The good ole bidet in many non-chain French hotels is supposedly a butt-wash but many people put them to other uses, especially in rooms that share WCs on the floor! - What do you use a bidet for?

use your imagination.

Well, for washing lingerie, of course. Sometimes feet.

I simply ignore them, and they do the same for me, I imagine.

BC

To crush grapes and make wine

long thread about this already.

Feet washing - very useful height...

Someone that I was traveling with didn't know what it was and had urinated in it!

That's nothing. My dad once peed in the sink in a French port-a-potty because he thought it was a urinal.

Well, there <b>are</b>those times when one <b>has</b> to go and the regular rewceptacle is tied up so what to do:

Pee in the bidet

Pee in the bathtub (the one time when having only half a shower &quot;curtain&quot; won't make a big difference)

Pee out the window

Go to the pool (if you are one of those people who stays in hotels for more than &quot;just to sleep&quot and pee in it.

Sorry, but bidets still don't seem that hygienic to me...even if the water is clean water, how about the spout and whatever germs may be near it?

sorry, but bidets are just not for me...and using them for anything else just sounds a bit gross.....

Bidets are used to rinse the perianal area after urinating or (especially) defecating.

A true bidet has a gentle spray of water that can be directed upward and aimed for this purpose. Bidets that have only a faucet are decorative only.

Bidets provide much better hygiene than toilet paper alone, and this is why many hospitals include bidet attachments on their toilets in patient rooms (bidets need not be separate from the toilet itself, although they have traditionally been so).

Bidets are especially handy after attacks of diarrhea or other problems that make the entire area around the anus difficult to clean adequately with toilet paper.

Thank you AnthonyGA - very very informative

Well, despite that useful information, I was in hysterics when my French plumber assured me that there was no point in installing a bidet - they were only good for washing your 'petit linge.' What the Brits would call your 'smalls.'

When I lived in Sicily (many years ago), I grew the most glorious ferns in mine (in pots sitting inside the bidet, of course). We had a 3 bedroom apt with 3 bathrooms (with a bidet in each) and 5 french doors that overlooked the Ionian Sea.

Decorative? Really?

My daughter found it easier to use it to shave her legs than the tiny shower.

J

Here's the previous very long thread on the subject:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1283165

Well, they are very pleasant for cleaning up after relations.

It's taken a long, but I think they might finally catch on here in the states. My wife and I were shopping for a bathroom remodel last weekend. She had to use the restroom in one of the stores, and came out telling of a double purpose toilet and bidet, complete with heated seat, two sprays, and a blow dry. She reluctantly agreed that the $5000 price tag was too much.