by Texas Homesteader ~
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A bidet (pronounced bid-day) cleans with a gentle stream of water and can replace toilet tissue. There’s a definite cleanliness difference between using a bidet vs. toilet paper too. 

Our bidet features dual nozzles and adjustable settings. Installation was fast too. But there’s an issue with some toilet seats you’ll need to be aware of. (No worries, it’s a simple fix.)

(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)  

Advantages of A Bidet

For us there are several advantages to having a bidet.

• • Much cleaner feel using water to clean vs. toilet paper.

  • Less paper going into our septic system for us to eventually pay to be pumped out and disposed of.

  • Save money by reducing or eliminating the need to buy toilet paper. (we still have toilet paper in guest bathroom)

  • Eco Friendly – no mammoth plastic-wrapped toilet paper rolls needed. We went disposable paper-towel, paper napkin & paper plate free over a decade ago. Disposables in any of their forms are always shunned here.

Considerations For Buying A Bidet

There are many things we look at before making a purchase. It’s never just about the cheapest product out there, but often we do search for the best deals too.

Before buying a bidet it’s important for to do things in this order:

• • Research different brands customer satisfaction. Look for high customer satisfaction ratings first. We want to make sure we’re buying quality.

  • Narrow down to the features you want. Do you want levers or dials? Single or dual nozzle? Separate unit or built into toilet seat? 

  • Search for the best price. Only after other considerations are made, hunt for the best price.

The Best Bidet

After narrowing down our options we decided on the *Luxe Bidet NEO 185 for our home.

Here are the considerations for our bidet purchase decision:

• • It has two separate settings, which was a nice feature.

  • The pressure of the spray can be easily adjusted with the control knobs on the side. (knobs were recommended by many users over the levers used by other models.)

  • At the time of our purchase the Luxe bidet was only about $35. Wow, shouldn’t take long to recover the purchase price simply due to the savings of toilet paper purchases!

Luxe Bidet Kit

The bidet was ordered and received quickly. The kit we received contained:

• • • The bidet unit

    • Flexible water connector

    • T-connector

    • Teflon tape

    • Installation tools

Everything we need in this one box.

Installing The Bidet Is Easy!

Basically you’re just changing the one line that reaches the toilet by adding a t-connector & line so water can run to the bidet when needed as well.

Sounds simple enough. So RancherMan set to install our new bidet.

First he had to turn the water off from the wall to the toilet. Then he flushed the toilet to remove the water from the toilet’s tank.

Attaching The Water Source

To hook up the bidet’s water source after the water was turned off & the toilet was flushed, RancherMan first put a towel on the floor. He knew there would still be a tiny bit of water that would drip from the line when he disconnected it.

Here’s how he brought a water source to the bidet:

• • • Disconnect the existing water line from the bottom of the toilet’s water tank.

    • Add bidet’s T-connector and flexible water line to the bottom of the toilet’s water tank.

    • Reconnect the existing incoming water line for the toilet on the other side of the T-connector. 

So now one water source goes to the toilet (as it always had) while the other water line also sends water to the bidet.

Installing A Bidet To A Toilet

Now that the water’s all hooked up it’s time to install the bidet.

• • Remove toilet seat

  • Set bidet on the porcelain bowl (line up bolt holes)

  • Set toilet seat on top of the bidet 

  • Reattach seat through bidet holes to porcelain 

  • Connect the flexible water line to the bidet unit

Wow, that was easy!

Issue With Toilet Seat Style Bidet

Then we stood back to check it out. But wait, what’s this?

The toilet seat no longer rests on the porcelain bowl when it’s closed!

Back to the instructions where RancherMan found a small notice in the troubleshooting section that read:

Problem: After installing the bidet, the toilet seat does not rest flat on the toilet bowl.

Possible Causes: 
1. The toilet seat has outer hinge tabs.
2. There is a curve underneath the toilet seat.

Possible Solutions:
1. If the extra space is 1/2” or less, install *toilet seat bumpers.
2. Find a toilet seat that is flat at the bottom and does not come with outer hinge tabs.

We looked closely at our existing toilet seat and it did have a curve on the underside. Ugh, wish we’d noticed that when we were ordering our bidet!

So it will be helpful if you inspect your existing toilet seat before you order your bidet. . 

If the underside of your existing toilet seat is flat, you’re probably fine. But if the underside surface is curved (like many toilet seats are these days) then you’ll probably need to either buy a new toilet seat with a flat underside or simply buy the *adjusting bumpers. at the same time you purchase your new bidet.

Bumpers To Amend Toilet Seat

It’s an environmental decision for me. So we decided on the bumpers. They were inexpensive & RancherMan installed them in minutes.

These ‘bumpers‘ attach to the underside of your toilet seat with strong adhesive to assure it rests firmly & properly on the porcelain bowl.

You can see the light-gray bumpers in the photo below.

They worked perfectly to rectify the problem. The toilet seat now rests firmly on the porcelain bowl of our toilet.

What Cloth To Use With A Bidet? 

Using the *bidet means we’re not having to use toilet paper unless we want to. Instead, all that’s needed is soft cloth to blot dry the water from your skin.

 

I’ve used cotton cloth squares cut from soft, worn t-shirts. But I settled on a set of inexpensive color-coded washcloths dedicated only for this purpose. They’re folded neatly in a pretty wire basket sitting on top of the toilet tank.

The cotton material is perfect for this use. And I’m pretty thrilled with our new bidet.

~TxH~

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