Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you dry yourself before putting your pants on? If so how?
The hand towel
Or TP to dry.
What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
391–400 of 557 posts
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#392The article says that certain remote and rural areas of Asia still don't use toilet paper. However, this is also true of most of the Philippines, including middle- and upper-class areas in major cities. It's not an issue only of economic stability or access to it, but also just a cultural one. I've been in upscale restaurants in Manila where there was no toilet paper in the bathrooms. They use a little bucket of wate…
How do you dry afterwards? At home you could use some towel, I guess... But in a public place?
They don't.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#393Earlier quoted context omitted.
People who mock you for having a cleaner butthole than them are strange people indeed.
Surgeons used to mock other surgeons for washing their hands. A centuries-old insult about the French is that they insist upon bathing every day. People seem to generally associate cleanliness with a sort of hysterical fussiness.
> [..] insult about the French is that they insist upon bathing every day.
That's funny, I think the Brazilians have exactly the opposite insult - i.e., the French rarely take a bath.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#394The tersorium/stick the Romans used is the source of the expression: to get "the wrong end of the stick"
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#395Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just like those stupid hand air driers at public facilities. God, how I hate those. Americans have it easy, in general paper towels are available even when the damn air thing is installed. But here in Europe, most often you only get the stupid air machine with no paper towels.
The high end ones take maybe 20s to dry your hands off. Properly drying your hands with paper towels takes at least as long and it wastes paper. What is your problem with an air dryer?
A side benefit of the paper towel is that in-swinging doors can be pulled with the paper, not your hand. Imagine how many people _didn't_ wash their hands then pulled that door.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#396François Rabelais did a thorough explanation on the best ways to wipe back in hist late 15th century books (don't remember which one exactly, sorry). After discussing the virtues of various sorts of leaves, hay, moss, he concludes that the best wiping material is a small, soft bird. :)
I thoroughly enjoyed your comment so I did some Googling around, and found this gem straight from the man himself:
|'I have, answered Gargantua, by a long and curious experience, found out a means to wipe my bum, the most lordly, the most excellent, and the most convenient that ever was seen… I say and maintain, that of all torcheculs, arsewisps, bumfodders, tail-napkins, bunghole cleansers, and wipe-breeches, there is none in the world comparable to the neck of a goose, that is well downed, if you hold her head betwixt your legs.' http://qi.com/infocloud/geese
Not just a small bird, but a whole goose neck! XD
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#397Earlier quoted context omitted.
The high end ones take maybe 20s to dry your hands off. Properly drying your hands with paper towels takes at least as long and it wastes paper. What is your problem with an air dryer?
A side benefit of the paper towel is that in-swinging doors can be pulled with the paper, not your hand. Imagine how many people _didn't_ wash their hands then pulled that door.
Plus pipelining.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#398For 22 years I used toilet paper until I traveled to South East Asia where every toilet has a seperate sprinkler. After a few toilet visits I decided to give it a GO. Man, toilet paper feels strange and plain stupid now. Water is way cheaper, doesn't hurt your "behind" and I feel cleaner afterwards. Paper seems an invention to sell something we really don't need (by Mad Men :-)).
Do you dry yourself before putting your pants on? If so how?
This is the most important. Use toilet paper before and after water use to ensure cleanness.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#399For 22 years I used toilet paper until I traveled to South East Asia where every toilet has a seperate sprinkler. After a few toilet visits I decided to give it a GO. Man, toilet paper feels strange and plain stupid now. Water is way cheaper, doesn't hurt your "behind" and I feel cleaner afterwards. Paper seems an invention to sell something we really don't need (by Mad Men :-)).
As an Arab and now not living in the Middle East. I feel just sick trying to clean with toilet paper
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#400My uncle was an engineer for a toilet paper manufacturing plant, that took logs in one end and put TP rolls out the other end. The path was over a mile long. He worked on variable speed electronic drives for the 1000 horsepower motors that turned the machinery. TP illustrates the triumph of civilization: 1000s of people all doing specialized jobs so billions of people can each avoid a daily unpleasantness.
Wiping with TP is still relatively unpleasant and ineffective in terms of cleanliness.