A couple of days ago, we bought a new contraption for my brand new grandbaby: a wet-wipe warmer. It's an ingeniously simple doohickey that warms and moistens wet wipes so that the baby does not get a bum shock everytime you wipe her bottom during a diaper change. I wish I had one when I had my babies. In winter, those wet wipes can be super cold and I used to always get the shivers everytime I pulled a cold one during diaper changes. It also occurred to me that if we are smart enough to use wet wipes for every diaper change, what genius decided that as soon as we are out of our diapers, we no longer have to wipe our bottoms clean with a wet wiper? So, out of diapers and suddenly, we are now mature enough for dry, scratchy toilet paper. We no longer have to wipe, we can now SMEAR. YUCK. It's disgusting. No one wants to discuss it or say anything but it, but it isn't unusual to see stains and streaking when washing underwear. I hated that. How anyone can just walk around knowing that there's a chance of that happening is a horrifying, paralyzing thought to me. So I ask, what makes our bottoms less important to wash and keep THOROUGHLY clean after we are out of diapers? It's an untold truth. And no one wants to address it. But I will.
In the Philippines, we always had the ubiquitous 'tabo' to clean ourselves. And of late, most toilets have a hand-held spray for the same purpose. This is common in many countries in Asia and the Middle East. In Europe, there's the wonderful bidet. While vacationing in Spain, it was a wonderful amenity in our hotels so that I did not have to pine for my bathroom. Here in the US, there is no such thing. It's dry, dry DRY toilet paper. WHY??? I don't understand it and it boggles my mind. I find it most annoying....and disturbing.
My husband finally gave me the bidet of my dreams: a Toto washlet/seat. Push a button and a wand extends to provide a gentle stream of aerated water with adjustable temperature and pressure for safe and effective cleaning. There are two wands: one for ladies personal hygiene. The second wand is designed to wash the rectal area---again with adjustable temperature and pressure. Another push of a button and the air dryer is activated eliminating the use of harsh, dry toilet paper. The seat has adjustable heating so no more "yikes" in the middle of the night when you sit on icy, cold toilet seats. The wands clean themselves before they return to their slots. It's an amazing piece of doohickey! And the best part is how clean you feel. Even my husband is now convinced that there is a HUGE difference between our washlet and plain old TP. Again, like cell phones and other electronic devices, the US is decades lagging behind. In the case of toilet hygiene, we are a couple of centuries still in the dark.
To see a video of how this contraption works, click here on "The Washlet Jasmin" which has a really good animated demo of how the washlet system works although the Chloe is the model that we have.
Anyway, this just came to mind this very moment. Now I must pause for a loo break.
hehehehehe
