What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper? • Hacker News Board

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#471

Post by ducatdusk » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:05 PM UTC

chrischen wrote: post #188

donw wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I have taken only one thing away from living in Japan for near-on a decade, it is that the washlet (aka the cyber-bidet) is, quite possibly, mankind's greatest invention. The predecessor to the above were small squeeze bottles full of water, and you can still buy various versions of these today, which are heaven-on-earth as a wilderness backpacker. I picked up a travel bidet[1] for backpacking, and it has proven t…

There are non-electronic bidets that I found worked just as well (you rotated a nob to spray water using just water pressure).

I installed one of these at home. Absolutely superb.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#472

Post by mv4 » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:05 PM UTC

onetimemanytime wrote: post #347

toastermoster wrote: post #309

It was funny to see this HN post tonight. This week I'm doing upgrades to the DCS (distributed control system) operator stations at one of the largest tissue manufacturing sites in the US. I was just telling my fiancé how funny the security is here. You would think they were enriching uranium. When I first got into the paper industry, which resulted from coming out of grad school during the Great Recession, I thought…

The way US homes are designed it's hard to add a bidet to an existing bathroom, but doing away with toilet paper must be a goal. Unless you wash, you cannot feel "good" down there. That's the truth.

There are lots of products (on Amazon) that are quite easy to add to an existing bathroom.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n_1?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A2...

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#473

Post by weeksie » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:25 PM UTC

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 :-)).

Yeah, when I got back from spending about a year in SEA I immediately bought a TOTO for my apartment. Now I dread having to go when I'm out and being forced to use a barbarian toilet. I can't _wait_ for the States to catch on.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#474

Post by devmunchies » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:26 PM UTC

VVyattPrentice wrote: post #464

devmunchies wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.…

He owns his own business (funeral home) so he has his own bathroom for employees. He's hardly ever at a public restroom so I don't know what he does. I recall him carrying around a 10 pack of disposable wipes so he probably flushes them.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#475

Post by dominotw » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:26 PM UTC

VVyattPrentice wrote: post #462

Johnny555 wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

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

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#476

Post by dominotw » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:28 PM UTC

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.

depends on how furry your butt is. I have the south asian furry butt curse.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#477

Post by devmunchies » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:28 PM UTC

VVyattPrentice wrote: post #463

Cerium wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can put them in the trash.

How do you get them from the stall to the trash?

you bundle it like a paper basketball and shoot it from the stall.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#478

Post by devmunchies » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:28 PM UTC

aeorgnoieang wrote: post #454

devmunchies wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Those things are supposedly hell on every septic, and even (older?) sewer, system.

probably less so than tampons though, but that doesn't make it right I guess.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#479

Post by josefresco » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:29 PM UTC

VVyattPrentice wrote: post #463

Cerium wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can put them in the trash.

How do you get them from the stall to the trash?

You must be talking about a public toilet? I think most "normal" or home toilet routines go out the window when using a public restroom.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#480

Post by PeanutNore » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:38 PM UTC

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.