Um, excepting under exceptional circumstances, if you need to wash your genital area, you need a bath.

i have the swash 700 and the the older version of the swash 800 (two bathrooms) and we love it. i use it every time i use the bathroom. Since i use the bathroom to pee and poop at least 4 times a day i am satisfied washing my genital area rather than taking a bath that often. I feel if i get urine or feces on my hand i would wash it,s o why wouldn't i wash my genital area.
and i have been doing this (though not using the Brondel) since i was little...I guess its cultural.

"mdorothy" jajajajaja your comment made me laught so bad...

oh I forgot to ask whats the name of that plant you have on your toilet ??

I have a friend of mine from Japan who had it in their home, I think it's a good idea.

umm. it seems so bizzare. does it wash the bum too? i can't imagine that working very well. so it dries you as well?

i wish bidets were more common in america. they're really such a good idea (and much more friendly to your bum!).

lol, it's like being in Japan: http://www.poweredbytofu.com/2008/03/06/you-had-me-at-hello-kitty/ Oh how I loved the heated seats! Oregon has the same climate as Japan, so I think heated seats should be standard here as well. :)

When I went to Tokyo in 2003, my friend and I stayed a fancy hotel where we had one of these toilets. We were scared at first, but once we used it, we realized the GENIUS OF JAPANESE BATHROOM CULTURE!!!
You're actually fresh and clean. and hello, heated seats!
I'm dying to have one!
They have one at the Aveda Institute in Soho and in every stall at Morimoto, where the bathroom is amazing in it's self...
ha, I should start a web site of all the japanese bidet seats in Manhattan...

But suppose there is a power blackout?

They're also widely used in Korea and I like them a lot. I don't know anyone who takes a bath after every trip to the restroom, so yeah, they keep you much cleaner.

I'm not convinced they save much on tp, though, and they do use power if you keep them turned on for the seat-heating feature. We don't heat the seat, seems kind of wasteful.

We have a version made by iZen and love it. It has cut our toilet paper use down by at least 50%, maybe more. I was resistant at first since it's pretty ugly, but the environmental and cleanliness benefits won me over. Regular toilets seem gross to me now.

Hated them in Japan, hate them here. And a heated toilet seat? Really? We need this?

Love. I was brought up in an... um.. bum washing environment in Italy and I really wish America would join the clean bottom cult.

A clean bum is a happy bum

(And just think of all the trees you'd be saving)

Forgive me for being crude, but why does this cut paper usage by 50%, rather than 100% (have never seen or used one before, pardon my ignorance).

It may cut paper but it uses electricity. I used a similar contraption in the Louvre Museum toilets. It cost 1€50 (about 2$, I think). It was nice but it took a while to go through its range, not for a 'quick pee'.

I'll stick to my flushable biodegradable baby wipes.

This whole article and comments is so unbelievable for a non US reader... I just can´t stop laughing!
In fact, in many countries the bathroom is considered incomplete if there is no bidet. Only in small bathrooms is acceptable not to have a bidet separate from the toilet, and there is a small gadget to add when there is no enough space, something like this: http://www.bidematic.com/
Come on, join the universal flow and try a new life with a bidet...(however, the seat warmer and air dryer seems a little bit japanese to me, not really necessary).

I thought bidets were from an era when females didn't 'groom' as well as they do today. (Read between lines.)

the swash 700 has an auto shut off so it does not waste electricity, not sure if its th case with the new swash 800, but the older model one does not have it.
i like the heated seats, its particularly useful on those cold NE winter mornings. i agree that the warm air is not that useful.

the new swash 800 has a power saver mode too

I had bidet the traditional type next to the urinal growing up.
I have been wanting to install one, the prices have come down on them and this one pictured does not look bad at all.

My friend just installed one for her 78 year old mother, it a nice thing to have as you get older too.

Baileyb, your comment makes no sense and is bordering on offensive. Bidets always have been used by both men and women. They weren't invented solely to address female hygiene.

I also wish people wouldn't dismiss a new concept out of hand without experiencing it themselves. I would argue that regularly using a bidet is probably more 'clean' than just using toilet paper.

What on earth is wrong with wiping your ass?

You're going to have a shower eventually (I know that I shower at least five times a week), whats wrong with a little pee dribble or poo smear?

Clean freaks make me laugh - I wish I had time to worry about things that are so utterly inconsequential..

I am going to keep on living my dirty-assed life, and not spend $850 on some ridiculous toilet thing.

I have never tried a bidet, but I think I would definitely consider it. Of course, it would likely have to be in a hotel or already installed somewhere I moved into. I don't think I could justify the cost to buy one (without ever having tested one out at least).

