The Bidet Episode

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Speaker 14 There is clearly a bidet for every budget. You can get a cold water model for maybe $25,

Speaker 14 or you could get something like the Toto Neo Rest, which is this high-end toilet with a bidet integrated into it. And there's one of those models that costs $25,000 to $25,000.

Speaker 15 I'm Christine Zeer-Clissette.

Speaker 16 I'm Kyra Blackwell.

Speaker 17 I'm Rosie Guerin. And you're listening to The Wire Cutter Show.

Speaker 17 My pod friends. Hi.

Speaker 14 Hi.

Speaker 17 A little serious today. I have now known you both for about a year.
I'm ready to be open. I really trust you both.

Speaker 15 And everyone listening to this podcast.

Speaker 14 I feel that it's intimate.

Speaker 17 I feel it's an intimate group of us, and I am ready to be a little bit vulnerable, and I'm finally ready to come out to you both.

Speaker 17 I am

Speaker 16 bidet curious.

Speaker 15 Rosie, we were wondering. You're so supportive that I felt

Speaker 14 so happy for you. I am really curious about the game for the day.

Speaker 15 Well, I think, Rosie, you know that Kyra and I are pretty hardcore team bidet.

Speaker 16 But we respect all walks of life.

Speaker 15 If you are not into it, it's totally

Speaker 14 totally fine. Love is love.

Speaker 15 But I think this is really one of the coolest products that you could install in your bathroom.

Speaker 15 If you've never used one before, you may not understand how great they are, but I think once you get a bidet, there's kind of no going back.

Speaker 17 Can you both talk about your first times?

Speaker 17 When were, like, when did you first encounter the rosie? I know. I first

Speaker 14 girls. I told you it is, it's personal today.

Speaker 15 I think the first time for me was I was at a hotel in LA that is a hotel. It's like a Japanese hotel chain and all of the bathrooms have bidets.
And I was kind of like, oh, I don't know.

Speaker 15 Like, it's got a lot of buttons. I'm a little bit skeeved out.
But I tried it and it was like... discovering what a shower was.

Speaker 14 I was like, I'm finally clean.

Speaker 16 My first experience with a bidet, I was studying abroad in Shanghai and China has a funny mix of public toilets.

Speaker 16 It's either you have a toilet that you would recognize anywhere, you have one of those holes in the floor that you squat over, and then one random day I went to this fancy hotel in Shanghai and they had a bidet.

Speaker 16 And it was like, I went from squatting over a hole like the week before to having this beautiful like toto washlet and it changed my life.

Speaker 17 These moments sound really impactful. I'm ready to be open to the idea of getting a bidet and I want to learn more.

Speaker 15 Well, we have the perfect guest that we're going to bring on today, Doug Mahoney, who is a senior staff writer here on our home team. he is a total expert on bidets.

Speaker 15 He's tested nearly 30 of them for our guide to bidets, and he knows a lot about them. He was like a real bidet skeptic when he started testing them and he's now pretty hardcore team bidet as well.

Speaker 15 So he's a convert. Yeah, he's a convert.
So he's the perfect person to come and lay out why you might want to get one.

Speaker 16 He's going to hold your hand, okay?

Speaker 17 I would follow that man anywhere.

Speaker 16 All right, we're going to take a quick break and then when we're back, we're going to chat about how they work, how Doug tested them, and what his best recommendations are. Be right back.

Speaker 1 The Wirecutter Show is supported by Rocket Mortgage.

Speaker 4 Your home is an active investment, not a passive one.

Speaker 5 And with Rocket Mortgage, you can put your home equity to work right away. When you unlock your home equity, you unlock new doors for your family.

Speaker 8 Renovations, extensions, even buying your next property.

Speaker 9 Get started today with smarter tools and guidance from real mortgage experts.

Speaker 2 Find out how at rocketmortgage.com.

Speaker 13 RocketMortgage LLC, licensed in 50 states, NMLSconsumerAccess.org, 3030.

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Speaker 14 Welcome back.

Speaker 16 With us now is Doug Mahoney. He's a wirecutter senior staff writer who covers home home improvement and pressure washers, which is unrelated, but still kind of cool.

Speaker 16 For our coverage, he's interviewed three bidet manufacturers and a bidet salesperson. And of course, he's tested almost 30 bidets.

