Royal flush: how toilet paper shortages fuelled an interest in high-end 'smart toilets'

Though they’ve been big in Japan for decades, Covid-19 has accelerated Australians’ curiosity about ‘alternative toileting devices’

Before the Great Toilet Paper Shortage, alternative means of washing were not top of mind for most Australians. We laughed at the eccentricity of the French with their peculiar, rather-too-intimately fastidious bidets. Then, in March, Google searches for bidets skyrocketed by at least 1,000%.

Having a French mother, I was more familiar with their low slung, stocky design, but not with its origins. I always assumed it had been invented by a Monsieur Bidet. But non, it turns out that the word originates from the term for a pony which makes sense, given that it is straddled like one.

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* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here