This evening when I signed onto my yahoo page I saw in my Wiki How to of the Day something very interesting especially to me, who only 2 years ago never even knew what the main feature of this how to was. Call me naive, but I was a girl who didn’t ride in an airplane till age 20 and I grew up in Spokane! So what crazy tip was it? How To Use a Bidet!.
I never really had given the bidet much thought. We have one, as a lot of homes in Italy do (ours happens to be pink) but for me, it is usually the thing I wash my feet in, or the thing that gets in the way of the cords to my hair dryer or straightener, or even the thing that stares at me whilst I’m doing my business. The article is a step by step in self hygiene (that stresses using the toilet before the bidet), but it sparked my interest. What’s up with the bidet, anyway?
The inventor is unknown, but credit is often given to Christophe Des Rosiers, a furniture maker for the French royal family in the early 1700’s. The word bidet is French for pony. Apparently someone saw the connection with sitting on a bidet and riding horses. In the 1900’s the bidet moved from the bedroom to the bathroom (can you imagine?)
Bidets today are not only popular in Europe, but also India, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela (found in 90% of households), the Middle East, some parts of Asia and Japan. Check out this story of a recall on Japan made bidets. Talk about Fire Crotch! I don’t mean Lindsay Lohan either! Americans first encountered bidets in WWII inside the French brothels, and it is gaining in popularity in the form of attachments to toilets.
Here are some cool/funny/interesting uses for/antique bidets:
Do you have a bidet in your home? Do you use as was intentioned or for another purpose (cat bed, foot-washer, ect)?
I love my bidet. When I move back to the U.S. I am making sure to have one in every bathroom in the house! How did I live life before without them?! HAHA.
My italian ex used to say when we were living in Chicago that americans are barbarians living without bidets. I tend to agree now!
Ah yes…i forgot about the toilet/bidet thingys in Japan. Last year when I was in Japan, i experienced the japanese bidet. It was great…and so high tech! I could have kept my butt on the toilet all day! Haha!
I’ve never had a bidet in any bathroom or even used one (product of only living in the U.S). I guess that will all change in a few weeks when we get to Italy! I definitely would never ever want one in the bedroom!
Oh, my boyfriend would LOVE the picture of the bidet with the beer icing inside it! LOL. Living in the U.S., the first time I ever saw a bidet was when we visited Italy. I think it would be fun having one, if anything for the look of it.
during my study aboad in rome, we never used ours in the apartment..it just got in the way! it got dusty and dirty from the lack of use so i just threw a big towel over it for the whole semester..our cleaning lady and p. thought we’d all gone mad for not using our bidet, lol. nice post “suki”, keep up the good work! =)
Jessica,
Only you! This is a funny, entertaining and educational story about the bidet. The flowers, cat and beer were good choices for alternate use.
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Since I live in the US, I am without a bidet. However, when I am in Europe I always use it as a foot washer. It also makes a great back-up clothes washer if you’re desperate!
I’ve recently moved to Australia where they hardly know what a bidet is. It’s probably one of the things I miss most of Italy! lol First thing I’ll do when I’ll be able to buy a house is put one in the bathroom!
Thank so much for having a look to my blog!
If only I didn’t have so much work to do I would update it more regularly! Aaaah!
If you don’t mind, I will add your blog to my blogroll.
Take care!^^
I had no idea what a bidet was really for or how to use one. Now I do.. I learned somethign today
Thanks!
When we first bought our house, I wanted to take out our bidet, so we could fit a bathtub. Now I am so glad we kept it. I love the bidet. And always miss it when I travel back to the U.S. It’s a *good thing*.
I’m surprised that no one yet has mentioned shaving your legs in the bidet. I find that my bidet is in the exact perfect position for leg shaving. I also use it to wash my feet and, very occasionally, for it’s intended purpose.
I had a French friend visiting who laughed when she saw my bidet. Apparently, in France they are considered terribly old fashioned and kind of yucky - she said “only my grandmother has a bidet.”
Great topic, I love the “how to” — I remember when I first moved here and spoke next to no Italian and asked my two roommates (two college girls) what that thing was for! If you don’t grow up with it, it’s not like you’re going to know exactly how to use it.
Allow me to be the first to say that my cat Pavel has been known on occasion to mistake the bidet for a cat bed. And my other cat Betsy thinks it’s her personal water fountain. Don’t tell Ale…he can’t stand that we don’t have bidets in the US, drives him nuts.
You gotta check out the COCO bidet. Older style bidets are inconvenient because you have to hop from the toilet to the bidet.
http://www.biolifetechnologies.com