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What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

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Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#461

Post by exodust »

So many opinions! I will add mine.

Best solution is do your business at home before shower. Hot water and soap and wash cloth or something in shower is only way to get properly clean.

When out and about, wet paper is the best, it is superior to water alone, and dry paper in terms of cleaning yourself after you've done business. This is why wet-wipes are so popular. It's all about getting you the distance to the next shower in your life.

I don't subscribe to water alone, or using hand to clean yourself. Even when washing your hands after, you might have bits under your fingernails, and that is disgusting. Toilet paper is a protective barrier to the horrible matter. I will never use my hand. Obviously the Romans didn't want to use their hands either, and preferred a communal bum cleaner!

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#462

Post by VVyattPrentice »

Johnny555 wrote: post #455
tikkabhuna wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After our trip to Cambodia we wanted to bring the "Bum Gun" to the UK. For those who haven't tried it, it's the weirdest thing and sounds disgusting. To quote a crazy Canadian we met, "if you had poo on your arm and you wiped it off with toilet paper, would you say its clean?" That said, SE Asia really lends itself to the Bum Gun. Its warm and can be humid, so you're not really worried about being a bit damp afterwar…

"if you had poo on your arm and you wiped it off with toilet paper, would you say its clean?" If you had poo on your arm and rinsed it with a gentle spray of plain water, would you say it's clean? If I had poo on my arm, I'd use soap and water to clean it then rinse well. Of course, if my arm was what was generating the poo, I'd probably be less fastidious about keeping it clean and free of poo. And I'd see a doctor.

>If I had poo on my arm, I'd use soap and water to clean it then rinse well.

This is the correct answer.

Baby wipes or go home.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#464

Post by VVyattPrentice »

devmunchies wrote: post #451
tikkabhuna wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After our trip to Cambodia we wanted to bring the "Bum Gun" to the UK. For those who haven't tried it, it's the weirdest thing and sounds disgusting. To quote a crazy Canadian we met, "if you had poo on your arm and you wiped it off with toilet paper, would you say its clean?" That said, SE Asia really lends itself to the Bum Gun. Its warm and can be humid, so you're not really worried about being a bit damp afterwar…

> if you had poo on your arm and you wiped it off with toilet paper, would you say its clean? My dad says the same thing but he uses wet wipes.

Has he been able to solve the problem of bridging the gap between the bathroom stall and the waste bin? Ir does he flush them? Most stalls in the colonies don't have waste bins in the stall. So you are faced with the problem of how to dispose of your dirty nappies. If you walk out of the stall to the vin before going to wash your hands you will be on the business end of some odd looks. This why most wet wipers flush. There are, however, alternative methodologies.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#465

Post by VVyattPrentice »

peletiah wrote: post #445
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do those sprays have the pressure and duration to really spray everything down? I can poor water from a bottle of water onto the poo on my arm and I'd still think it'd be unclean. I'd need some positive pressure to think otherwise. Oh, and some soap.

Combine it with your hand and you get clean, even better when there's soap. Then wash your hands properly. On our bicycle-journey through Asia we had a dedicated squeezable poo-bottle and poo-soap ("Kackflasche" and "Kackseife" in German).

Googled "kackflasche".

Was disappointed.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#466

Post by VVyattPrentice »

akkat wrote: post #323
reolbox wrote: post #300

For 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?

I carry a portable electric hair dryer. It's rechargable and lasts about a day.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#467

Post by VVyattPrentice »

neeleshs wrote: post #388
4ad wrote: post #381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it doesn't take 20 seconds, even a 2 (two!) second wipe job does a better job at drying than 30s of air. Apart from that, air driers are incredibly unsanitary, spreading stuff everywhere. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20141121/restroom-h... Also see this episode of mythbusters, which goes into much more depth than the synopsis on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(2013_season)#Epis..…

Or carry a kerchief in your pocket.

This.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#468

Post by Chris2048 »

overcast wrote: post #452
Chris2048 wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say most people (in west) have shitty arses. Sometimes, while in a toilet cubicle, I hear other people wipe once or twice, then leave - their arses are definitely shitty. Me - I bring in a cup of water, and wet the paper to give my arse a proper shine.

Not everyone has messy shit. I often have literally nothing on the toilet paper. Increase your vegetables, and fiber.

I doubt it has literally nothing on it. You can eat nothing but fiber, but bowel mucous is still dirty.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#469

Post by michaelbuckbee »

tikkabhuna wrote: post #401
reolbox wrote: post #300

For 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 :-)).

After our trip to Cambodia we wanted to bring the "Bum Gun" to the UK. For those who haven't tried it, it's the weirdest thing and sounds disgusting. To quote a crazy Canadian we met, "if you had poo on your arm and you wiped it off with toilet paper, would you say its clean?" That said, SE Asia really lends itself to the Bum Gun. Its warm and can be humid, so you're not really worried about being a bit damp afterwar…

Some googling found this informative (and entirely SFW) "bum gun" video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V32m3FZbjg

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#470

Post by sofreshandso »

I was 30 years old before I realized the only truly effective way to clean myself after anything other than an elusive "hard, no-wiper" is with soap and water. When I think of all the afternoons at work spent coping with the after-effects of bad toilet-paper wipe-outs I cringe.

Anytime I have the privacy to do so, I use a few paper towels and some soapy water and I treat the affected area as if I'm removing a dog's mess from a soft carpet. At home sometimes I'll just jump in the shower. There's no going back to wiping with tissue paper and wishing for the best.

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