Speaker 16 He's actually a bidet convert now, thanks to all of his wirecutter testing.

Speaker 15 Doug, welcome.

Speaker 14 Hello.

Speaker 15 What a topic for you to come back. Were you

Speaker 17 a child dreaming about what you would do when you grew up and you were like, someday I'm going to test bidets for a living?

Speaker 14 I am probably the last person. If you took a survey of employees in a company, who would be the least likely person to test bidets? I may win that survey.

Speaker 15 I think it actually makes you the best spokesperson for bidets because you are such a hardcore convert. Well, we do love it when you come because you sometimes come with quizzes for us.

Speaker 14 I do. I have bidet questions for you all.
I'm so excited. I feel very competitive this morning.

Speaker 14 So the... First question, Napoleon had a bidet that he loved and he traveled with, and he enjoyed it so so much that he passed it down to his son in his will.
What was the bidet made of? Gold. Gold.

Speaker 14 Silver.

Speaker 15 I do need to add my bidet to my will, I guess. Is that the lesson?

Speaker 16 Only if it's made of silver.

Speaker 14 What's actually interesting, though, is that silver does have antimicrobial properties. So I'm not sure if that was known at the time or not.
Okay, so the next question.

Speaker 14 Well, the bidet originated in France. The models that we are talking about today came to the U.S.
via Japan. What company first designed the modern bidet seat and subsequently brought it to the U.S.?

Speaker 14 Toto? Nintendo.

Speaker 14 Nintendo.

Speaker 15 I'm going to go with Toto also. That's who's the biggest name at this point.

Speaker 14 It is Toto. Oh, nice.

Speaker 14 The story is that in the 1960s, there was something similar that was designed that was marketed to hospital patients and other people with limited mobility in the U.S.

Speaker 14 And then Toto saw the value in the overall concept and ended up acquiring the patent. And after years and years of design work and testing and refining the model, they released it in 1980.

Speaker 14 That's kind of late. It is.
It's later than you think. Okay, so the next one.
Where does the term bidet come from?

Speaker 16 Is this like a long answer? Like multiple choice? What do we have?

Speaker 14 I think it's French.

Speaker 17 Yeah, it's French for digging a hole in the ground where you accidentally have stumbled on a water source that comes back up from

Speaker 14 a spring and a bubbling brook.

Speaker 14 Yeah, like a bubbling brook that washes your bum it is french so it means hony or small horse and the reference to the plumbing fixture is based around the stance that's needed to use it so you have to straddle a bidet as if you were riding a horse stop

Speaker 14 uh and that's our episode we'll see you next wednesday yep wait because we're talking about those like french bidets that are separate from the toilet where you don't have a toilet seat that you just have to squat it just looks like a really uncomfortable fountain yeah i never got those Yeah, those are the, that's the original.

Speaker 14 That's the OG bidet.

Speaker 14 So

Speaker 16 not a babbling brook.

Speaker 17 So you, is it a noun or a verb? Do you bidet

Speaker 17 or do you stand in bidet?

Speaker 14 It's a noun, I believe.

Speaker 17 What do we mean when we call it a bidet in 2025? Because I don't see the stand and straddle over ones that much anymore. Right.

Speaker 14 Well, so technically speaking, a bidet is like a full-size plumbing fixture. It looks like a toilet toilet without the tank on it.
And there's like a little faucet. And that's technically a bidet.

Speaker 14 So what we're talking about, they're technically called bidet attachments or bidet seats.

Speaker 14 And so these are devices, they're like retrofitted into your existing toilet, or they replace the seat entirely. They're also known as washlets.
And washlets is Toto's trademark named.

Speaker 14 But as we just talked about, Toto is such a big player in the industry that washlet I've heard used many times in a generic sense, you know, like Kleenex or Popsicle.

Speaker 14 But I think for today, if we just refer to everything as bidets, it'll just keep things simple. Got it.

Speaker 16 We've been really excited to talk about this subject. It's been on our list forever.
It's kind of controversial.

Speaker 16 So I can imagine that some people listening might be wondering, why are we even doing this? Why do they need a bidet?

Speaker 16 And others might be wondering how people have been surviving without one all these years. So in your professional opinion, Doug, who actually needs a bidet?

Speaker 14 Who needs a bidet?

