I didn't know there was such a stark divide between countries, but personally I've always had a vague feeling that using paper was kind of dirty. I didn't think about it much until I read this article, but I just realized that since I was young, I've been doing both. That is, assuming the sink is close enough to the toilet, I usually fold the toilet paper very thickly and then dab some warm water onto it. Probably still not as clean as a bidet, but perhaps a slight improvement?

P.S. I expect a royalty payment from any reader who decides to adopt this method.

"It will deodorize the room. It has special dirt-repelling, extremely advanced chemicals layered on the ceramics. They all have a remote-control panel next to the toilet so that you can adjust the heat. All the seats are heated; that's just standard."

And how does it get your asshole dry after soaking it?

after having an operation to clean a boil in an embarassing place (fistula in ano)

the danish medical professor advized me to wash myself with a "telephone shower" to avoid more problems

so I do just that

Hugh W

There's no expression for how clean you can feel. Toilet paper is useless by comparison.

You can get a mini-bidet attachment to an average toilet, but the main is only cold. In some places that's no big deal, but I live in Canada. For most of the year ice-cold water just won't cut it. When my parents immigrated here from Argentina they were shocked by the barbarism of the country without bidets.

I find it incredible that government governing is an idea that has been so eviscerated and demonized in this libertarian culture that now Matt Damon is encouraged to step in to take care of public sanitation in the world. Kudos to him, and i hope he does a lot of good. But isn't this kind of ... oligarcic? Whoever makes the most money gets to make policy now? Why should Bill Gates or Brad Pitt make policy? Because they have money? I say the people with the best ideas should convince the public to entrust them with putting those ideas into practice. That's called democracy.

Having been to Beijing and Xi'an, I'll take US seated flush toilets any day.

I took a picture of the MacDonalds squat toilet with handbar and flush handle in Xi'an. It was nice,clean and worked, the best squat toilet I encountered in China. The toilets at the Great Wall in Beijing are the worst I've ever encountered including Europe, Mexico,and Latin America, and truck stops in West Texas.

Maybe the US isn't converted to water toilets (which by the way I've rarely encountered bidets in B&B's and staying in friend's homes in Europe) but I've never had to figure out how to urinate squatting without hitting my shoes and simultaneously suppressing the urge to heave from the smell and detritus. China gave me a whole different level of appreciation for sanitation in the US. And I've camped, used the ammo box, and cat holes so primitive is no stranger.

After 10 years living in Japan I HAD to bring home a washlet, which is the combo toilet seat with heated seat/bidet etc.

I was so looking forward to installing it. I knew there'd be some issues because it requires electricity to operate, and any North American toilet I've seen never has an electrical outlet as close as would be necessary to plug it in, as is standard in Japan.

After running into problems with several electricians who wouldn't install the outlet where I wanted it, the washlet sits unused. Though reading this article has inspired me to perhaps drag it out, and see what I can do about getting it hooked up.

Someone up above (or is it down below?) asked how it dries you after soaking you. Theres a blowdryer function.

Reminds me of my trip to Asia several years ago. While in Malaysia the first toilet I encountered consisted of a hole in the floor and a garden hose. Afterwards, I never felt cleaner.

Well, that just about sums it all up,

I lived in Bangalore for a month and Bombay for two months this year. I have seen the sanitation problems first hand among the poor in those cities and agree that it is a critical, deal with it now, problem.

On another note, the middle class in India have an ingenious alternative to the bidet. They too believe that toilet paper is unsanitary. All middle class homes have a hose and spray valve attached to the wall near the toilet. You use the spray and your left hand to clean yourself and then you use a bit of toilet paper to dry before pulling up your pants. And then, of course, you wash your hands. It's a great solution, because you don't have to spring for a whole other fixture, the bidet, which would be costly. And your butt's actually clean.

I found it hard going back to paper when I came home.

I was looking for a water solution for our toilet, being tired of endless butt-scrubbing with paper, which, as the article points out, is not very clean, nor is it environmentally friendly. I don't dig the idea of chopping down a tree to wipe my ass with.

I found a bunch of "bidet-conversion" gadgets, but most were either horribly primitive or else super-expensive. Then I found the Jetty.

It's a very elegant and well-designed solution, inexpensive, easy to install, durable, made of stainless steel. This thing should be standard on all toilets. My kids love it too. The only danger is if you crank it up too high, it can spray water.

My husband refuses to use it, but he's a typical booty-phobic American guy.

I wrote a detailed blog entry about our Jetty. Seriously, check it out. And no, I'm not a paid shill, I just really like the product.

http://www.viviente.com/2008/04/i_got_jetty_1.html