AIBU to think that actually toilet paper is really unhygienic

[keepitclean1980]

I was doing the washing up and a thought came to me. Don't you think toilet paper is actually really unhygienic?

If you happened to put your finger in a random turd, what would you do? Wipe it with a tissue and call it a day? Or scrub it with soap and water followed by a smell test?

When you think about it, it is insane that we just use toilet paper on our bums. Or do other people give it a little more pampering and I just didn't realise?

@Thecobwebsarewinning

I love the little bum shower attachments you get attached to loos in many parts of the world. They leave you so much fresher than loo roll. I’ve never used soap with them though. Just relied on water pressure to leave me clean!

The Japanese loos are good too but the warm water and air feels a bit creepy. I’d rather have a refreshing blast of cold water and then dry off with some loo roll or a towel.

You'd have to peel me off the ceiling if my bum was unceremoniously blasted with cold water.

I think dry wiping is unhygienic, you can’t possibly clean yourself properly with a bit of dry loo paper! Even if you have no hair down there, particles of poo stick to the skin, smell, spread bacteria eg e-coli is naturally present in the human colon but if the bacteria are left to multiply near your ureatha it’s likely to give you a UTI.

There are so many cleaning options, from biodegradable flushable wipes to a jug of warm water, or soap and a hose, or gel you squirt onto normal dry loo paper so the gel does the cleaning and the paper can be flushed.

I think it’s lazy not to clean yourself properly after a poo, like not brushing your teeth in the morning. Just because you can’t see the microbes and bacteria doesn’t mean they’re not there!

When I was bent double with chronic sciatic and couldn't get my arm to wipe when I pooed as couldn't turn lol, I went into the shower used the hose to clean myself clean myself and must admit it made me feel cleaner down there. I've seen the Japanese toilets they look like futuristic toilets have all sorts of features on them...

@BasinHaircut

Love a competitive cleanliness thread.

So do I. I wonder if you could do a venn diagram of this thread with threads on toilet brushes (yes or no) and towel washing (hourly or weekly).

Whatever your view on dry wiping, I really really wish the supposed biodegradable flushable wipes didn't exist- they cause real problems with sewers.

It may have already been said but I don’t understand the jug of water thing. Surely it just ends up going down the loo and not getting to the arsehole. What position do you have to be in to pour from front to back?

Sit up straight, jug of warm water in right hand, bit of liquid soap in left. Left hand reaches round back and soaps bum then you pour water from front to back, left hand still there to get all the soap off. Lean back a bit as you pour. Then wash hands well 😊

But if you use water to wash on the toilet then how do you dry yourself? You cant use toilet roll because it disintegrates on wet skin. And you cant just walk about with a wet bum crack, you'd get athletes foot bum.

@RattleOfBars

I think dry wiping is unhygienic, you can’t possibly clean yourself properly with a bit of dry loo paper! Even if you have no hair down there, particles of poo stick to the skin, smell, spread bacteria eg e-coli is naturally present in the human colon but if the bacteria are left to multiply near your ureatha it’s likely to give you a UTI.

There are so many cleaning options, from biodegradable flushable wipes to a jug of warm water, or soap and a hose, or gel you squirt onto normal dry loo paper so the gel does the cleaning and the paper can be flushed.

I think it’s lazy not to clean yourself properly after a poo, like not brushing your teeth in the morning. Just because you can’t see the microbes and bacteria doesn’t mean they’re not there!

You still cant flush those wipes down the pan!

A competitive arse cleaning thread.

For the people getting hysterical about toilet paper....what are you eating that makes your shit so explosive it doesnt just kind of quite cleanly slip out?

@RattleOfBars

It may have already been said but I don’t understand the jug of water thing. Surely it just ends up going down the loo and not getting to the arsehole. What position do you have to be in to pour from front to back?

Sit up straight, jug of warm water in right hand, bit of liquid soap in left. Left hand reaches round back and soaps bum then you pour water from front to back, left hand still there to get all the soap off. Lean back a bit as you pour. Then wash hands well 😊

My Dh & DS have asked if you need to cock your leg when doing it?

They seemed to (virtually) spill most of the water, after trying this theory out.

There’s no such thing as a flushable wipe people. Just saying.

Excuse me, pooing in a bucket which was then emptied in the veg patch, was my childhood here in UK ...not a natural disaster.

