Why Bidets Are the Only Bathroom Accessory With a Die-hard Fan Base

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I didn't see a bidet with my own eyes until I was 14 years old. My parents (and I, reluctantly) were preparing to move from a small town in New Jersey to Boca Raton, Florida, a city many people associate with wealth and older people. We were exploring fully furnished home models in the town's seemingly infinite gated communities, which had names like "Broken Sound" and "Lexington Estates," looking for the one we would call home. one piece toilet seat

It was in the bathroom of an especially fancy model that I encountered a strange toilet-sink hybrid next to a regular toilet. It was the same height and shape as the toilet, but instead of a lid, tank, and opening at the bottom of the bowl, it had what appeared to be a faucet and a sink-like drain with a stopper.

"What is that?" I asked my mom.

"Oh, that's a bidet," she said. "It's for cleaning your butt."

My adolescent brain was horrified. A butt-cleaning machine? What was this hellscape of inevitable humiliation my parents were moving me to? "Do we have to get one of those when we move here?"

"No, no," my mom assured me. "Sometimes they just put weird stuff in these models."

Thus, my unenlightened opinion of bidets was formed: They're weird and, just like Boca, they're associated with wealth and older people. To this day, I haven't tried one.

You can imagine my surprise when Hez, one of my best childhood friends from that small town in New Jersey, recently told me they use a bidet every single day—and that it changed their life. I knew for a fact that there wasn't a bidet in Hez’s childhood home, and I was pretty sure the Seattle house they now live in didn’t come with one. How did one of my best friends become weird, rich, and old without me noticing?

"It truly makes all the difference in the world," they said. "We clean our bodies in running water in the shower, why wouldn't you want your ass cleaned out after taking a shit?"

Hez has never been one to mince words, and they made an excellent point. I basically keep Cottonelle in business with the number of butt wipes I buy, but I've always worried that I'm being wasteful in the pursuit of a clean crack. Clearly, it's time for me to reconsider the bidet.

James Lin, founder of bidet purveyors BidetKing and Alpha Bidet, is a man on a mission to normalize the appliance among young American adults. "I'm a millennial myself, and if it weren't for my line of business, most of my friends would not care to use bidets," Lin says. "There are some bidet companies out there trying to reach my age group, and it's mostly with the cheaper, non-electric, attachment-type bidets. These tend to be more popular with the younger generation that may not be ready to plop down a few hundred on a fully featured bidet seat." (Ha. “Plop.”)

"That being said, these entry-level bidet attachments act as a sort of gateway drug into the world of bidets," Lin continues. “When people eventually move into their own home or have an older family member in need, they'll go for an electronic bidet seat instead.”

Hold up—there are bidet tiers? Lin confirms this. Essentially, they all work the same way—by shooting a stream of water at your anus to loosen and rinse away the ickiness—but there are now several different types.

"The traditional European style is an actual fixture that sits next to your toilet," Lin explains. "They're the first image most Americans have of what a bidet looks like." I'm one of those Americans, clearly. Lin isn't a big fan of these because they're expensive to implement without doing a complete bathroom remodel, but there are others that work just as well—without the need to do a demolition job on your loo.

The kind Hez uses is a non-electric attachment, which can take the form of a larger sprayer that resembles a detachable shower head next to the toilet or a small spigot that sits between your toilet seat and bowl. These options "use your home's water pressure to spray water and are controlled by knobs or levers," Lin explains. "They range in price from $20 to $150."

Non-electric bidets, as you might have guessed, don’t require an electrical outlet to do their thing, and they fit most toilets. Many even allow for customized stream intensity and adjustable nozzle angles. However, not all of them offer temperature control, and the hose and attachments might not be as aesthetically pleasing as some would like.

One option that has gained popularity in recent years is the aptly named Tushy, which, you may be excited to learn, comes in a variety of colors such as pink, blue, and gold.

Lin's favorite kind of bidet is the Japanese-style electronic bidet seat that sits on top of your toilet bowl, replacing the regular toilet seat, like the Alpha iX Pure Bidet Toilet Seat. "Bidet seats will have features like heated water, heated seat, and warm-air drying, and they are controlled via buttons on a remote control or side panel," he says. "They range in price from $200 to $1,000." To put it simply, the more settings, the higher the price.

Despite growing up with a conventional stand-alone bidet, blogger and founder of Afrobella Patrice Grell Yursik prefers more modern options. “I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, and even though it’s a Caribbean island, there was very much an old-world British and European influence,” she recalls. “So when I was a teen, my mom and dad built a house with two bidets. At present,” Yursik tells me, “I have the much more efficient and affordable 'washlet,' or attached toilet seat with a built-in bidet," adding that, she insists, electronic bidet seats are much easier to use than the fixtures she used growing up.

Allure senior editor Jesa Marie Calaor is unabashedly obsessed with electric bidet attachments that have dryers, especially the Biobidet BB-2000 Bidet Toilet Seat. "It has so many settings—heated water, heated seat, dryer, deodorizer—that I only ever want to use the bathroom in my own home," she says. But of course, with more settings comes a higher price. This bidet attachment is $549, which is a bigger spend than the non-electric options previously mentioned.

If you want to drop a couple grand on a bidet toilet seat, there’s the Toto Washlet 7A, which has all of the imaginable bells and whistles. It’s equipped with an automatic bowl cleaner, instantaneous water heating, personalized settings for multiple users—and even a nightlight.