Speaker 14 Everyone needs a bidet. What you hear from bidet users is that they just generally, they feel cleaner.
It's like your butt just got out of the shower. There's plenty of other reasons to get one.

Speaker 14 They're very helpful for people with like limited mobility, even through something like a short-term injury.

Speaker 14 One of our colleagues I spoke to had a relative that was recovering from, I think it was a motorcycle accident, and a bidet played a big role in their recovery.

Speaker 14 It allowed the person to keep their sort of privacy and their sense of dignity as they recovered. They're also, and I kind of learned this firsthand.

Speaker 14 It wasn't something that I had realized before, but they're really good with young kids who are just learning how to use the bathroom for the first time.

Speaker 14 It kind of gives kids like a big sense of empowerment that they can kind of get themselves clean with the press of a button or the turn of a knob. That's clever.

Speaker 14 Yeah, it was actually really helpful for us. And then

Speaker 14 in a practical sense, you're spending a lot less on toilet paper. You're buying less toilet paper, which may even free up some storage space.

Speaker 14 And then if you have a septic system like I do, then not flushing all that toilet paper down the drain into the septic is going to go easier on the system.

Speaker 14 And that's definitely something you want to preserve your septic as long as possible.

Speaker 15 I'm hugely team bidet. When I started using one, I was like, why did I not have one before?

Speaker 15 And just going back to that, that note around accessibility, I think that these are so helpful for anyone who's having any kind of issue where they're having trouble getting things clean.

Speaker 15 And this can be like a tool to really help make things more accessible and, like you said, preserve people's dignity so they can do things themselves. So, I just want to underline that.

Speaker 15 I think there's a reason why they were used in hospitals first.

Speaker 14 And definitely, and even someone who's aging in place, you know, they may be able to stay that much longer in their home and not have to rely on people.

Speaker 17 So, Doug, I think maybe the elephant in the room is how you test bidets.

Speaker 14 So, I do the primary testing here at my house i have a large family i have four kids so there's six people there's a lot of opinions within the last two years or so i've renovated all three bathrooms in our house and i've added i've added bidet outlets to all three of them so now i can test three bidets at once so i do most of the the primary testing that comes in from you know if a new model shows up i test it here Once we've decided on our picks, as is pretty typical with Wirecutter, we end up sort of sending them out to colleagues.

Speaker 14 Right now, I think we have multiple versions of all of our picks all out all over the country for long-term testing.

Speaker 14 And that has been really valuable as far as getting feedback on how these things behave over time and sort of what people think of them over time.

Speaker 14 Like what features are people really into, but then they sort of cool off on, which ones they really like.

Speaker 14 And then also warm water models, they've got delicate electronics in them. So this long-term testing really helps us see how they hold up after a lot of use.
They're really expensive.

Speaker 14 So, you know, you don't want to spend $500 on something and it doesn't work in two years.

Speaker 17 Can you just talk about what's on your spreadsheet as you write things down and rate what works and what doesn't? What are the types of things you're grading on?

Speaker 14 Pretty much they'll all get you clean to a certain degree. That's not really the problem.

Speaker 14 The problem is with like the interfaces, whether it's like a remote control that doesn't really work really well, or some features that are hard to use, or if it the seat is like uncomfortable, sometimes the seats are uncomfortable, sometimes the electronics and the water heater kind of make the

Speaker 14 inner seat too small.

Speaker 14 Sometimes

Speaker 14 the pressure is extremely strong. Sometimes

Speaker 14 it might not be strong enough.

Speaker 15 Okay, so Doug, we've established that pretty much everyone should have a bidet. If you're not convinced by that, go back and listen to what we just said three minutes ago.

Speaker 15 But not all toilets and bathrooms are created equally. What do you need to know about your bathroom?

Speaker 15 What do you need to understand about your bathroom, about your toilet setup to understand whether a bidet is right for you or what kind of bidet that you can get?

Speaker 14 So most bidets are going to be compatible with most toilets.

Speaker 14 If you have a toto toilet or a regular Kohler toilet or a champion toilet or American standard, you're probably in pretty good shape as far as bidet compatibility.

Speaker 14 If you have a French curve toilet, which is when the toilet tank slightly curves around the back of the seat, that's going to cause some problems and there may be a very specific bidet that you'll have to get.

Speaker 14 What you need to do as far as the sort of prepping for the installation or to make sure that your plumbing is up to snuff is the most important thing is you need to make sure that you can access your toilet tank.

