America Welcomes the Bidet
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Despite the manufacturers of toilet paper assurances of their production levels being able to keep up with our demand, the irrational hoarding of toilet paper we've witnessed in 2020 was impossible to ignore. The more progressive consumers caught in the midst of said tissue panic quickly realized that the best approach isn't to flood their closets with years of toilet paper supply, but to address the problem at its core, so to speak.
Regardless of the reasoning and purchasing behavior dynamics, sometime in the spring of 2020 it became clear that the answer lies in the solution that has been known for years in many parts of the world, but for whatever reason hasn't been adapted in the US, with a few exceptions.
Of course we're talking about the bidet.
The shortage of the toilet paper products had jumpstarted the adoption of the bidet almost universally in the United States, in some places to the point where the bidets themselves became scarce. In the past Americans have been exhibiting an impenetrable resistance to bidets, a common sight in European and Asian bathrooms. Perhaps there's been a cultural dissonance between how we think about our bathroom experiences, and the idea of jets of water gently cleaning our behinds. Whatever the mental threshold, it's been destroyed by the spread of the coronavirus – our long-held views on self-washing have changed practically overnight.
What's interesting, is that whenever bidets are presented to the American public at trade shows, such as CES and Home Show, people do line up like it's the latest sports car prototype. The manufacturer at the forefront of tushy cleaning industry is Japanese conglomerate TOTO. They've trademarked a new name for their bidet products, and call them Washlets™, which is a fusion of the bidet functionality packaged into a heated toilet seat that retrofits on top of your existing toilet, and comes with a remote controller that looks like it controls a space program. TOTO's full bidet toilets are called Neorest™, and one of them was featured on Keeping Up With the Kardashians reality TV show.
Today, bidets are being manufactured for more than just celebrities and early adopters with disposable income. As interest in sustainable products and water conservation is growing among the general public, many manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon making them accessible for the rest of us. After a few google searches, one can find that Americans use 30 million rolls of TP every day,– an equivalent of a forest.
Affordable entry-level models of the TOTO Washlet can be found at home improvement stores like Lowes, and websites like www.bath4all.com and others. Moreover, new inexpensive alternatives, such as the ones from BioBidet and Brondell, allow you to clip on a bidet attachment without electricity or dedicated water connections, as it draws water from your existing toilet's supply lines. One of the models we just got is under $60 – easily affordable considering it replaces the constant need to purchase toilet paper.
Take a look at other options we carry, and keep in mind – last year for our Black Friday sale most of the models were gone by Saturday.
