You probably never thought you’d see grown adults fighting over toilet paper at Walmart, but that was a reality for many in 2020. Lovingly referred to as “the Great Toilet Paper Shortage,” people were panic buying toilet paper by the pallet shortly after the coronavirus pandemic started.

Although the pandemic wiped out TP reserves for months, not everyone suffered. While most people were desperately searching store shelves for TP, smart people were rediscovering the benefits of owning a bidet.

A bidet isn’t a standard feature in American bathrooms, but if you want to survive the next toilet paper shortage, you need one.

By owning a bidet, you’ll use less toilet paper

If you’ve ever wondered if there’s a toilet paper monster eating all of your toilet paper when nobody’s looking, you’ll love having a bidet. A bidet, if you’re not familiar, is either an attachment for your existing toilet or a free-standing fixture that sprays water on your bottom after using the bathroom.

When you have a bidet, you’ll use less toilet paper, and you won’t need to use wet wipes anymore. Using less toilet paper means spending less money on something you literally just flush down the toilet.

People who use bidets are cleaner

There’s a reason Americans love wet wipes – they get you cleaner than dry toilet paper. However, wet wipes are more expensive than toilet paper and often contain ingredients that irritate your skin. Even wet wipes made for sensitive skin can cause irritation.

Having a bidet will get you even cleaner than wet wipes. In fact, rectal surgeons say we should all be using bidets to clean our bits. Using a stream of water to clean yourself is more hygienic than spreading everything around with dry toilet paper.

Using a bidet is the next best thing to a shower

Taking a shower is the best way to get clean, hands down. However, you can’t just take a shower each time you go to the bathroom. Well, you can, but who wants to do that?

Using a bidet is like taking a shower sitting down without having to take your clothes off. All you need to do is find a way to dry off. Thankfully, some bidets come with a built-in dryer so you can wash and dry while sitting down.

Using a bidet supports using homemade toilet paper

If you’re into being self-sufficient, you may have already started making your own toilet paper. It’s a noble effort, especially when you have kids. However, homemade toilet paper can be difficult and gross to clean.

Using a bidet will make washing your homemade toilet paper easy. If everyone in your family rinses off after using the toilet, even if they do need to use toilet paper, it won’t be as messy. It may even be completely clean.

When your homemade toilet paper is cleaner, you can probably get other people in your family to help with the wash. Your household will also use far less toilet paper, which means washing less frequently and you won’t have to make so many replacement squares.

Also, when your kids use a bidet before using homemade toilet paper, they won’t get an itchy bottom.

Using a bidet will protect delicate skin

It sounds horrific to think about tearing, but it happens. Wiping too hard with dry toilet paper can cause bleeding or pain. Many people experience this pain, but don’t know the cause.

If you experience this pain, the best solution is to get a bidet and start spraying your backside to clean yourself.

Americans can learn from other countries

Although Americans aren’t used to using bidets, and many people refuse to even test one out, they’re actually standard in many other countries. According to data sourced by Vox, 80% of Japanese households have a bidet in some form.

Why are Americans so resistant to bidets? As the story goes, American soldiers saw bidets in French brothels and thought they were some kind of naughty fixture. Apparently, back then, people thought spraying water after having sex would act as a contraceptive, so bidets were a standard in brothels.

Put your hesitancy aside and clean your dirty bits with a bidet

There’s no way around it – using a bidet will get you cleaner than dry toilet paper. If you want sparkling clean bits for your entire family, get a bidet.