No shortage
Butt shower & Co.: These toilet paper alternatives are just as good – if not better
In the wake of the Corona crisis, toilet paper is currently in short supply
© Manuel Burgos / Getty Images
Never before has toilet paper been in such high demand and sold out as quickly as during the Corona crisis. There is a simple reason why the Germans hoard this hygiene item of all things: because everyone does it. The question arises: What to do when the toilet paper is out of stock?
First things first: there are supplies. The shelves of the local supermarkets and drugstores are restocked almost every day. Nevertheless, coveted items such as toilet paper are sold out so quickly that you can almost count yourself lucky if you were able to get hold of a pack. But what’s left for the people who don’t get toilet paper and REALLY don’t have a single roll at home anymore? And now comes the good news: You don’t have to worry either, because there are numerous alternatives that are even more hygienic – and on top of that even better for the environment. Here you can find out what they are and what you need to know about the application.
The butt shower
In countries like Dubai, Cairo, Japan or India it is common practice to wash your behind with water after going to the toilet. For Oliver Elsoud, the founder of HappyPo, the decision to invent a butt shower that could be used especially for this purpose was obvious – with which he applied to the “Lion’s Den” in 2017 and landed a deal. But how exactly does the device work? You fill the shower with water, hold it on the desired part of your body after you have finished your business and steer the water jet with a handshake, without batteries. This is not only more hygienic than toilet paper, but also more environmentally friendly in use.
The mobile bidet
Again, the principle is the same, but unlike the butt shower mentioned above, it will mobile bidet connected directly to a water pipe. The set includes a hand shower, a hose, a bracket and two seals, allowing you to conveniently and easily install the device in the bathroom. The bidet is not only suitable as a toilet or hygiene shower, but can also be converted into a baby, dog or garden shower. It is not suitable for traveling.
The sitz bath
As the name suggests, this is what it is sitz bath a small tub that you place on the toilet seat and fill with warm water before sitting on it. Usually, the primary purpose of bathing is to relieve butt pain, reduce inflammation, or even improve blood flow—so it’s primarily aimed at people suffering from hemorrhoids from an anal fissure. In fact, the sitz bath can also be used to improve hygiene by using the water instead of toilet paper to clean your behind.
The washcloth
When our grandparents were still children, they had to cope with significantly worse sanitary standards. Even then, hygiene items were in short supply, so most families washcloth as a toilet paper alternative. And even today they are used in many homes with young children, so why not use them for adults too? After all, the rags can be cleaned in the washing machine and reused after use – but make sure that they are made of pure cotton so that they can be washed at 60 degrees to kill all germs.
That’s why toilet paper is bad for the environment
Did you know that every German uses up to 46 rolls of toilet paper in a year? That’s a huge amount of rubbish that ends up in the sewage system every year. What is even worse, however, is that an alarming number of manufacturers use high-quality pulp fibers for production that come from freshly felled trees. According to the WWF, some of the wood is felled illegally and not particularly sustainably – not only in Latin America, Canada, South Africa, Russia and Asia, but also in Europe. In addition, toilet paper can often contain chemicals that cause allergic reactions or skin irritation. So it certainly can’t hurt to fall back on one of the alternatives mentioned above, even if it’s out of necessity.
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