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What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

nautil.us

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Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#141

Post by dang »

eevilspock wrote: post #138
dang wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you please not take HN threads further into the weeds like this?

I apologize (sort of) dang. I believe social and cultural change is far more important than the technological. Even SV is belatedly starting to realize this in the Trump era. Gaining a broader perspective, and more honest self-perspective, are critical to our progress as a society, as a species. You might tell me that even if true, it's not what Hacker News is for. But people in technology are having an outsized impa…

I'm not disputing your point about social and cultural change. The issue is that the comments you posted were too low-quality (generic, venty, and off topic) to be good contributions to a Hacker News thread—a thread about the Romans and toilet paper, of all things. If you get from there to Trump, you've gone on a generic tangent, which is exactly the sort of low-quality, all-the-same discussion we're trying to avoid here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#142

Post by astazangasta »

blub wrote: post #132
astazangasta wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. Especially camping, where the choices are: carry around TP and then some used TP, or, just use water.

According to the book "How to shit in the woods", the most environmentally friendly thing to do when camping is to collect your poop and take it with you. So you can take your TP with you also.

There are places where you have to pack out your poop, like the Grand Canyon, but many places have nice composting toilets. Mount Rainier has some lovely places to take a shit. In any case there is still no advantage to bringing TP.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#144

Post by _xnmw »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #133

I have read the glowing endorsements of bidets on reddit and HN for a long time. I've researched after-market bidets that would be suitable for my bathroom. I've bookmarked a few that seem suitable and have good reviews. But there is one thing which stops me. I'm not sure of the exact details. Even in this thread, I don't know the brass tacks of using one. Do I turn on the sprayer and that is that? Or do I mechanical…

Yeah, if you just spray and pray you’re going to have a bad time.

The way I was taught as a Middle Eastern man was: first use toilet paper at least three times to remove the majority of the material. Secondly, hold the spray hose or the bottle in your right hand and point downwards towards your perineum from the FRONT of your legs. Use your left hand to lift your junk and have two fingers down there. Now pour water over your left hand towards the perineum, and let the fingers carry the water and rub to clean out the ass crack. Usually a single litre water bottle is enough to feel extremely clean and refreshed. This method obviously works better if you’re squatting, but I use it with western toilets too. The most common mistake people make is to try and put their hands behind their back or pour the water from behind - makes a mess and doesn’t clean right. The imagery of the cleaning motion is like a woman fingering herself.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#145

Post by eevilspock »

dang wrote: post #141
eevilspock wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I apologize (sort of) dang. I believe social and cultural change is far more important than the technological. Even SV is belatedly starting to realize this in the Trump era. Gaining a broader perspective, and more honest self-perspective, are critical to our progress as a society, as a species. You might tell me that even if true, it's not what Hacker News is for. But people in technology are having an outsized impa…

I'm not disputing your point about social and cultural change. The issue is that the comments you posted were too low-quality (generic, venty, and off topic) to be good contributions to a Hacker News thread—a thread about the Romans and toilet paper, of all things. If you get from there to Trump, you've gone on a generic tangent, which is exactly the sort of low-quality, all-the-same discussion we're trying to avoid…

I understand. I only responded because they were the top comments, and I'm a believer in calling things out (the narrow-minded i-don't-have-time-for-humanity dismissiveness common in tech), even the little things, as that is how change happens, from the grassroots. In the same way sexist culture will if sexism is called out most every time it happens.

But I will refrain, here on HN.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#146

Post by seattle_spring »

rand84545 wrote: post #49
Noumenon72 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This misrepresents it, at least in my disappointing experience. The jet is nowhere near powerful enough to spray off poop. You are going to be getting most of it with your fingers and the jet just helps wash it away.

The trick, at least for the hose based system, is to put your finger in front of the stream to increase pressure.

Sounds like a gigantic mess.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#147

Post by seattle_spring »

astazangasta wrote: post #14
rayiner wrote: post #3

When we moved from Bangladesh to the US in the late 1980s, there were a couple of things that made us go “WTF?” One was the taste of chicken. In Bangladesh, you go buy a scrawny live chicken from the market and butcher it. It took me the better part of a year to be able to stomach American chicken, which tastes like wet cardboard in comparison. The other “WTF” thing was toilet paper. In Bangladesh, you rinse with wat…

Seriously. Especially camping, where the choices are: carry around TP and then some used TP, or, just use water.

I sure hope you're not suggesting that you wash your poop into a river or other natural body of water.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#148

Post by rootusrootus »

edoceo wrote: post #122
nobodyandproud wrote: post #86

Americans don't have a high ground here. The first time I used a modern bidet was eye-opening. It eliminates the funk. It's environmentally friendly. It's easier on the bum, if you have hemmaroids (I don't, but this is the report from friends and family that do suffer). And it just feels refreshing. The toilet paper is only needed to sanity check cleanliness and dry out. The American squeamishness over the bidet is i…

The hemroid thing 100%. For all us desk jockies, they'll happen! Paper hurts, bidet/water all the way.

I read somewhere that everyone has hemorrhoids, they just become noteworthy when significantly prolapsed or inflamed.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#149

Post by rootusrootus »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #133

I have read the glowing endorsements of bidets on reddit and HN for a long time. I've researched after-market bidets that would be suitable for my bathroom. I've bookmarked a few that seem suitable and have good reviews. But there is one thing which stops me. I'm not sure of the exact details. Even in this thread, I don't know the brass tacks of using one. Do I turn on the sprayer and that is that? Or do I mechanical…

There are lots of instructions just a Google click away.

But for a short answer:

1. Just water, the pressure is more than sufficient. Hell, it's too much sometimes.

2. You can get models that air dry, but even the good ones aren't too quick, so it's pretty common to use a few squares of TP to dry.

3. Depends on you. If you habitually sit off-center you might actually get a wet cheek. Otherwise it's eerily spot-on.

4. I don't know about using soap on my butt. That seems like it would be ... irritating. Water is plenty by itself.

I recommend trying one of the cheapo ones (Neo, for example), as they will give you an idea of what a washlet is like for a tenth or less of the cost. No heated seat or water, but I found that to be less of an issue than I expected. I bought the cheap one to see what I thought, and a couple years later I still haven't bothered upgrading to a Toto. I like the cold water. But where I live, it's not that cold.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#150

Post by sorenjan »

F00Fbug wrote: post #95
jayalpha wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does a bidet really clean you? Did you buy one in the states?

Absolutely... cleaner than TP will ever get you! Usually, a 30-second blast is all it takes. $35 on Amazon. Worth every penny!

30 seconds seems long enough that it has passed from business to pleasure by the end.
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