I grew up in Montreal, and as a kid, I recall seeing the seperate toilet/bidet in some of my friend's homes (usually in the master bathroom). I lived in the Toronto area for over 20 years, and never saw a single one. Maybe there are more European influenced home builders in Quebec?

Anyway, I can totally see how the combination toilet/bidet would be cleaner BUT I always wondered about the washrooms where they were individual units. Not to be rude, but couldn't moving from one to the other result in "drips" on the floor? I am mainly speaking from a female viewpoint here.

Maybe a silly question, but I'm curious....

If you are walking the street, and from the fourth story window above you, someone tosses out a piece of shit. Maybe from a dog, maybe not. It unfortunately hits you on the arm. Will you wipe your arm with a tissue and call it a day (until you shower that night or the next morning)? That's the same thing as wiping your ass with toilet paper.

Its disgusting that we don't have bidets everywhere in the US. For being such a clean freak country, we have some disgusting habits about personal hygiene.

Note that if you are on a budget, you can get hand operated bidets for around $70... http://www.sanicare.com/category_s/3.htm

Just as easy to install, and just as effective. These types are very common in southeast Asia. Spicy food and all...

i declare dave.darling. the winner.

I've never used a bidet, but I shower regularly. I look, smell, and feel clean.

My philosophy is- if its not broke, don't fix it.

Baileyb- I don't think your comment is offensive. The fact that women in our culture commonly use tampons and keep their genital hair shorter would decrease some of the need for a bidet. I think that it is a valid point, given the topic.

Friends we knew had a bidet put in next to their toilet in their master bath when they built their home back in the 70's, but I don't recall the main bath downstairs having one and the half bath upstairs didn't have one and Evelyne was French.

Never used one and I can see how they can be effective. And from one who tends to get, well, messy when I do #2 sometimes, it DOES require several wads of TP to get it all cleaned up so this could well be a very effective solution and cut down on TP usage and the purchasing of.

And besides, it'd probably help w/ the chaffing from using cheap toilet paper.

I first encountered bidets during a visit to Italy -- where I initially thought they were miniature bath tubs for babies or perhaps dogs -- and quickly became a fan. Not only do you feel cleaner after using the toilet, a quick wash and a splash of cold water is incredibly refreshing on a hot day. It's also very nice after sex.

I suspect a lot of Americans are turned off by bidets because we're not used to the idea of lavishing non-sexual attention on our private parts. It's viewed as self-indulgent or overly fastidious. To me, it seems weird that products for genital-area grooming and feminine "hygeine" are advertised on prime-time television -- gotta keep that bush presentable -- but people think there's something weird about using washing your bits with water after urinating and defacating.

Remind me to stay away from dave.darling's ass...

Brondell Swash 800? $850.

bepsf"s comment: Priceless.

To the rest of the world who are used to cleaning their rear ends when they defecate, American squeamishness/denial on this matter is humorous. If you got a piece of poop on your face, would you rub it into your skin with toilet paper and feel OK? Then why is your butt different?

My daughter lived abroad - Argentina - for some time, and had a boyfriend who told her, "I can't understand how Americans walk around with dirty asses all the time."

I have two bidets (one is a Brondell Swash 800, by the way), am a man, and American, and likewise cannot understand why anyone would not have one of these in the bathroom.

to tchase65:

The dripping is a reasonable concern, but in practice it does not happen very often. I am a man and it certainly did not with me, but my wife and I have lived in Italy, where they have separate units - which I prefer, by the way - and it was never a problem for her either. They are next to each other - one does not have to take the bus the the other side of town!

I would love it if bidets were the norm here in America. But, what makes them so expensive? I would think they wouldn't be much more expensive than a toilet. I wonder if they are as expensive in countries where they are the norm / more common.

Having used these toilets at Morimoto in NYC and at a friend's house, I can say. They are amazing. Why is everyone so fussy about it? They feel nice...ahem soothing. Living in the Netherlands where bidets and warm toilet seats are not the norm. I'm seriously considering getting something like this. And no to mdorothy. Having to wash your genitals doesn't mean you need a bath. Ideally you should wash your goods every time you urinate or move your bowels but jumping into the bath or shower each time is not very realistic. But this is!
-anna
chateausavoie.com

These things are great. Lived in Japan and Korea for a while and quite frankly, i can't live without them.

There are many styles available now. I got a Blooming NB-R1060 from BidetKing.com - Electronic Bidet Seats and freaking love it.

America needs to step up its game.