Toilet paper

Toilet paper, lavatory paper or toilet tissue is a tissue paper product designed for the cleaning of the anus after defecation or the genitals after urination.

Modern alternatives

In France, toilet sanitation was supplemented by the invention of the bidet in the 1710s. With the improvements to plumbing in the Victorian era the bidet moved from the bedroom (where it was kept with the chamber pot) to the bathroom. Modern bidets use a stream of warm water to cleanse the genitals and anus (before modern plumbing, bidets sometimes had a hand-crank to achieve the same effect). The bidet is commonplace in many European countries, especially in France and Italy, and also in Japan where approximately half of all households have a form of bidet. It is also very popular in the Middle East.

Related Topics:
France - Toilet - Bidet - 1710s - Victorian era - Italy - Japan

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The first "paperless" toilet was invented in Japan in 1980. It is a combination toilet, bidet and drier, controlled by an electronic panel next to the toilet seat. This has famously led to tourists accidentally activating the bidet and causing a jet of water to shoot high into the air and spray all over the bathroom floor, usually a result of investigating the unfamiliar fixture's buttons, all of course labeled in Japanese (the fact that some toilets use a button on the same panel to flush exacerbated the problem). Many modern Japanese bidet toilets, especially in hotels and public areas, are labeled with pictograms to avoid the problem, and some newer models even have a sensor that will refuse to activate the bidet unless it detects someone actually sitting on the toilet.

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In some parts of Asia especially in the Indian sub-continent a water container referred to as a Lota is used to pour water down the back passage to remove feces using the hands. Since there is no universal design for a Lota, anything from a flowering pot to a milk jug can be used as one. This practice has spread to North America and Europe with the sub-continental diaspora.

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Another popular alternative resembles a miniature shower and is termed as a "health faucet". It is placed on a holder near the toilet, thus enabling the person using it to have it within an arm's length for easy accessibility.

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