At that point, though, you may just want to buy a more expensive and whole bidet-toilet hybrid, which replaces your entire toilet. (Please note that this is not a renter-friendly option, unlike the electric toilet seats, which can easily be added and removed with your landlord being none the wiser, as long as you hold onto the toilet’s original seat.)

“Travel bidets have been around in some form or another for a long time,” Lin says. They come down to two types, he explains: squeeze bottles and battery-powered. “The squeeze bottles are much cheaper and have a decent spray, so they are the most popular type.” The Luxe Portable Bidet, for example, is a simple squeeze bottle with a long nozzle. For the especially design-minded, the Tushy Travel is a cleverly collapsible, colorful option with a hinged nozzle and a carabiner, in case you want to proudly carry it in your bag.

Says Lin, the battery-powered type—like the Wonderspray Portable Bidet—hasn't gained as much traction because the spray typically isn’t strong enough to fully clean. “It’s better than having nothing while traveling,” he notes, “but it’s not a perfect everyday solution.”

Despite the rising popularity of bidets, they are still very much a foreign concept to Americans—somewhat literally. Unlike in Italy, where homes have been legally required to have at least one bidet since 1975, the US is still reluctant to make bidets a normal part of a hygiene routine. According to a 2023 analysis of the availability of bidets in hotels around the world, less than 1% of American hotels offer a bidet. (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, and the UK are also in the less-than-1% club.)

"Most Americans only get exposed to bidets while traveling abroad or through that one friend who can't stop talking about bidets,” Lin says. “Whether it's a mental hang-up about personal hygiene or a simple lack of exposure, Americans just aren't familiar with the concept.”

He explains further that “in the US, both the stigma against openly discussing personal hygiene and a longstanding devotion to toilet paper prevent more widespread bidet usage,” adding that wiping with toilet paper may be so widely accepted in the US that nobody questions whether there's a more effective or more environmentally friendly option.

Aside from just feeling cleaner, bidets offer a way to keep under-there skin happier and healthier. Says Omer Ibrahim, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Chicago, “In my practice, I see many folks complaining of perianal dermatitis, and most times it is caused by the products they are using or simply from the friction of toilet paper.”

Dr. Ibrahim also points out that using a bidet can cut back on or eliminate that irritation: “Bidet usage is much healthier for perianal skin because the usage of water cuts down on the usage of chemically laden wet wipes and toilet paper.”

All of that is to say: Using a bidet is not just about feeling clean. Says Dr. Ibrahim, “It is important to keep that area as healthy as possible because irritation in that area increases the risk of bacterial infection and irritation.” Irritation can cause inflammation, which, he adds, can lead to pain, itching, and—if left long enough—infection.

One of the main reasons Americans who do embrace bidets have done so is because they're much less wasteful than relying solely on toilet paper. "Toilet paper production is extremely resource-intensive, consuming massive amounts of water and trees during the process," Lin says. "Using a bidet consumes a negligible amount of water and can easily reduce your toilet paper usage by 75% or more."

That seems like quite a number, and admittedly, we couldn't find scientific confirmation for it—but Adam S. Peer, a candidate of Harvard University Extension School’s master’s degree in sustainability, agrees that using a bidet is better for the environment. “In my research, I found that if a US consumer completely switched to bidet use, they could lower their carbon footprint by about 85 kg per year,” he says, “equivalent to driving about 218 miles.”

Toilet paper isn't just wasteful, Lin adds, it's inefficient. He points out that toilet paper can sometimes leave behind residue. "You're just smearing with paper,” he says, highlighting how water can effectively dislodge feces and paper. “Don’t we use water to clean everything else in our lives?"

Says Dr. Ibrahim, toilet paper is especially likely to leave residue if it’s low quality or very soft. “The residue can be small fibers that remain on the skin after wiping,” but using a bidet can reduce or eliminate that residue.

"There's a pretty big chunk of the US population that plans their bowel-movement schedule so they can take a shower immediately afterward,” he continues. “They know that they don't feel clean enough with toilet paper alone.” The beauty of bidets is that they provide post-shower cleanliness where it counts, without the need to take a full shower.

Yursik says her bidet isn't only useful post-poop, it's a game-changer during her period too. "For many years of my life, I dealt with heavy bleeding and clots," she says. "Because I was familiar with the old-school bidet, I was initially hesitant when I invested in a washlet, but it's been wonderful. I would recommend it to anyone who has heavy periods."

Dr. Ibrahim says go for it. “Using a bidet can help with maintaining cleanliness and hygiene during menstruation,” he says. “The gentle stream of water can effectively clean the area, which can be more comfortable and thorough compared to using toilet paper alone.”

In fact, it was menstruation that inspired my friend Hez to consider a bidet in the first place. "I got the idea to get a toilet attachment when I had my period in South Africa," they tell me. "I use period underwear because I'm more into free-bleeding. I was a little irritated down there from a heavy bleeding day, so I got into the bathtub at the hotel and used the shower head attachment to clean myself off."

It was a revelation. "It had really good water pressure and I felt so fresh afterward," they say. "I was like, 'We need an attachment at home.'"

So Hez made a small investment that they feel has paid for itself tenfold. "When I was younger, I thought bidets were just for rich Europeans, and the idea of using one sort of freaked me out," they recall. "I thought it would be too shocking, and maybe tickle or hurt. But I can say with confidence that none of that is true." A bidet is simply a useful household contraption that should come standard in all homes, like a toilet or refrigerator, they add. "There’s nothing silly, hippy, or bourgeois about bidets," Hez concludes. “It's just water.”

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Why Bidets Are the Only Bathroom Accessory With a Die-hard Fan Base | Allure