Some cultures around the world feature Bidets to help clean up after using the restroom. There have always been a couple of different methods of cleaning up after using the restroom, washing up and wiping. The early history of using water to help clean up is a little clouded, but there are records of a Bidet type device being uses way back in early Roman times. The method of using water to clean around the area after using the restroom has a long history in both Indian, Muslim and other cultures around the world.
When the use of modern plumbing began to be common, many cultures eliminated to replaced what is thought of a a modern Bidets by a hand held spray device, some of these are called Indian Showers, Muslim showers, or the Shattaf.
In European history the Bidet is referenced in literature and books as early at 1710, but the first known Bidets were little more than a pot of stationary water. By the early 1900s the true Bidet had been moved into the bathroom as a permanent fixture connected to the water supply next to the toilet. The word Bidet is a French word, and it is more commonly found in the bathrooms of more upscale homes and hotels in Europe, France, Rome and luxury resorts across Europe.
The term Bidet literally means small horse, and had to do with bathing those parts of the body that were closest to their saddles. The modern Bidet is normally placed next to the toilet and it is a form of lavatory in itself. It gives a person the way to immediately clean the genital and rectal region right after using the restroom, and it is one of the most significant personal innovations for keeping clean since the original invention of indoor plumbing itself.
In the United States the Bidet is little known, and it is a novelty rather than anything very familiar for most Americans. There are those people that believe that Bidets themselves should be seen as a necessity of clean living rather than an oddity or rare item in American bathrooms, but at the current time the modern Bidet is still relatively unknown in America.
For those fans of the modern Bidet, the use of warm water and soap is certainly more effective in cleaning up after using the toilet than using dry paper. If it is logical to wash your hands after using the restroom, why is it not also more logical to wash your bottom?
No one is exactly sure why the use of Bidets is not more common in America. Maybe it is a hold over from an early Victorian type attitude, but it is not known. What is known is that using the modern type of Bidets that are on the market make good sense, and they also are very user friendly. Anyone who uses or has used one of the modern style of Bidets can tell you its something that every bathroom in America should have.
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