I think you will find things are rather different in a natural disaster! Honestly, I will be judgemental, I think those of you who have such an aversion to only wiping yourself are in the same camp as the obsessive cleaners. I have NEVER in real life met anyone who discusses these things, nor have I ever heard so many people who have nothing more interesting to do in life than wash and clean the way some of you do. It's like being back in the old days, when women would criticise someone for not polishing their door step every day - and I thought we were well past that. Obviously not, on MN anyway.

@TheKeatingFive

There’s no such thing as a flushable wipe people. Just saying.

People don't listen, it's a mixture of arrogance and ignorance. I'm hoping these flushable wipes go in the bin. It's not superior because they end up in landfill.

Personally I think tours around the sewage plants should be taken in school. Teach them young about what to put down the bog and what not.

@RattleOfBars

It may have already been said but I don’t understand the jug of water thing. Surely it just ends up going down the loo and not getting to the arsehole. What position do you have to be in to pour from front to back?

Sit up straight, jug of warm water in right hand, bit of liquid soap in left. Left hand reaches round back and soaps bum then you pour water from front to back, left hand still there to get all the soap off. Lean back a bit as you pour. Then wash hands well 😊

I'm not a contortionist.

I use baby wipes and put them in the bin, not down the toilet. Used to suffer from UTIs and now I don't. Can't bear not to use wipes now, it just doesn't feel clean.

@RattleOfBars

I think it’s lazy not to clean yourself properly after a poo, like not brushing your teeth in the morning. Just because you can’t see the microbes and bacteria doesn’t mean they’re not there

How do you manage if you have to go when you're not at home? Say, a pub toilet or a shopping centre?

I use a jug of water to wash the bits off without using my hands, then I wet toilet paper and rub from the back and finally use another piece of tissue all around to dry.

@Youcunnyfunt are you in the UK? For some reason I thought our building regs prevented Asia-style bum guns, I’m not sure why. I’m assuming you squirt it on yourself whilst you’re sat on the loo and the water goes down the loo?

Used to have that in Thailand. Toilet didn’t have a flush (had a bucket of sea water and a scoop to flush!) but I had a bum gun and I loved it.

If they’re allowed in the UK I’m definitely putting it on the table when we renovate the bathroom. But for some reason I thought we couldn’t have them here.

But if you use water to wash on the toilet then how do you dry yourself?

Pat dry with loo roll. If you’re in a hot country you dry off almost instantly so no need for loo paper.

Yes I have a loo brush and wash change towels daily. Bedding gets changed once a month though 🙄😂

How do you manage if you have to go when you're not at home? Say, a pub toilet or a shopping centre

Surely you know by now that all good Mumsnetters poo at home in the morning before they shower and never in a pub toilet or shopping centre,?

I like the bum hose, I used one when I spent a week on a diving boat and you weren't allowed to flush paper.

What I wonder about the jug method is that isn't the pressure lacking compared to the hose?

How do you manage if you have to go when you're not at home? Say, a pub toilet or a shopping centre?

Biodegradable wet wipes, I always keep a small pack in my handbag (with tampons/mooncup/feminine wipes in a little cosmetic bag). Or Huggies wet wipes if I have child with me, as kids tend to be messier and the biodegradable ones disintegrate (obviously I bag and bin rather than flush). Huggies are stronger and foamier IME so you don’t need as many wipes. Most cubicles have a sani bin or nappy bin.

Or if caught out, a wad of loo roll dampened under the tap is better than dry paper, provided sink is in the cubicle!

So, I fill a jug first knowing Im going to have a poo. Have poo. Get off loo and shuffle to sink to put liquid soap in left hand. Shuffle back to loo. Lean back and tip water over front ( thighs, toilet seat, floor etc) while trying to soap bumhole with left hand. End up with wet nethers, one soapy hand...get off loo again to rinse and dry hand, arse dripping over pants and jeans.Wipe wet arse with loo roll which shreds and sticks to bum. Yup, sounds way easier!

If we are soaping arses with our hands after a poo, can I just check whether you are talking about the cheek area, or whether you are getting right up there in the ring piece?

op bodna is basically a style of jug that is only used in the bathroom, that style of jug you won't find being used in any other part of the house, in many cultures it's known for being the jug that cleans ones bottom. I will attach picture, although I've attached a blue one, it's available in many colours. I have a grey one. You can also have a douche shower spray fitted beside the toilet, we're waiting on ours. It is so much more hygienic and better for your bottom to wash with water, using only toilet tissue can cause sore bottom or itchy bottoms from the grazing of the toilet tissue.

I also remember after giving birth, the nurses advised I must wash down below every time I went to the toilet to keep it clean from bacteria, it is also advisable to wash below especially when menstruating