I installed two of these in my house. One of the best uses of money ever :)
Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
201–210 of 380 posts
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#202Americans, by and large, are quite bizarre when it comes to discussing anything that takes place below the belt. When I mentioned working at Google, I have had multiple people say to me, "I heard the founders at Google are OBSESSED with toilets and import special models from Japan." As if one has to be stark raving mad to use a modern toilet from Japan, instead of the old fashioned toilet which was probably imported…
From what I read on the internet 25-40% of people out there seem to stand up to wipe.. and I have to believe that's largely due to people never discussing how they use the restroom.
Well it's my understanding that it's more hygienic for women to wipe front to back, which is easier to do when you're not still sitting on the seat.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#203As a cheaper alternative, you can try these two things:
- A foot-stool to place your feet on so you are in a more natural position which seems to help with the flow of things and could reduce the amount of cleanup required. See "Going to the Bathroom 2.0" - http://youtu.be/0WQaqeC_wME
- And flushable baby wipes.
Simple but very effective.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#204I have a TOTO (cambridge ma), but it has none of the fancy features. It did come with a sticker on the seat for www.cleanishappy.com/ which sells the super toilet seat ad ons. The toliet works well and uses very little water. It doesn't spin flush but instead uses a wave of water when flushing.
We got one of these for each bathroom because they are virtually uncloggable. They may not render toilet paper obsolete, but they do very nearly render the plunger obsolete.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#205$15 in parts from your local hardware store gets you the basic tools you need to build a water-powered hygiene system. All you need is the "spray head" with flexible hose [0], plus the adaptor to make a kitchen part fit the bathroom piping (for some reason, kitchen and bathroom have non-interchangeable parts). You hang it on a hook next to the toilet, and you use it to clean yourself. I cannot live without these, and…
The handheld toilet sprayer is called a "shattaf" in the Eastern world.
http://brondell.com/blog/washing-with-water-around-the-world...
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#206The US is a notoriously price-sensitive market. For a lot of folks, they wouldn't consider paying $1000+ for a toilet when the most basic American Standard can be found for about $125. A lot of people would find it hard to justify an order of magnitude price increase. I know Boston has a Toto showroom in its North End, but I really cant consider it due to the rules of my apartment building.
How long does a toilet last? Ten years? Then we are talking less than the cost of your internet connection (and we won't mention the cost of food, which is way more than that).
The problem is that most people really don't think a fancy toilet would be any better than a normal one. Maybe even worse, based on the fancy and expensive low-flow toilets they've seen that don't work well. It's not a "pain point". So why would you spend any money on it at all?
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#207The US population seems rather stubborn regarding toilet habits. This is anecdotal, but I knew a guy who interned about a decade ago with a company that produces a lot of toilet paper here in the US. He told me that they had internally developed forms of "wet" toilet paper that were pretty much superior to the dry kind in every way (think of the difference in trying to clean off your hands with a dry paper towel and…
One obvious problem: room temperature wet things are kind of cold when you put them down there.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#208Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not a reasonable default because every visitor to your house would make a comment requiring you to justify having "fringe" bathroom habits. Edit: Not every, of course. And the number would vary by region of the US. Excuse the universal quantifier :)
> every visitor to your house would make a comment requiring you to justify having "fringe" bathroom habits. Wouldn't this have been the case in Japan in the early 80s too, when Washlets first came to the market?
There was a considerable increase in the number of dwellings in Japan with flush toilets from 45.9% in 1978 to 83.0% in 1998. This likely led to an increased acceptance of the new style of toilets because the North American & Western European style flush-toilets were not as prevalent in the home at the time and so an in-grained cultural use was not the determining factor for choosing new toilet styles.
* Stats from Statistics Bureau, Japan.
Re: Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to the article, there are devices that could be attached to existing toilet seats that cost 100$ or less. If they do work well (article claims that they have good reviews), then cost is not an issue.
I would love a Toto toilet... but I cannot comprehend the price. We're talking about some tubes and pipes. That's doesn't cost $1000. Why someone can't produce their $1200 washlet for $50 is beyond me.
Sounds like a good market to tackle, let us know when you're done. :)