towel because for some reason they never give you one for that, then used the little towel on my face - but they obviously noticed that the rail above the bidet was consistently empty)

On showers - when we got our new shower it had a loop which the hose went through which meant that it was very awkward to bring the head down far enough. For several years I would (a) mutter to myself about this during every shower and (b) conscientiously thread the hose back through the loop every time I'd unscrewed the head to degunk it. The day it occurred to me that I could simply not put the hose through the loop was the day I realised I was finally a grown-up.

That's a good idea as a lot of people have got those shower hose kitchen taps now.

me too! @TheZenOne22

I think it’s because traditionally an English bathroom will have a full bath in it whereas it’s more usual in a hot country to have a shower with bidet. I have very occasionally seen a bidet next to the toilet in a public restroom, and I think that was in Italy . But equally I’ve been in Italy where the public restrooms were squatties with shit on the foot stands.

I agree with PP about there being a time when they were installed in British bathrooms and I think this was in upmarket new builds in the 80s, along with the coloured suite and the corner bath with whirlpool. I guess after that they realised that the huge bathroom was taking up the space of a whole other bedroom and they moved to en-suites with small shower room .

There's usually a little sink in the cubicle too, as the bum gun will be connected to that (sometimes there isn't a sink but usually there is), so you can wash your hands before and after using it.

That's a good idea as a lot of people have got those shower hose kitchen taps now.

We just use the kitchen sink if needed in our house. No drama and no mess.

Japanese toilets are a revelation. I was taken by some associates to a posh Shanghai restaurant and going to the loo was such a treat I did it several times. My hosts must have thought I had a stomach upset 😁

I was just jet washing my car. Next time I might pull down my pants and give my bum a go with it.
I remember bidets being a trendy thing in about the 70s. Probably because people started going on package holidays and saw them abroad.

In a public toilet, I try to touch as few things as possible!! I generally use a bit of toilet paper to turn the bolt on the cubicle, so up until I wipe, I've only touched the seat with my thighs (and if the toilet looks dodgy, I put down a couple of strips of toilet paper as a barrier).

Then I pull out the visible bit of toilet paper and discard that, and use fresh toilet paper to wipe, before standing, dressing, flushing, and leaving the toilet. Then I wash my hands thoroughly with soap and water.

So at no point do I touch something that another person has touched after they defecated/urinated, and then my own genital region, risking cross-contamination. But that would happen if I used a bum gun - plus what I have to think would be at least a small risk of splashback etc. The idea of a communal bum wash sprayer, knowing how grotty people can be, makes me feel sick.

Do you touch the toilet flush handle or the handle of the cubicle or the taps when you use a public loo? Because if you do you are touching something that in the UK people will have touched after wiping their bums.

Whereas if you touch a bum gun you will be touching something people have used before touching their bums at all (if they spray and then dry off) or after wiping (if they wipe then spray then dry off). I’m at a loss to understand how this is somehow worse than touching a tap when someone’s been careless
how they wipe.

Maybe because it's too cold here? Historically at least. The idea of freezing water going up your backside isn't very appealing. But in a warmer climate it could feel quite pleasant as the water wouldn't be as cold?

I find them bizarre. Like it's essentially as dirty as a toilet but can't be used as one. So it's almost like having a urinal in your house?!

The 'fun gun' is a popular alternative in SE Asia. It took me ages to work out you can flush a toilet by pouring water down it from a bucket though!

ok this is a stupid question... why can you fill it up like a bath? Is it like having. A shower vs a bath? If you have more time you fill it up and sit on it. OR if you are in a rush use the hose?

are you supposed to use it after peeing? Or just poo? Doesn't it's the like 3x a long as just wiping?

I was feeling all lighthearted and silly until I read this and now feel a bit nauseous 🤣

Sweatier arse cracks in Italy, maybe? On a sweltering hot day I think a bidet would be nice. Sweaty arse cracks are uncomfortable (only ever experienced this on holiday!).

🤣

I can understand why some people might want a bidet or sprayer of some sort at home... But public toilets? 🤢

The idea of picking up something that other people have touched with dirty hands, and then using it to spray water on my genitals after others have done the same thing without it being cleaned in between, seems so unclean. With splashback, people being careless etc, I feel like there could be fecal matter on the nozzle that gets sprayed onto the next person.

Bum guns not bidets, and you just dry yourself with toilet paper, you don't go back out damp! They're very common in public toilets (along with toilet paper!) and in schools and businesses and hospitals and suchlike. In fact in hospitals and health centres if you're giving a urine sample you are instructed to clean yourself first with the bum gun before weeing in the sample pot.

People with noro can each poo 10x/day...
Are PP saying toilet tissue is fine if only a wee?
Long thread, I admit I'm not keeping up!

Your family of 3 poo 30-50 times a day?

You might want to look at actual climate numbers before doubling down. Milan’s winter nights are colder than Hull’s. Your language doesn’t make your argument any stronger, by the way. And going back to my original point: the weather in Hull is never so cold inside your house that you couldn’t have a bidet.

Do you mean bidets are common or bum guns are common?
I'm going to assume PP means bidet not bum gun. I've only seen bum guns in hot countries and no towel available, expected or required.

Ok so the Finnish (home) bathroom is heated, but then you have to pull on clothes to go back to an office or even outside which isn't heated. Having nethers wet for prolonged period is not good. So how does one dry the nethers? PP say use a towel and it's never reused... so a family of 3 could get thru I dunno, maybe 30-50 bum towels a day? Do you all have tumble dryers to get them dry and then have about 150 in supply at any one time?

And that doesn't cover the situation where you need a poo in a public toilet.

On MN we hear a lot from people who only ever poo in a private toilet, but the same people also get upset about discovering many people poo in public toilets. So ... in Finland do public toilets all have usual toilet paper (& no bidets or bum guns)?

My own (home) toilet room measures approx 80 cm x 1.3 m, by the way. I could install a bum gun but not a bidet, lol. I don't like the house enough to spend many thousands redesigning house and moving soil pipes and losing a bedroom, etc.