Speaker 14 If you have an in-wall tank, then you're going to need professional help to install a bidet.

Speaker 14 You also need to

Speaker 14 make sure, you need to confirm that your water shut off, the toilet water shutoff is in good shape. And so what this is, is the toilet tank is fed from the lower left side.

Speaker 14 And there's usually a plumbing line that comes either straight up from the floor or it comes out the baseboard and then takes a 90 degree turn and then heads up into the tank.

Speaker 14 And on that, there should be a shutoff. And if you can shut that off and flush your toilet, And if the toilet does not refill, then that valve is functioning.

Speaker 14 And I only say this because in my house, I had valves that were so corroded, I couldn't get them entirely shut.

Speaker 14 I had to replace them, or when I installed a bidet, I'd have to shut down the water to the whole house. So, you definitely want to make sure that that valve is working.

Speaker 14 If you want a warm water bidet, then you need to make sure there's an outlet nearby. The cords are not particularly long, they're maybe like four feet or so.

Speaker 14 It's not really recommended to use an extension cord. You may have to have an outlet added if you want a warm water model.

Speaker 15 And when it comes down to deciding what type of bidet you want to get, what are the, you know, there's ones that are just cold water. They're like super bare bones.
You don't have to plug them in.

Speaker 15 And then there are on the other end of the spectrum, there are these bidets that are, they have warm water, they have a remote, they shoot, you know, warm air to dry you. What is the decision tree?

Speaker 15 Sort of, how do you figure out what kind you want to get? Is it about price? Is it about whether you want warm or cold water? How do you advise people approach that?

Speaker 14 Well, I think that sort of depends on the person. I mean, I think starting out with a budget is a good place to start.
I mean, there is clearly a bidet for every budget.

Speaker 14 You can get a cold water model for maybe $25.

Speaker 14 Or you could get something like the Toto Neo Rest, which is this high-end toilet with a bidet integrated into it. And there's one of those models that costs

Speaker 14 $25,000.

Speaker 14 Yeah, I think it's the NX2, the Toto Neo. Does it clean itself too? Like, do you just, is it like, does it, wow.

Speaker 14 It's like a piece of art. It's, I think they, they say that it's modeled after like a river stone.
Like,

Speaker 14 it doesn't even, it barely even looks like a toilet. It's this beautiful thing.

Speaker 17 You could not get a mattress and just live

Speaker 14 on this.

Speaker 17 Live on your river stone.

Speaker 16 Maybe also not get a house or a car

Speaker 16 to afford that.

Speaker 14 So while I don't recommend going with the cheapest model available, there's, you know, these things are definitely plumbing fittings and you want to get a bidet from a company with a solid reputation.

Speaker 14 But there is a wide variety of price ranges available.

Speaker 16 I get the jump in price between a cold water bidet and a warm water bidet. I don't really understand why I would jump from a $25 cold water bidet to over $100 for a cold water bidet.

Speaker 16 What is the delta there? What are you missing?

Speaker 14 Well, what you're getting there, you're getting a company that'll stand by their model. The $100 ones, so pretty much there's the cold water model ones.

Speaker 14 The way they're they're installed is that you take your toilet seat off and then you slide in this, it's like a plastic piece that has the nozzle on it and it's got the little plumbing fitting.

Speaker 14 And then you replace your toilet seat on top of it. So those ones are in that $25 range, maybe up to like $50 or $60.

Speaker 14 And then above that, there's cold water models that come with a seat. So they're more integrated into a seat.

Speaker 14 And those are, they're a little more discrete, which is really nice because the other ones that are installed, they kind of, they're controlled by this little side panel that kind of hangs out by your right thigh.

Speaker 14 And they're not the most attractive looking things.

Speaker 14 I mean, they're fine, but if you're somebody who wants your bidet to be very discreet, then one of these cold water models that comes integrated into a seat is really nice because it's just this one small dial kind of behind your right butt cheek.

Speaker 14 And that actually does all the controls.

Speaker 17 I'm curious how bidets actually work. I mean, you're talking about a plumbing fixture, but all I know is the part where you sit down and it sprays up your tush.

Speaker 17 So can you explain like where is the water coming from? Where is it going?

Speaker 14 Yeah, so with the bidet installation, so there's the water line that goes from your floor or your baseboard up to your toilet tank.

