These Bidets and Bidet Attachments Offer a Cleaner Trip to the Bathroom

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Thousands of Americans — myself included — ordered a bidet during the toilet paper shortage of the 2020 lockdown. And we all realized what Italian, Japanese, and other cultures have known for decades: Wiping is barbaric, and bidets are the future.

At a Glance: The Best Bidets

In the few years since then, bidets have gotten better — and cheaper. Solid bidets are going for as little as $25, meaning just about anyone can get a cleaner bum, and start reaping the money-saving, eco-friendly benefits of using less toilet paper.

If you’re ready to make the upgrade, read on. Below is a full guide on the best bidets to pick up right now.

The Best Bidets to Buy Right Now

After becoming bidet-ers a few years ago, I’ve been able to test many of the most popular models. Below are five of the best bidets, including everything from reliable $25 bottom-washers to high-end bidets. We only considered products from well-regarded brands with an average customer rating of 4/5 stars or higher (see more on our reviewing and selection process further down this article).

Types of Bidets & Features

Bidets come in a few different styles, and they can get fancy with all kinds of bells and whistles. Below are the types of bidets, and some features you’ll want to keep in mind while making your decision.

Bidet Attachment vs. Bidet Seat vs. Bidet Toilet: Bidets are mainly separated into three categories: attachments, seats, and toilets. Bidet attachments are affordable bum-washing solutions that go under your existing toilet seat, and hook up to your toilet’s water line. However, they typically don’t come with many added features. Bidet seats are often the best solution because they replace your existing toilet seat, allowing for more features like warming (seat and water) and drying, but they don’t require the installation hassle of replacing your whole toilet. Bidet toilets, which totally replace your existing John, are a much bigger operation and something of a different beast altogether, so we didn’t consider them for this roundup.

Electric vs. Manual: The main difference between pricey bidets and the sub-$100 models is whether or not they require electricity. Electric bidets offer more features like warm water, drying, and different modes, but they’re more difficult to install and significantly more expensive. My suggestion? Buy a manual bidet first. If you like it (like I did) and can afford the upgrade, get an electric one after.

Water Temperature: One feature people often want in a bidet is warm water when you rinse off. Bidets that offer warm water either have a heating tank that warms the water from your toilet water line, or they’ll take water from the sink line and run it through a coil heating system in the bidet.

However, from personal experience, your bum doesn’t feel much temperature difference in the water (your thighs, on the other hand, will thank you for upgrading to a bidet seat with a warming function).

Drying & Other Features: A few other features to keep your eyes peeled for are air drying and seat warming. Being able to adjust the bidet’s water stream and/or temperature settings is also nice.

Benefits of a Bidet

Still not sure if a bidet its worthwhile to get a bidet? We typically point to three main benefits: cleanliness, money-saving potential, and environmental friendliness.

The first — cleanliness — almost goes without saying. With less work and time, you’ll get cleaner than is even possible with toilet paper alone. According to Dr. Alex You, an L.A.-based emergency physician, bidets are more effective than regular TP because they use pressure and water. “If you have dirt on your hands you would want to use water [too] and not just wipe it on a paper towel right?” he asks. “Using toilet paper alone just wipes and smears your poop.”

Then there’s all the toilet paper that you end up not using with a bidet. Sure, you’ll likely have to dry off with a few pads (unless you have an air-drying bidet), but over the years that you’ll use your bidet, you’ll save both money and trees by buying less toilet paper.

How We Chose the Best Bidets

Although bidets are quickly getting more popular in America, there still aren’t a ton of options to choose from. But that means we got to spend time with most of the best-selling bidet brands, as well as several popular bidets found on Amazon. In our testing, we considered ease of installation, built quality, basic functionality (i.e. did it get the job done), and added features. After using different bidets ourselves, we read through other expert opinions and user reviews for dozens of popular bidets. With all this in mind, we selected the bidets above. All had to be readily available at a major retailer (preferably Amazon) and have at least a 4/5-star rating.