Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Where Have You Been All My Life?


I mentioned in yesterday’s post about my bathroom renovation that the new bidet toilet seat deserved a post of its own. I admit I was a little squeamish about using it the first time, but after one try, I’m sold on the concept, and wonder where this thing has been all my life.

If you’ve traveled to Europe, you are probably familiar with bidets. They usually sit beside the toilet and provide cleansing to the privates. Of course, as Americans, we often have no clue what a bidet is when we first see one. I have heard stories of young travelers believing the appliance was meant for hand washing or to substitute as a water fountain (yech!). But when the concept is finally explained, you will notice an imaginary light bulb above the head of most people and hear the ‘oh yea’ come out of their mouths.

In America, bidets never really caught on. More often than not, there is not enough room in our bathrooms for a second ‘throne’. That was definitely the case in my bathroom. My house is 48 years old. When it was built, emphasis was placed on large living areas and bathrooms remained small. So when I was reviewing options for our bathroom renovation, I was quite excited to find something called a bidet toilet seat. In September 2007, the New York Times ran this article on the subject of bidet toilet seats.

The one I settled on for our bathroom is manufactured by a company called CleanButt. Really. I’m not kidding. But setting aside the giggle-inducing name, this thing is incredible! I can adjust the temperature of the toilet seat. I can adjust the temperature of the water. I can change the position of the spray and can even have the spray pulse. The adjustments can be made to make sure every part of one’s privates are cleansed. And then after the warm water spray, I can turn on the air dryer – yes, I can blow dry my butt! And the best thing – I can do all those things with a remote control!! My toilet has a remote control!

Seriously, I sought out this solution because Ashley’s lack of fine motor control means she doesn’t always get as clean as she should after toileting. That problem is now solved and she also loves the bidet seat. After sharing this information with some of my friends, they immediately began brainstorming about others for whom this seat would be beneficial – one friend’s mother with rheumatoid arthritis who requires assistance in the bathroom, another friend’s young child who is working on toilet training, and another friend’s family member who has lost an arm.

I urge you to visit the CleanButt (giggle, giggle) website and take a look for yourself. They even have a video you can view, but don’t worry, they don’t have a real person using the bidet in the video.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed! I just left your url on the site of a quadriplegic woman. This product needs to be advertised more! Barbara

Anonymous said...

I saw this on Tori & Dean!!! They actually videotaped Dean sittng on the toilet talking about its marvels!!

I am definately considering this one when I buy my house!!

Thanks for the ravishing review!

mommy~dearest said...

Whoo Hoo!!! Three cheers for your remote controlled private cleaner butt dryer!

That is awesome. the convertible of toilet seats. :)

And yay that Ashley gets to enjoy her bubble baths!

Bonnie sayers said...

I have been researching bidets since my nonverbal autistic son is not yet toilet trained at age 12. I think this is needed to get this done.

Growing up in NJ there was a friend whose father worked at EXXON and they built this cool looking house in the late 70s and they had a bidet. First and only one I ever saw. Never used it.

Someone on the news was talking about them the other day or on a late nite talk show.

I watched many episodes of Tori and Dean and did not see that one.

Ashley's Mom said...

Autismfamily, the bidet toilet seat has really helped my daughter with toilet training also. She is 13 years old, and is trained for urinating but not for BMs. However, just since having this seat installed, she has been much more willing to work on that also. We were successful twice yesterday!!

The contractor who did my renovation was so impressed with the seat that he has now become a distributor for our area of the country.