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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?

#481

Post by dancek »

donatj wrote: post #415
dancek wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use things similar to that Squatty Potty and it feels better for me. I discovered this a couple of years ago. Coincidentally we have brand name ones at work, but any stable platform will do--my favorite might be this kids' stool from Ikea: https://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/art/60248418/

Having not used such a contraption, it always seems to me that the same thing could be achieved by leaning forward without one?

It might be possible, but at least for me achieving the same position in a different rotation requires a lot of strength (due to gravity). And I can't poop while flexing half of my muscles.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#483

Post by brewdad »

cwmma wrote: post #436

I loved using bidet's in Europe and about a year ago learned that they are not actually expensive, I got one for like $20 that I was able to install myself and I can not recommend it more highly.

I would love to try one but my bathroom has no where to plug in an electronic one, and really no good spot to install a new outlet. How is the cold water shock from using a more basic model?

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#484

Post by blarg1 »

Chris2048 wrote: post #468
overcast wrote: post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Haven't you ever done a shit that when you wipe there's nothing on the toilet paper?

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#485

Post by 23479s882u »

PeanutNore wrote: post #480
23478s882u wrote: post #426

I'm American (with no kids, so my hands don't touch feces often). The idea of using a bidet seems strange because the toilet paper protects my fingers. Do bidet users just accept that their fingers will get all mucky and then they will follow up with a thorough hand washing? (Is this a strange question, even to other Americans? Googling doesn't find the answer.)

If your fingers get "mucky" while using a bidet you're doing something terribly, terribly wrong. The point of a bidet is so your hands don't need to get anywhere near your, uh, "vent". If you're just going to muck out your bung with your fingers, what do you even need a bidet for? You could just do that, and then wash your hands. With a bidet, water under pressure takes care of everything for you.

I doubt whether water alone can thoroughly dislodge all traces for those of us with sticky, fairly solid poo.

Besides, there seem to be lots of cultures where people have water but not pressure, and it seems that they use fingers. (Often the left hand.)

I found kragen's answer above to be much more helpful, in that he explains both water-only and water-plus-fingers options.

I would feel a little uncomfortable about handling poo that closely and maybe getting it under my fingernails, but that's my own hangup. I don't believe my habits are objectively superior.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#486

Post by ivanhoe »

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 :-)).

You can use toilet paper, and then in addition wash yourself afterwards. That's what bidets are used for by most of Europeans.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#487

Post by lbenes »

Freak_NL wrote: post #369
lbenes wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LOL, "a machine vision directed spray", missing a '/s'? My toilet has a built in bidet. When the spray comes on, I move my butt to positions the stream to dead center. There's really no need for any added complexity.

Toilets seats with built in bidets have already been perfected in Japan and South Korea since the nineties. Anyone who suggests the need for computer vision aided complexity has never used one of these. They just work, and you learn to use them properly really fast.

And those toilets have been readily available in the US for over a decade. I did opt for a higher end model, but it wasn't hard to find either.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#488

Post by Raphmedia »

dominotw wrote: post #475
VVyattPrentice wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

Plumbing wasn't designed for them in most places. Most of them are not really "flushable" like they claim.

That's because people use "face wipes" instead of "wet wipes" meant to be used for the bum.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#490

Post by tslug »

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.

Agreed. Switching to vegan brought my TP use way down. Becoming gluten-free, however, was so transformative down there that I'm still having trouble adjusting.

I usually tear off the sheets before I'm done, so that if I go multiple rounds, my TP is prepped. Usually, that means I tear off 3-4 strips of 2 squares each if it's thick paper, or strips of 3 squares if thin. After going gluten-free, I rarely end up using all the strips, and I'd say about a third the time, I'm done after using my first two squares of it, so the rest is wasted.

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