With supplies of toilet paper still limited in many stores, interest appears to be picking up in an alternative.
Bidets have been popular throughout Europe for centuries – but they’ve never been big in the U.S. That could be changing in Ohio according to Jason Norris, president of the state chapter of the trade group, the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association. He acknowledges that toilet paper will likely never go away. But after the hoarding of the paper during the pandemic, he thinks people may be more receptive to bidets.
“When they’re brought up to the homeowners, there’s a lot of questions that come up," Norris said. "I don’t believe that there’s a ton of advertisement; a lot of people don’t know about these particular items. Before when it was brought up, it was not a conversation at all. But now when it’s brought up, much, much more information is shared.”
Norris adds that when they do install bidets, they’re more often an add-on seat as opposed to a separate, standalone unit.
“There’s product out there now that you can actually add a bidet seat – make any toilet into a bidet – and you just have to run electric and water to it. Typically the seats are heated because you don’t want cold water; you’d like to have water that’s pleasant. It does have a jet that cleans and it does a fabulous job.”
