How to Install a Bidet Toilet Seat
About Bidet Toilet Seats
So you’re thinking about getting a bidet for your home. You have definitely come to the right place. We love bidets and we love educating new customers in the pros and cons of these useful tools for maintaining personal hygiene.
What we have found in our experiences of educating the public about bidets is a concern over available space in the bathroom. Most people are familiar with the bidet but they typically associate it with a whole separate fixture aside from the toilet. What they don’t realize is that you can combine the toilet and the bidet into one combination fixture through the use of a bidet toilet seat.
Learning more about the advantages of bidet seats allows the buyer to think more realistically about adding this useful accessory to the household. So let us educate you on how bidet seats work and why you should consider bringing one into your home for the health and safety of your family.
Better Cleaning vs. Toilet Paper
There is an automatic comparison between the use of a bidet versus relying on good old fashioned toilet paper to clean oneself after using the bathroom. It’s a valid juxtaposition, one that we welcome and encourage anyone to make when they are weighing these two options.
A bidet offers superior cleaning quality than toilet paper while also providing users with the greater capability for comfort and relief from a variety of health conditions centered around the area of the body that a bidet addresses.
How Does a Bidet Seat Work?
What makes a bidet toilet seat so appealing is that you do not need to install a whole new fixture in your bathroom. You can enjoy all the advantages of a bidet by installing one on top of your existing toilet. You simply remove the seat that is currently attached to your toilet and replace it with one of our bidet seats.
This seat is equipped with a nozzle that is positioned to wash your posterior when you are finished using the toilet. Instead of toilet paper, you simply push the wash button on your bidet toilet seat and the nozzle with spray your rear end with a water stream to clean you up.
That is the most basic function of this fixture, however, we offer a wide range of seats to fit your needs. You can choose a product that provides only standard features or a more advanced model with additional features.
Why a Bidet Instead of Toilet Paper?
There are a number of reasons why you should choose to use a bidet over simple toilet paper. For starters, a bidet is far more effective at cleaning you after using the restroom. While dry paper can wipe and smear, a warm water wash leaves you completely clean and is more hygienic.
If you spilled orange juice on your arm, you would wash your arm with water to clean it. Similarly, the wash spray used in the design and manufacturing of bidet seats provides a strong but gentle aerated stream to clean your body. Even running a wad of dry toilet paper under the sink before using it on your rear end can be insufficient at cleaning your posterior. Toilet paper is supposed to break down after you flush, so when you are making it wet to wipe yourself, you will most often leave behind remnants of the paper on your body. So you’ve cleaned yourself but now you have bits of wet toilet paper remaining.
A bidet toilet seat allows you to avoid all of this hassle. Simply remain seated after you’ve finished using the toilet and let the nozzle wash you with a water stream that cleans more thoroughly than paper, without leaving behind any residue.
If you prefer a bidet seat with advanced capabilities, you can adjust the nozzle to oscillate forwards and backwards which extends the cleaning area. You may even choose between a steady stream of water, a pulse action, or a menu of other stream patterns to do the job.
But wait a minute, after you’ve used your bidet aren’t you still wet from the stream of water? Yes and you may use a sheet or two of toilet paper to dry off. Alternatively, most bidet seats come with a drying function so you use the warm air dry function to help with residual moisture.
Environmental Impacts of Toilet Paper
As consumers, we don’t often give a lot of thought to where our everyday products are sourced and how they are affecting the world around us. Would you believe that Americans use nearly 40 billion rolls of toilet paper on annual basis? Much of it comes from trees, over 15 million of them per year. Every time you reach for that toilet paper to clean yourself, you’re contributing to the consumption of these natural resources.
Some of us try to make a difference in the form of recycled toilet paper, but this accounts for a small portion of the total impact we’re having on paper use in this country.
With a bidet seat, you no longer need to be part of that impact. Not only will you be cleaner but you’re also making a positive difference in the preservation of our environment.
What About Wet Wipe Products?
This is a fair question. A wet wipe is moist and doesn’t leave behind the same paper residue that a wet wad of toilet paper. So it’s a better alternative than paper.
Not quite, because most wet wipes are not fully biodegradable like toilet paper. You are creating an even bigger potential environmental hazard when these wipes accumul
ate and clog up sewer lines and city sewer systems. You might even be giving yourself a headache and an expensive repair bill if your septic tank gets backed up from flushing too many of them.