Speaker 14 So when you install the bidet, what you're doing is you're detaching that line from the toilet tank and you're adding in a little T-fitting.

Speaker 14 So the water that's coming through the line can go to the toilet tank, but also can get diverted to this other hose, and that other hose goes to your bidet seat.

Speaker 14 So with the really simple cold water model ones, it'll just have basically like a little on-off valve.

Speaker 14 And so when you turn it on, you're just opening up that valve a little bit, and then that water is going through the seat and into the little wand.

Speaker 14 With cold water models, often the wand is sort of in a fixed position. And then that just sprays your bum.
Warm water models are basically the same principle.

Speaker 14 There's a lot more to it though, as far as the types of spray, but the functionality is the same. You're adding in that T fitting and then there's a little hose that goes into the side of the bidet.

Speaker 14 And then usually on warm water models, the little wand will like retract after every use. A lot of them have self-cleaning functions.

Speaker 14 So like every time you sit down, it'll sort of dribble water over the nozzle to clean it. Some of them I think have little UV lights that also will clean the nozzle.

Speaker 14 But yeah, so the nozzle will come out and based on what you're pressing into the controls or into the remote, it'll spray the water. And then you can change the temperature.

Speaker 14 You can change the type of spray. Some of them have oscillating sprays.

Speaker 17 It sounds like the warm water models are

Speaker 17 sort of an upgrade, at least in the sense that they're a little bit more versatile. Is that right?

Speaker 14 Yes, they are. Warm water models, they offer a lot.
So, well, first of all, they're a lot more expensive.

Speaker 14 But beyond the price, what warm water models do, because you're replacing the entire lid, the entire toilet lid, they need a place to put the heater, the water heater.

Speaker 14 They need a place to put the nozzle when it's retracted. They need a place to put all the electronics.
So that's kind of this block at the back end of the bidet.

Speaker 14 So what this does is this creates this sort of curved shape on the top of the toilet lid. It can be kind of like a dramatic swoop.

Speaker 14 Some of the companies have kind of raised up the front of the seat a little bit to try and make this a little little flatter, but it does make the closed lid kind of awkward to sit on.

Speaker 16 And you need an outlet nearby.

Speaker 14 Correct. Yeah, you need an outlet.
The cords, they're not really long, so you would, you know, you definitely need an outlet.

Speaker 16 I have seen some questions on Reddit come up about if you can actually use less toilet paper when you have a bidet, because some people are like, well, aren't you going to be wet when that causes you to use the same amount, if not more, toilet paper?

Speaker 16 Do you have any expert advice on that?

Speaker 14 Well, not to get too into things. Well, the warm water models, they come with little fans, which they're more of a gesture of a fan, I think.

Speaker 14 They're going to get you maybe a little bit drier, but they're not going to get you totally dry. The concept of a fan.
The concept of a fan. I'll tell you what.

Speaker 14 I hadn't lived until I got that warm fan.

Speaker 17 blowing on my tush after using the fancy bidet in a hotel once.

Speaker 16 What if you're cheap and you only have a cold water bidet?

Speaker 14 Yeah, well, I mean, I think a few squares for a dry down and sort of like a quick little check is fine, but

Speaker 14 you're definitely not using as much as you would if you were just relying entirely on TP, or at least my experience.

Speaker 17 Or trust your bidet, trust the clean, and then get like a little washcloth and dab.

Speaker 1 Oh, no, it's the old dabbing thing.

Speaker 14 I don't agree.

Speaker 14 The old, no,

Speaker 14 no takers for the dab and go? Absolutely not. I don't, nope.

Speaker 14 You still need TP. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 14 Yes, definitely.

Speaker 16 We're going to take a quick break. And when we're back, we're going to talk with Doug about his favorite bidets plus his best installation tips.

Speaker 14 Be right back.

Speaker 1 The Wirecutter Show is supported by Rocket Mortgage.

Speaker 4 Your home is an active investment, not a passive one.

Speaker 5 And with Rocket Mortgage, you can put your home equity to work right away. When you unlock your home equity, you unlock new doors for your family.

Speaker 8 Renovations, extensions, even buying your next property.

Speaker 9 Get started today with smarter tools and guidance from real mortgage experts.

Speaker 2 Find out how at rocketmortgage.com.

