Honest question: Can a bidet user explain why bidets are superior to just having a nearby faucet to dampen the toilet paper, like this?: https://d193qi3ct19t6b.cloudfront.net/products/24229/regular... Having a separate system and jet of water seems like a lot more complexity with increased risk of splash. And the cleaning properties of dampened paper seem strictly better than a stream of water. Just like I wouldn't w…
The bidet does not need to be stand alone. You can get them for under $30 that attach under the seat.
My uncle was an engineer for a toilet paper manufacturing plant, that took logs in one end and put TP rolls out the other end. The path was over a mile long. He worked on variable speed electronic drives for the 1000 horsepower motors that turned the machinery. TP illustrates the triumph of civilization: 1000s of people all doing specialized jobs so billions of people can each avoid a daily unpleasantness.
This made me recall immediately the "I, pencil" article. It's stunning to remember that almost anything one gets to touch or see throughout the day is a product of almost always global collaboration, if we include a things conception with its production, and also transportation, selling, etc.
Shameless plug, I made a short podcast episode about this, from a systems perspective. It looks at what it takes to clean your teeth...and how systems have a tendency to spiral out this way. It’s a feature of problem solving systems: they generate new/different problems that need to be solved, and therefore propagate the system into something like global collaboration.
After our trip to Cambodia we wanted to bring the "Bum Gun" to the UK. For those who haven't tried it, it's the weirdest thing and sounds disgusting. To quote a crazy Canadian we met, "if you had poo on your arm and you wiped it off with toilet paper, would you say its clean?" That said, SE Asia really lends itself to the Bum Gun. Its warm and can be humid, so you're not really worried about being a bit damp afterwar…
"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.
> gentle spray of plain water
gentle, my eye. Here its usually forceful enough that it seems it would fountain out through my head. IMO way better than smearing things around and calling it clean.
The simplest and most effective option I have found is to use a facecloth dedicated for cleaning your bum after pooping. Extremely cost effective and a very clean feeling afterwards.
After our trip to Cambodia we wanted to bring the "Bum Gun" to the UK. For those who haven't tried it, it's the weirdest thing and sounds disgusting. To quote a crazy Canadian we met, "if you had poo on your arm and you wiped it off with toilet paper, would you say its clean?" That said, SE Asia really lends itself to the Bum Gun. Its warm and can be humid, so you're not really worried about being a bit damp afterwar…
"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.
I'm not sure about which of the two is the best solution with regards to hemorrhoids but I use "wet toilet paper" in combination with normal (dry). Dry -> wet -> dry -> usually done. It works good enough for me, and I am pretty sure that a little bit of soap and water wouldn't make my hands clean if I had poo on them. Because when I wash my ass under the shower or in the morning, and it smells a bit like poo, that smell is hard to get rid of. The question is of course whether that's a problem from a hygiene PoV. From a smell PoV, I do not want to smell poo on my hands except from my newborn. That poo I don't mind.
If you had poo on your butt, would you wipe it off with toilet paper and throw it in the trash ? No because it would stink up the place and someone can touch your poo while taking out the trash
> No because it would stink up the place and someone can touch your poo while taking out the trash
How about menstruation pads? Are you afraid to touch those as well when you take out the trash? Because what you said is true for anything which resides in a trash bin or compost bin. Heck, my plastic bin sometimes smells like rotten fish. It is disgusting. But that's what you get when you eat fish.
we seriously need a better solution for toilets. toilets use huge amounts of water. if you want to have a toilet in a moving vehicle, or anywhere that is not directly connected to a sewage line and a giant water treatment plant, then you are just out of luck because all the mobile toilet solutions out there suck. it amazes me that a good solution has evaded us for so long. when considering how to travel where-ever i…
Don't you need resources (in the case of plastic, oil) PLUS WATER to create anything? Sawdust is the only alternative in my opinion
we seriously need a better solution for toilets. toilets use huge amounts of water. if you want to have a toilet in a moving vehicle, or anywhere that is not directly connected to a sewage line and a giant water treatment plant, then you are just out of luck because all the mobile toilet solutions out there suck. it amazes me that a good solution has evaded us for so long. when considering how to travel where-ever i…
I follow the van dwelling scene a bit (got a site in the space: https://vanspiration.com) - it seems that many beforehand overstate the need for a toilet. Those moving a fair bit amongst urban areas often make-do with public or business toilets and go months without needing to use their in-van solution. Those out in the bush are digging holes.
Many will typically have a pee bottle, and then a bucket double-lined with plastic bags and filled with dirt or cat litter. There are contoured lids that fit over common bucket sizes and make something of a seat.
There are loads of cassette-type portable toilets too.
If you had poo on your butt, would you wipe it off with toilet paper and throw it in the trash ? No because it would stink up the place and someone can touch your poo while taking out the trash
Yes. I've spent time in countries with poor plumbing systems and picked up the habit. I've found that it does not stink up the trash since it dries quickly. Additionally, if you put the poo side down it all stacks up in the bin until you take it out. Since I started doing this at home I have not had to unclog a toilet.