Be leery of any wet wipe that claims to be fully biodegradable or septic safe. It’s not always the case and your septic tank can get clogged and damaged over time.
A bidet toilet seat will save you time and money by avoiding this problem. You’ll also feel a lot cleaner and more hygienic.
The Health Benefits of Bidet Seats
There are many glowing customer reviews on our website that address the features you’ll find on modern bidet seats. But there are additional reasons why a customer might want to consider attaching a bidet seat to their toilet.
Bidet seats have been shown to provide soothing relief to anyone suffering from anal fissures or hemorrhoids. We have also sold bidet seats to elderly and handicapped customers with reduced mobility and found these products to help preserve their comfort and regain some personal independence. Many disabled individuals who are unable to reach the areas that need cleaning find that a bidet seat does all the work for them.
Our catalog features a line of bidet seats with settings and accessories to fit any household or budget. Your choice of product should reflect the necessities of the user and any health or safety concerns that may exist when he or she is using the bathroom. If that individual is you, then give some real thought to your physical capacities for ensuring that you are clean and sanitary after using the toilet.
How to Choose the Right Seat
We get it, selecting the seat that suits your budget and lifestyle can be a challenge. There are so many products available with an assortment of functions and settings and features, you may find it somewhat daunting to choose the right seat.
We’re here to help. We may not be able to suggest one specific model over another simply because we don’t know what it is you need in a bidet toilet seat. But we can walk you through some of the most important factors to keep in mind as you pick the seat that works best.
The Cost of the Product
Everyone wants to spend less for the things they need. It’s natural to use cost as a significant determining factor in any purchase. But it should not be the only factor because, in the end, you always get what you pay for. This is particularly true when buying a bidet toilet seat.
Cheap products wear out fast. It’s that simple. Cheap products that see daily, consistent levels of repeated use wear out even faster. You need to think of a bidet toilet seat as a purchase akin to that of any other household appliance you use with regularity. This includes your washer and dryer, your refrigerator, even your dishwasher. Buying one of those items is an investment that is meant to last.
Think about how often you or your family visit the bathroom. The more individuals living in a home with a bidet toilet seat cover, the more use it will get. Choosing a cheap knock-off of a product from a trusted brand in order to save money typically results in the opposite taking place. The cheap one breaks down sooner than you expect and you end up buying a new one when you could have spent a little more from the start and received a quality product.
So don’t make that mistake here. We offer a full range of long-lasting seats that can work in every budget. But you should plan to spend around $350 for a basic model and double to triple that for a seat that has more modern features such as an automatic opening seat and lid. Some consumers may need or want those extra accessories, some may not. Only you know which is best for you.
Select the Proper Size
The good news is you only have two sizes from which to choose. Residential toilets come in round and elongated versions, so be sure that your bidet toilet seat matches the size of your toilet. The bad news here is that you can’t effectively install one size onto another. So be sure that you measure your toilet to order the correct size bidet seat.
While the elongated size is more common, you’ll also find round size bidet seats are available to install on top of your existing toilet if needed.
Electric Outlet Access
These seats are electronic which means they must be plugged into an electrical outlet in order to operate. The electric cord on most bidet seats is about 4 feet long. The best solution is to have an electrical outlet near your toilet, or to have an outlet installed that’s within reach.
Extension cords can be used, but be sure that it is high quality and supports the amperage required. You should also keep the extension cord off the floor so we recommend affixing your extension cord at least a few inches off the ground to avoid tripping, and be careful around a sink or bathtub where water is used.
We note however – an extension cord should be viewed more as a temporary solution. The best long-term solution is to have an outlet installed near your toilet.
Useful Features
Finally, be sure you know what you are buying and, more important, know the list of features for the seat you are buying. While some people may think an automatic opening seat and lid is not important, for others it may be a very important feature. Bidet seats offer plenty of options, so be sure to do some research and get a seat that’s right for your needs.
We have a handy comparison chart on our website which allows you to see the different features available across the different models. We also have video reviews for all our bidet toilet seats too. We encourage you to take advantage of the content on our site so you’re making an informed purchase decision. And if you have any questions, feel free to give us a call and we’d be happy to answer any questions you might have over the phone as well.
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