Speaker 13 Rocket Mortgage LLC, licensed in 50 states, NMLS ConsumerAccess.org, 3030.

Speaker 18 Wayfair loves fall. The crisp air, air, the cool nights, and of course, the seasonal lattes.

Speaker 18 And as your trusted destination for all things home, Wayfair's got everything you need to cosify your space, from comfy recliners to warm bedding and autumn decor.

Speaker 18 Wayfair even has espresso makers, so you can make that latte at home. You know the one.
Head to Wayfair.com today to shop curated collections of easy, affordable fall updates.

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Speaker 14 Welcome back.

Speaker 15 So, Doug, we're talking bidets. I want to talk about your picks.
Let's break down the recommendations you have by budget.

Speaker 15 Let's start out with the bidet you would recommend that's the best bang for your buck.

Speaker 14 So, the best bang for your buck or a good starter bidet, I would recommend the Bio Bidet Slim Edge Attachment. And this is one of those cold water models.
It's super basic.

Speaker 14 It installs under your toilet seat, And then there's like that little outboard control that sort of sits next to your right thigh.

Speaker 14 It's not the cheapest of these cold water models, but BioBidet is a, they're a reliable manufacturer. They're solid.
We trust them. As far as the use goes, it's just really easy to use.

Speaker 14 There's no way you can not understand how it works.

Speaker 14 There's no directional control on the spray. So, you know, a downside is you may need to kind of wriggle around a little bit.

Speaker 14 But one thing that's actually really cool is that BioBidet offers some aesthetic options, which are often like often these things they look like they belong in a hospital.

Speaker 14 It'll be like a big white box with a big giant chrome knob on it. But BioBidet offers some.
I think in one version, the knob is, it's like, looks like it's made of bamboo.

Speaker 14 And in another one is a sort of sleek, rounded thing where you kind of twist the whole end of the stem. That's like a really nice one.
It's definitely a good beginner one.

Speaker 14 And it's usually about $45, less than $50.

Speaker 14 Okay.

Speaker 17 And then mid-range, we're going up a step.

Speaker 17 What do you get if you spend a little more?

Speaker 14 So, to spend a little more, you can get the Brandelle Eco Seat. And that one, that's also a cold water model.

Speaker 14 It was one of the ones I was sort of describing earlier where the bidet is integrated into the seat with that single control knob, like kind of tucked behind the unit on the back right.

Speaker 14 It's very, very discreet. It's definitely for the person who wants a bidet, but they don't want like kind of people to see it.
They don't want to make a big fuss out of it.

Speaker 14 It comes with a toilet seat, but the toilet seat is still relatively flat, so you're not kind of losing that sitability that you do with some of the warm water models.

Speaker 14 And because the seat is integrated into the sprayer, the aim seems to be better. And that one is like about $90, usually just under $100.

Speaker 16 Okay, so let's talk about the Lux options, my favorite category. The unattainables.
Why would somebody spend more on a bidet? And what are the best options out there, in your opinion?

Speaker 14 So for about seven years, we recommended the Toto C5,

Speaker 14 which is just a fantastic model. Toto is an exceptional company when it comes to these.
But this year, actually, some big news is that the C5 was sort of upgraded.

Speaker 14 They've released a new model, the S5.

Speaker 14 And that is, it's expensive. It's a big budget item.
It's anywhere from usually from $5.50 to $6.50.

Speaker 14 But we've been currently testing it, and it is just fantastic in all the ways that you want a bidet to be fantastic. It's a lot of money.

Speaker 14 I'm not making light of that, but you get this great feature set. The remote control is really, really good.
There's total customization on all the settings.

Speaker 14 There's even a mode in it where it sort of learns your patterns of use. And then during these expected downtimes, it powers the heated seat down to the lowest settings.

Speaker 14 So you're not sort of wasting all this energy. The Toto remote is super streamlined, really simple.
But even with that simplicity, there's like a lot you can do with it.

Speaker 14 You can, all these different features, you can turn on, you can turn off, you can have it. as soon as you sit down, the deodorizer can come on.

Speaker 14 As soon as, you know, as soon as you stand up, the deodorizer can come on. You can, you can really do a lot with it.
It's really nice looking.

Speaker 14 The overall design is like really kind of high end, really nice looking.

Speaker 15 Do these ever go on sale?

