Which countries use bidets

It is estimated that in North America, where paper is the way to go, While the opportunity for the clunky, standard bidet to catch on in the U.

The fresh take might just work the bidet into more U. BY Karina Martinez Carter. Where there's a will, there's a bidet The bidet is believed to have originated in France in the early s, which is also where it found its name. The American Way One developed country conspicuously absent from that list is the U.

Big Questions. Subscribe to our Newsletter! In the early days of the bidet, Americans and the British thought douching was an effective method of birth control, and thus associated bidets unfavorably with contraception, even though neither douching nor bidets were effective ways to prevent pregnancy.

The French invented the bidet in s. Before the 17th century, Europe's bedrooms came outfitted with chamber pots. Starting in the s, chamber pot users would then turn to their bidet to wash their privates. Early bidets didn't spray water; instead, they were often ceramic basins set into a wooden frame to lift them.

The word "bidet" came from the French word for a small horse. In , the English antiquarian Francis Grose defined a bidet as "a kind of tub, contrived for ladies to wash themselves, for which purpose they bestride it like a little French pony. The idea of "riding the bidet" spread to English-speaking countries. In , one English traveler wrote, "I trotted behind on a little bidet. French royals quickly adopted the bidet to keep clean. The bidet became a luxury associated with the aristocracy.

In the 18th century, Marie Antoinette even had a bidet while in prison waiting for her execution. The British, on the other hand, refused to adopt the bidet. The bidet's association with French aristocrats and their hedonism led many Englishmen to reject the "French pony.

When a Manhattan hotel tried to install a bidet around , Americans took to the streets to protest. From the beginning, bidets were associated with women.

Prostitutes used bidets for hygiene; French queens like Marie Antoinette required bidets even while in prison; and bidets also helped women during menstruation.

In the 18th century, menstruation was a taboo topic. Women were expected to handle their monthly cycles in private, relying on "jelly rags" to stay clean. Bidets helped menstruating women manage their "unmentionable" discharge, which made English and American men more likely to avoid adopting bidets. The earliest bidets were more like wash basins than modern toilets.

But as indoor plumbing grew more common in the 19th century, the bidet evolved. China, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, and Taiwan: In most Asian countries, it is very difficult to find toilet paper, even in stores. Some hotels may have it available in the guestrooms. If you need to use it, it is probably good for you to take your own to guarantee your stock. Considering that toilet paper originated in China, it is very peculiar that it is not exactly popular there.

Some of these Asian countries have a toilet bowl on the floor for you to do your business. Some studies suggest that if you squat, your bathroom activities will be healthier and easier because this position is more natural for the body.

Therefore, if you ever visit one of these countries, be prepared, because you will probably need to squat and work your leg muscles to use the washroom. France, Portugal, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Venezuela, and Spain: Instead of toilet paper, people from these countries most of them from Europe usually have a bidet in their washrooms. A bidet like a toilet, but also includes a spout that streams water like a water fountain to rinse you clean.

Some bidets are separate from the toilet, while others have a toilet and bidet all in one. It is also common for people to use neutral soap with a bidet and ensure they are clean after using the restroom. Big European cities : in big European cities, you are usually charged to use a public bathroom or even to have access to toilet paper. This happens because some people work to keep this service clean and usable.

It is also important that you consider tipping the person that is responsible for this maintenance service. Much like the people of Asian cultures, you have to squat over the hole. But as a selling point for bidets, menstruation was possibly on par with unwanted pregnancy and prostitution as undesirable and unspoken during the pre- and postwar years.

In terms of finding commercial success, it was more a hindrance than a help. As such, they were shunned. Meanwhile, other countries continued to embrace the bidet. As it spread into northern Europe and southern Asia, the design morphed a bit. A mini-shower attachment connected to the toilet became a popular variation on the separate basin.

This design was similar to a nozzle patented by John Harvey Kellogg in , intended for use by the patients at a sanitarium he directed. In , the American Bidet Company took another run at making the bidet more palatable by combining the toilet seat with a spritzing function.

That same year, Cohen met with representatives of a Japanese trading company, Nichimen Jitsugyo. The firm eventually worked up its own design, which was modeled after the Sitzbath. The washlet, a love child of cleanliness and technology, brought bidet bathing into the future. Some panels add other indulgences, like seat-warming and deodorizing functions.

These devices were part of a technology upswing in Japan in the s. But while other Japanese products born in that era, such as Nintendo gaming systems, were enthusiastically embraced in the United States, the Toto super-thrones remain a curiosity to this day.