Do europeans use toilet paper?

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dhc_hiker

No wonder people in other parts of the world say that Americans are very ignorant.

The item that you are referring to is called a BIDET and is used in Europe, Japan and a few other areas of the globe. It is meant to clean your nether regions after going to the toilet instead of just using paper and leaving dried excrement on your body. It is a very clean custom just like washing hands. Do you clean your hands by just wiping them with a piece of paper?

It is not used instead of a shower like one of the posters said (where do you get stupid ideas like that). Up until relatively recently, Europeans prefered bath tubs instead of showers as it was a more relaxed way to bathe but many now use showers. In countries like Japan, people bath first but sitting on a type of stool and throwing water over themselves with a kind of "scoop". After getting clean, they enter a deep hot bath and soak. It is very calming and many consider more civilized.

Many people outside of the US consider that the American bathroom habits are ridiculous and wasteful and unhygienic.

One of the problems with a site like this is that there are people with racist actitudes as well as being ignorant about the world around them. FIGATO unfortunately is one of them. Sure there are holes in the ground in Europe as there are in the US. They are generally outdoor toilets. Also in some of the mediterrean countries in small towns (generally lower income groups) there are some rather primitive bathrooms.

Also you have to take into account that an OLD house in most of Europe is 200+ years old so modifications to the bathroom fixtures don't look as finished as in a house in the US which quite often is not more than 20 years old.

Bidets are not coming out, in fact, they are coming IN. In the US. More and more of the Upscale home improvement places are now carrying stand alone bidets or what are called portable bidets for retro-fitting onto existing toilets. They include a warming element, hot air vents and even in some cases remote control. I include this link from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet.

As can be seen, they are NEVER, NEVER used as a replacement for bathing.

If you are really interested, go see for yourself but don't be fooled by a troll like FIGATO who either has never traveled in his life or has only gone to "lower transylvania"

sandworm_arrakis

Well...since we do not use toilet paper and... we do not shower everyday... and so on..and so on... ! Anyone? Can I borrow your shirt, please? After all I don't see any toilet paper around! So, if you don't mind, I will use it for drying up my acking tired feet after I soak and wash them in the bidet (Oh, yes! It's one of its common usages!), but I can't promise you what I will do with it after I sit on the loo! (Oh! Sh..! Still no toilet paper in sight!! LOLOLOLOLOL)

Salami and Orange Juice

Yes they do.
They use a bidet instead of a shower.
Showering every day is uniquely American. In other parts of the world, they just wash the "important parts" when necessary and take a bath or a shower weekly (or even less often).

DHC, you idiot, It IS used instead of a shower. If you've ever gone to Europe without a head cold, then you know that they certainly don't take showers or baths very often.

Also, a bidet is not used every time they take a cr*p as you suggest. It is used to clean up instead of a bath.

This is evidenced by the "squat" toilets (where you squat over a hole in the floor) that can still be found in some parts of "backwoods" Europe (they used to be everywhere). Mostly in public bathrooms.

If they don't care about cr*ping in a hole, they certainly aren't worried about a little "dried excrement".

And while baths are more popular, most homes have had shower heads for at least the past 30 years. I can't speak for Japan, and after all, the questioner asked about Europe.

I will agree with the other writer however that they've become more Americanized and take showers more often than they used to.

CANISIDIOT STFU - Showering every day is American. It started here. Hell in the 1950s even Americans only took one bath per week. Now Europe is catching up. Other writers have even said that the bidet is going away, and people are taking showers more often.

You "well traveled" People ought to get over yourselves. I've traveled to Europe for the past 35 years, and even though it's gotten better, Europe is still a cesspool. No where can you find more women with hairy legs and underarms, more body odor, more smokers, more gypsies, hole toilets, crap washing up on beaches, horrendous air polution. Shall I continue?

HAHA DHC! You proved you know nothing. Cry racism when you don't have the facts! LOL! Racism!
NO the hole toilets are indoors (public facilities) and actually made of porcelain. [proves you know nothing, they're not outhouses!]
Old houses BS! Most people who own those old houses in Europe have money and have gotten rid of those hole toilets long ago and will install a bidet if they are "old school" but will shower daily if they are of a younger generation (mimfantjoy) had it right. Pepinos is also right and I think he's probably talking about nowadays as opposed to 20+ years ago when showers or baths were weekly.
Bidets are going into US homes as a status symbol ONLY! Mostly by snobs like you who like to emulate eurotrash.

Then you quote WIKIPEDIA! That great authority on all things european! YOU BIG TRAVELER YOU! LOL! LOL!

As far as a replacement for bathing, heres the story - and it's not really a big deal, nothing to be ashamed about:
Until just a few years ago, most of europe was just like the US in the 40s and 50s where people took a weekly bath.
I'm sure they used the bidet often. Saying they do it every time the cr*p is ridiculous. What if they're out, what if they're at work etc. etc. Now more of the younger generation take shower every day or so and don't find the bidet necessary, but the older generation who showers less often, uses the bidet THEREFORE IT IS A REPLACEMENT FOR BATHING. Sheesh, why is this so hard?

Lower transylvania, It's probably very nice now. Actually, it was Rome, Genova, Nice, Zurich, Barcelona etc.

pinky3543

yes, and FYI they use toliets like we do!

willow, the yodakitty from hell

yes they do, it is called vike_popper ...

canislupus

What Figato said is absolute bullshit, showering everyday is a uniquely American phenomenon is it! Maybe you should travel more! The vast majority of Europeans would use toilet paper

adora4u2001

dear god europeans do use toilet paper and they or rather we do take shovers daily how stupid can people be
using toilet paper and showering has nothing to do with living in europe or america it is simply hygienic
how can you people be so ignorant

chocolateheaven

no theyuse their hands.......actually haveyouheard of a biddet

loopylin

Well said Hiker,I have lived in London,been on holiday to France,Denmark and various other European countries and now I live in the Balearic Islands and I have never heard such an idiotic thing in all my life.

misen55

One of the dumbest questions I've ever heard.
Thanks for the 2 points, though...

avastacia

of course they do! i used to live in europe for five years! who told you that they didn't?

donald.holland5238@sbcglobal.net

Yes

ltlredgrl76

I am living in Germany right now. Yes, Europeans use toilet paper. The "water faucet things" are not as common as you might think.

Haze

They use toilet paper. Just look out for the John Wayne toilet paper, tough as nails and doesn't take sh*t off of anyone.

starcrystal3

yes, but some places do not flush it because their pipes can not handle it.

Pepinos

I'm european and most of the people I know have the same habits: use toilet paper, not a bidet and take showers every 1-2 days. Most new houses don't even have bidets in my country. I don't know about, say, Norway or Portugal, but most european countries are like this.

It's the Arabs that don't use toilet paper. They don't have a bidet and usually use a hose and their left hand. I suppose they wash their hands afterwards. Even expensive 5star hotels in muslim countries have hoses in the bathroom.

mimifantjoy

yes they do and bidet aren't in every household anymore and it's the people age 30+ that don't shower every day that's how they were taught. the younger people shower every day.

roland_gote

I would say yes to that but with one comment that some poorer parts EG Bosnia and Albania may not have 100% availability to such a luxery

mygponte

ugh!. Yes they do

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