Speaker 14 These sort of rarely go on sale. One thing to think about, though, is that, so this is the S5.

Speaker 14 So what manufacturers will typically do, or what the good manufacturers will typically do, is they will have a bidet model, and then they will release kind of two versions of it.

Speaker 14 They'll release one version with a remote, which is usually more expensive, and then they'll release one version with just sort of like a side panel.

Speaker 14 It's like this panel that runs along your right thigh, and then that has all the controls. Usually, there's some functionality lost in there.
The remotes are typically a little more.

Speaker 14 You could do more with them. But in this case, they're also releasing at the same time an S2, also, which is a side panel version of this, which I think is only like $400 or $500.

Speaker 14 So only only, only I know

Speaker 15 Doug, we're talking about plumbing here. Are there any risks of, you know, a bidet malfunctioning and flooding your bathroom?

Speaker 14 I'd say once it's installed, probably not.

Speaker 14 I mean, there's, there's a slight risk, but only in that you're adding more plumbing connections and that just kind of brings with it a higher chance of things that could go wrong.

Speaker 14 But once it's put in, and if it's put in right, you should be in the clear unless there's some sort of manufacturer defect.

Speaker 14 You know, and you definitely want to make sure that it's not leaking once it's installed because one teeny little like pinhole leak, it can add up to a lot.

Speaker 14 Like over a, if you head off to a workday or if even if you go to sleep for the night, that little bit of drip could cause a lot of problems.

Speaker 17 That feels like high stakes. A clogged toilet seems bad enough and the potential to flood your bathroom that way.
So how difficult, Doug, is it to install bidets properly yourself?

Speaker 14 It's not very hard at all. I mean, I obviously do it a lot.
I can do it in like 10 minutes or less.

Speaker 14 And I'm not saying that everyone should do it that quickly, but hopefully that sort of indicates that there's not a lot of steps to it.

Speaker 14 So, I mean, you know, aside from making sure that your toilet's in good shape, the manufacturer's instructions are usually pretty good, not always. They can usually guide you through it.

Speaker 14 A lot of models, they come with sort of placement templates, which makes things a little easier for the warm water models. And then YouTube is always a resource.

Speaker 14 I mean, to walk you through it, with cold water models,

Speaker 14 you take off your existing toilet seat. And if you can do that, then you can basically install a cold water model.

Speaker 16 I can't do it then.

Speaker 14 One that you can call task grabbing. Right.

Speaker 14 And then, you know, like I said earlier, you just need to add in that little T fitting. Basically, you just need a wrench and a screwdriver.

Speaker 14 But I would say, like, the most important piece of advice is that. Once you're done installing it, just dry everything off, all the connections.

Speaker 14 Just make sure everything is just absolutely bone dry and then turn the water on. Cause then you know that if there's absolutely any moisture on the outside of the connections, that turns into a leak.

Speaker 17 I like the idea of 10 minutes to install.

Speaker 16 I'm curious, would you call these renter-friendly?

Speaker 17 Like, what's the uninstall process?

Speaker 14 Oh, they're super easy to uninstall. It takes probably even less time than it takes to install it.
They're definitely renter-friendly.

Speaker 16 Definitely. I have a kind of follow-up to that, though, because I've had bidets in every single one of my apartments.

Speaker 16 I've moved eight times in the city, and I've left every bidet in my old apartment because I'm kind of just grossed out about the idea of bringing a used bidet into a new place.

Speaker 16 So how do you recommend that people clean their bidets?

Speaker 14 You can pretty much just clean it like you would anything else in a toilet.

Speaker 14 There's one thing for sure is that they create a lot of nooks and crannies where things can get can get pretty gross pretty quickly. Warm water models, they all have a little quick release button.

Speaker 14 So they can be kind of popped off that bracket really easily. And then you can just sort of flip them upside down and then you can get a good cleaning in that way.

Speaker 15 We also have a guide on our site on how to clean a bidet and give some tips in there.

Speaker 16 Well, Christine, would you take a bidet into a new place if you moved?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I would. Yeah.

Speaker 14 You would. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 15 Bleach is an amazing chemical, you guys.

Speaker 15 Yeah, you just clean that thing, disinfect it, and then install it. I mean, if you're truly grossed out and you've only spent $20 to $50 on a bidet, I would say, no problem.

