Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Man, and here I was so proud of myself for having switched to blow my nose with fabric handkerchiefs recently! *sigh*

The standard in Italy is a wipe or two, followed by a bidet.
The lack of bidet is a big source of Italian superiority complex towards some other countries (France being a primary target if our ridicule)

If you are a female minimalist, I recommend this watering can which I purchased at the Dollar Tree. It allows you to pour from the front at an appropriate distance, thereby streaming fecal matter away from urethral opening. The slim open design also allows it to serve very well as standing urinal for camping purposes. Even if you are peeing in the dark, if you can feel the spout up snug up against your bottom, you won't experience any over-spray on to your bunched at knees or ankles pants.



viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10191&start=40#p178509

bigato wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 16, 2019 1:30 pm

They just leave a cup or mug in the bathroom.

Just be careful not to mix it up with your cup of tea.

We've been just using toilet paper, and I don't think I can get my parents to switch to wash-only or even wash-mainly. But, I am intrigued to possibly try it myself, at least part of the time. It's really easy to clean your hands after when doing it this way, and avoid transferring trace amounts of fecal matter to, e.g., the bathroom doorknob? I feel like I might want at least one sheet of paper to wipe my hand before I wash my hand... but then again, as has been pointed out, it's not something I'd worry about if I was in the shower.

Before I invested in a bidet, I picked up a 3 pack of perineal irrigation bottles:

https://www.amazon.com/Perineal-Lavette ... B07B9N9RQH

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the whole experience, especially if I'd tolerate a cold water spray. The bidet is great, but the bottles are sufficient. I still travel with one. No need to use your hand.

I don't think you can have the washing experience and then happily go back to wiping alone. It's much less clean.

I think it feels less gross to me on instinct to touch that area in the shower because, well, you are in the shower, so your hands are washed quickly by the shower, whereas in this scenario we are discussing, one would be using not very much water (if using the mug method) and then have to transfer to the sink after while remembering not to touch anything else. But I think I can definitely try it at least, once I've let the idea settle in my mind for a bit. Maybe when I'm not planning to leave the house afterwards for a while the first time.

I do sort of a hybrid - using wet toilet paper. I bring a bottle (better yet if the bathroom has a sink) to wet clean toilet paper, then alternate with dry toilet paper to wash/wipe as necessary. Works pretty well.

Whenever I forget a bottle or otherwise don’t have a method of wetting toilet paper I’m always grossed out by just wiping with dry paper. Feels very unclean.

A compromise is to use both. A squirt of water* from a recycled bottle (like a french's mustard bottle with a good spout) followed by a wipe with a reusable cloth** works pretty well. Skip the wipe when it's not needed.

* I add a touch of mild baby soap
** I like cut up cloth diapers. If you're traveling, take a whole cloth diaper so you can use it, fold it over, stow it in a ziplock, and then use it again (kind of like you'd do with a handkerchief).

I think you should seriously consider a japanese toilet seat. Probably not ERE, but it would do all of the things described above automatically, by the push of a button. For those who travel to Japan, like Seppia, they sell them at Narita Airport in the tax free shop.

Officially interested.

I've been bitching about the cost and inefficiency of TP for years, but since I rent and move often, a bidet was out. The idea of a cup bothers me for some reason. However, a squeeze bottle, with a little bit of soap in them... I think I can make that work. Great idea.

This works well, especially while camping:

https://www.amazon.com/Tools-More-Hygie ... B013WIDXD2

7Wannabe5 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 16, 2019 2:32 pm

If you are a female, watering can

Two girls in the hostel would use the base of a cut plastic bottle.

Asia converted me here.

Living in Latin America now, I got a basic plastic water bottle, cut a hole in the center of the top of the lid and squeeze the bottle to clean myself. Going 2 months strong now. These plastic bottles are more resilient than I thought.

slowtraveler wrote: ↑

Sun May 17, 2020 5:14 pm

Asia converted me here.

Living in Latin America now, I got a basic plastic water bottle, cut a hole in the center of the top of the lid and squeeze the bottle to clean myself. Going 2 months strong now. These plastic bottles are more resilient than I thought.

oh they’re resilient alright and the great pacific garbage patch is here to prove it

reuse comes before recycle though, so good job there

I'm very boring by nature so of course I'm extremely "regular" and have a dependable 24-hour rhythm that presents itself shortly after getting out of bed in the morning. It's not quite straight from the throne to the shower, but there's little enough separation between a quick tide-me-over with tp is okay.