Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

391–400 of 406 posts

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#391

Post by polygloty »

unhappy_meaning wrote: post #24

In almost all of SE Asia, especially Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, all of the toilets come with a hand-held sprayer. They also had this in the Doha airport and I'm not sure how common this style is outside of SE Asia but I'm guessing it's common. Japanese style bidets are very common in Korean households as well and I'm sure its easily a billion dollar business. It is nice but the functionality is quite difficult for…

If you get from up and behind all risks are eliminated. You have to tilt forward a bit but everything else becomes easier

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#392

Post by Xss3 »

barbazoo wrote: post #380
narratives1 wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet here I am on the other side surprised to hear you and others saying you’re lathering your poopy butt with your hands in a restaurant bathroom We all gotta wash our butts, but it just seems more civilized to do it in the shower as you can get everything clean, you didn’t just crap, and you’re not eating with those same hands immediately afterwards. Toilet paper + wet wipes are 100x more sanitary than what you desc…

Wet wipes sure if you dispose of them correctly. Don’t just externalizer the problem to the sewer system.

Many are flushable nowadays.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#393

Post by Xss3 »

schiffern wrote: post #377
mtalantikite wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean hey, if you want to walk around like that by all means. Maybe it's my ancestral Muslim side coming out, but I just feel dirty without cleaning myself afterwards. Also, the water isn't that cold, even in the dead of winter here in the north east. And if you can't aim from that close I'm not sure what to tell you!

Having used all three, the neatest system IMO is to everyday carry a spray bottle of 70% isopropanol. Beyond just convenient hand sanitizer, this lets your wet the paper so you can finish with 2-3 wet wipes (typ. 2x dry + 2x wet). If the paper's thin, double it over a couple more times if needed. It breaks down like TP (because it is TP), so this won't create a 100+ ton 'fatberg' in the sewer like commercial wet wipe…

Im not sure thatd be healthy.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#394

Post by Xss3 »

freetime2 wrote: post #198

Some of the features I really like about my Japanese toilet: * Heated seat * Bidet with warm water * “Omakase” power-saving setting that learns your schedule and turns off the heat during the times you are typically out or asleep. * Flush with a button press vs. turning a handle. This sounds minor, but whenever I have to use a toilet with a handle it is noticeably less convenient as you often have to keep the handle…

I have a strong dislike for typical toilet flush buttons as they are less sanitary and harder to clean.

I feel if it's already electric then everything that can be touch free should be and everything else should be crevice free.

A handle flush or chain flush also allows more control. I grew up doing slow flushes with minimal pressure at night for pee. It saved water and didn't disturb people.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#395

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #11

These are neat, but not an option for those in rentals/apartments. Instead, on the advice here, about five years ago I bought a “bum gun” from Home Depot, the fancy stainless steel version for maybe $60 at the time. https://www.homedepot.com/b/Bath-Bidets-Handheld-Bidets/N-5y... These deliver 90% of the benefits for under 10% of the cost, and less maintenance. It’s like a small metal garden hose with gun shaped valve…

How do you use something like that without making a mess splashing water everywhere? My toilet has a round seat which seems a bit small to use something like that. I'd have to get up and hover my butt over the toilet to use a handheld bidet like that, and I just imagine it splashing everywhere.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#396

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

bowsamic wrote: post #250

I’m a little concerned by the number of people here who seem to think it is totally normal to need to wipe a lot after going to the toilet. Is that a feature of the American diet?

I usually gotta wipe like 10 times.

On the Bristol stool chart, they look like type 4, which is supposed to be normal, but they make a terrible mess on the way out, and often don't exit completely. I can sit and push for however long I want, but eventually I have to pinch it off. And then I've got a huge mess that needs 10+ wipes.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#397

Post by mixmastamyk »

jki275 wrote: post #375
mixmastamyk wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NIMBYs haven't allowed enough new builds to meet demand for decades.

That statement is so broad as to be impossible to even debate. There are thousands of new houses going up where I live. Maybe there aren't where you are. Who cares?

There are millions of new people to house. 10,000 babies born per day in the US.

"Just buy a new house for your powered toilet" is not a useful argument. Most of us are going to have to deal with the older place we live in, that doesn't have power near the toilet, and/or spouse says no to an extension cord.

As I wrote originally, the "bum gun" is a lot more practical in these situations.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#398

Post by mixmastamyk »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #395
mixmastamyk wrote: post #11

These are neat, but not an option for those in rentals/apartments. Instead, on the advice here, about five years ago I bought a “bum gun” from Home Depot, the fancy stainless steel version for maybe $60 at the time. https://www.homedepot.com/b/Bath-Bidets-Handheld-Bidets/N-5y... These deliver 90% of the benefits for under 10% of the cost, and less maintenance. It’s like a small metal garden hose with gun shaped valve…

How do you use something like that without making a mess splashing water everywhere? My toilet has a round seat which seems a bit small to use something like that. I'd have to get up and hover my butt over the toilet to use a handheld bidet like that, and I just imagine it splashing everywhere.

Not really. Scoot/lean forward, keep the angle low, start with the water pressure weak and then gradually increase it. Was awkward for a day or two, then I was a pro. ;-)

Try from a store with a return policy I guess.

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#399

Post by freetime2 »

panick21_ wrote: post #389
freetime2 wrote: post #198

Some of the features I really like about my Japanese toilet: * Heated seat * Bidet with warm water * “Omakase” power-saving setting that learns your schedule and turns off the heat during the times you are typically out or asleep. * Flush with a button press vs. turning a handle. This sounds minor, but whenever I have to use a toilet with a handle it is noticeably less convenient as you often have to keep the handle…

> * Automatically flushes when you stand up Does it close the lid as well? Because if it doesn't this is a bad idea. The amount of stuff that gets spread around your bathroom if you don't close the lid is disgusting.

There's a delay between when you get off the toilet and when it flushes automatically (about 10 seconds, on some models it is configurable), so there is enough time to close the lid first. You can also turn off the feature completely, but personally I'd much rather have the toilet get flushed with the lid up than not at all (because someone forgot, made a mistake, etc).

Also, the science doesn't really back up the claim that closing the lid prior to flushing makes a meaningful difference [1]. Cleaning the bathroom and toilet regularly has a much larger impact than whether or not you close the lid before flushing.

[1] https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(23)00820-9/fu...

Re: The Rise of the Japanese Toilet

#400

Post by jki275 »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #397
jki275 wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That statement is so broad as to be impossible to even debate. There are thousands of new houses going up where I live. Maybe there aren't where you are. Who cares?

There are millions of new people to house. 10,000 babies born per day in the US. "Just buy a new house for your powered toilet" is not a useful argument. Most of us are going to have to deal with the older place we live in, that doesn't have power near the toilet, and/or spouse says no to an extension cord. As I wrote originally, the "bum gun" is a lot more practical in these situations.

Seriously. Nobody said "buy a new house".

Adding an outlet is a few minutes worth of work. It's not "buy a new house", that's about as ridiculous a straw man as I have ever heard of.

Post reply on HN