Speaker 15 Just move to the next place and get a new one. But, you know, I really don't think there's an issue with cleaning something like that and bringing it to the next place.

Speaker 16 So, before we wrap, we usually ask all of our guests one final question. But, Doug, this is your fifth time on the show.
We're not going to ask you that question.

Speaker 16 Instead, I would like to know what your favorite topic has been to talk about on this podcast.

Speaker 14 Well, my favorite, it was probably the mice and rats. That was the first one.
That was the first one. What did you like about it?

Speaker 14 Well, it was just a friend. It was just the first time doing the podcast, I think.

Speaker 14 That's what I was doing.

Speaker 15 I'm still sort of horrified by the vision of you conniving against those rats in your barn.

Speaker 15 If you haven't listened, go back.

Speaker 15 It's a horrifying segment.

Speaker 16 My favorite Doug moment on this podcast is when we asked him if he'd rather have an infestation of cockroaches or rats, and he picked the rats.

Speaker 17 the type of thing you can't unhear

Speaker 17 doug you're the best thank you for coming by appreciate you oh thanks for having me it's been great thank you thank you

Speaker 15 this i feel like really completed a series of episodes that we have done on very highly personal products

Speaker 14 gross things

Speaker 14 just say it it's gross

Speaker 14 highly personal yeah

Speaker 14 What, um,

Speaker 17 you both were clearly team bidet already. So what have you taken away from this episode?

Speaker 15 Well, I think this whole episode confirmed for me that I am definitely ready to upgrade to nicer toto.

Speaker 16 You're going to get the riverstone one, right?

Speaker 14 The $25,000 one? The one that sings you a lullaby.

Speaker 15 I'm going to send my children to college and I am going to get that done.

Speaker 15 No, you know, going to Japan this past winter, trying out a ton of bidets while I was there, definitely convinced me that a warm water bidet would be nice.

Speaker 15 And this just reaffirmed and reminded me that when I've got the cash, I want to upgrade to one of our toe-toe picks.

Speaker 17 I like that.

Speaker 14 I think I

Speaker 17 would do warm water if given the choice. It sounds like it's a bit more versatile, maybe a few more things to consider.
But if I get a bidet,

Speaker 17 I'm going heated seat. I'm going blow dryer.
I'm going get me a manicure and a pedicure while I'm sitting there.

Speaker 15 And I don't even think we talked about this with Doug, but I've been on some of these bidets that actually play music for me. Oh yeah, you know, or there's like bird chirping, the sound of rain.

Speaker 17 I want a playlist. I want it to cradle me.

Speaker 16 So nobody ever knows you actually have to use the bathroom.

Speaker 14 That's right. That's right.

Speaker 14 That's what I want.

Speaker 16 Yeah, I want that too. I think my takeaway from Doug is that I need to just get the bidet that I actually want.

Speaker 16 I've been so afraid of the un-installation process for when I move that it's been stopping me from getting like a nice bidet.

Speaker 16 So I've always had cheap ones that I just leave behind, but I'm going to just do it. I'm going to splurge a little bit.

Speaker 15 Life is too short. Get the thing you want.

Speaker 16 And I'm so pro-bidet. It's been so hard.
Yeah.

Speaker 17 If you want to find out more about Wire Cutters coverage, if you want to check out any of the products Doug mentioned today, check out our website. We'd love for you to subscribe to the show as well.

Speaker 17 You can find it on YouTube, you can find it on Spotify, you can find it on Apple, and we'd love to have you on board.

Speaker 16 That's it for us.

Speaker 17 Thanks for listening. Talk to you next week.
Bye.

Speaker 15 The Wirecutter Show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Maddie Mazziello and Nick Pittman.
Today's episode was mixed by Catherine Anderson.

Speaker 15 Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Alicia Baitoup, and Diane Wong. Cliff Levy is Wirecutter's deputy publisher and general manager.
Ben Fruman is Wirecutter's editor-in-chief.

Speaker 15 I'm Christine Sear Clissette.

Speaker 16 I'm Kyra Blackwell.

Speaker 17 And I'm Rosie Guerin.

Speaker 15 Thanks for listening.

Speaker 17 This might be the most important question of our entire conversation, and it's for Christine.

Speaker 14 Would

Speaker 14 you

Speaker 17 snag a bidet off the sidewalk in Park Slope?

Speaker 14 Stop. Yes, I would.
What?

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