Bidets

The Bidet is a long standing essential accoutrement in the sophisticated homes and hotels of London, Paris, Rome, and Casablanca. It's called the Bidet (pronounced Bee-Day) and may be described as a small bath to sit in.

Originating in France, it was comprised of a simple encased receptacle used to hold the water and supported in a portable wooden stool. The name bidet originally meant small horse. French Cavaliers desirous of bathing but having little time to do so, were indeed thankful for the original version of the Bidet. It permitted partial bathing of those body parts which were in close contact with their saddles.

The Bidet is almost always placed beside the bathroom toilet and is actually a form of lavatory. It provides convenient facilities for intimate personal cleansing of the rectal and genital areas of the human body usually not accessible for washing when fully dressed. It is the most significant innovation for personal hygiene and sanitation since the introduction of indoor plumbing itself.

The chief purpose of the Bidet is to maintain for the user a constant state of cleanliness after each use of the toilet. The Bidet should be considered a hygienic necessity rather than a luxury or status symbol. Daily use of the Bidet should become as conventional as brushing one's teeth.

After elimination, it is impossible to cleanse the rectal/vaginal areas with dry toilet paper. Warm water is obviously a better cleansing agent than the softest, prettiest or costliest toilet paper available. Any family laundress or personal valet can testify to this statement.

Many people look upon the Bidet with ridicule, Some people take enough baths or showers they do not need the Bidet. It should be realized that the Bidet is not a competitor of the bathtub or stall shower, but an adjunct-auxiliary-facility.

The Bidet can be put to good use for many purposes and the therapeutic advantages of washing after elimination are obvious to every proctologist, gynecologist and general physician. Bathing the genital organs can be more easily accomplished with a bidet than a bath or shower.