Toilet Paper or Water.....Why?
By nupats
@nupats (3564)
India
July 6, 2008 6:54am CST
Well yesterday my friends cousin has come from states she had gone to the bathroom after about half an hour she did not come put so i told my friend to check on her...she told my frriend she could not fnd the toilet paper to clean..we all use water and clean our hands with handwash...so finally i gave her 10-15 tissue papers...we wash clean with water after the big job..what do u use? in America mostly what is used and why?
9 people like this
37 responses
@nupats (3564)
• India
7 Jul 08
hi dear see so much of difference of opinion on this issue..but it is wrong to think either of it is yuck we should share our views and rspect what others follow..as it is all about personal preferences..aapko yeh discussion bilkul pasnad nahi aaya..ya aise hi nakhre dikha rahe hoo..heehee this is grt ...have a nice day dear
2 people like this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
6 Jul 08
Did you not have toilet paper to clean your bottom with? I've heard of cultures that use their hands then wash them but I've never met anyone that did this.
People have different customs. In Mexico, they don't flush the paper because the systems can't handle it in some places, at least according to a lady I knew from Mexico. They put it in a trash can. People in the U.S. find this disgusting, but it's just how another culture does it based on necessity.
3 people like this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
7 Jul 08
I'm very sorry, I thought the first reply didn't go through and didn't mean to reply twice! Thank you for the information, it's a strange custom to me but that's what makes the world so interesting. 
1 person likes this
@nupats (3564)
• India
7 Jul 08
we use the water and clean with the hands and it is just cleaning another part of the body and i think water is the best way to clean and use a Dettol hand wash to clean the hands..a tissue wipe can actually lead to some itchy bums and it is kind of messy ..bcoz i tried cleaning my son when he was six months old and he landed up with rashes and poor baby kept crying so i thnk water is actually the neatest..it is how it is here..we go yuck at the thought of tissue paper and keep wondering is it actually clean or is this guy stinking..i think difference of culture
2 people like this
@jesbellaine (4139)
• Philippines
6 Jul 08
Here in Philippines, we use both. I use water with soap to wash my hands or etc then use a toilet paper to dry it off. cheers!
@jdyrj777 (6530)
• United States
7 Jul 08
I have known people that have traveled overseas before so i have heard of countries where people do that. Of coarse being a spoiled american i think i need paper and wipes. There were times i had to go in abush and use leaves. Ouch, i bit rough. I always try to carry a few tissue in my bag.
2 people like this
@m_rdzy (232)
• Malaysia
7 Jul 08
i'm from malaysia, and of course use water to clean it, to me using water is more praticle than tissue paper. Besides spending more money, sometimes the tissue paper will easy to make your toilet bowl stuck and problem. Tissue is only practicle if there is no water supply to clean it
3 people like this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
6 Jul 08
Did you not have toilet paper to clean your bottom with? I've heard of cultures that use their hands then wash them but I've never met anyone that did this.
3 people like this
@nupats (3564)
• India
7 Jul 08
99% of my country does this..and it is perfectly all right..sense of hygine varies..we feel toilet papers are not really very hygenic and water actually washes off 100% and so no itchy bums..i think it is a mindset..not necessary all think alike..views and culutre always vary that is why discussions come out..have a nice day.
2 people like this
@gloamglozer (1289)
• Australia
7 Jul 08
In Australia everyone mostly uses toilet paper. This is actually the first time i've heard of people cleaning that part of themselves with water. I've heard of water propelling things that are on some Japanese toilets but not with water alone.
2 people like this
@saverio (402)
• India
6 Jul 08
k...if you want a history,the toilet paper thing started in china.That was started in 6th centuary A.D......Yes..china.
Then bidet came into use.But still in the US people use toilet papers.
Toilet papers are actually different from other tissue.They dicompose into septic tank.also one is supposed to flush the used toilet papers once done.
3 people like this
@baileycows (3665)
• United States
10 Jul 08
We use toilet paper and then wash our hands afterwards. So your telling us that you do not use toilet paper you just wash the poop off and then wash your hands?
2 people like this
@nupats (3564)
• India
10 Jul 08
yes dear that is correct...we wash with water and then wash our hands with a antibacterial germicidal soap..infact when my baby was very small i used to wash his bum with baby liquid wash and then dry and powder it every time..i had to wipe once and the poor kid had a bad itchy bum..
@baileycows (3665)
• United States
10 Jul 08
WOW! Does that not seem gross no offense getting poop on your hands?
1 person likes this
@pratiksanghvi (1281)
• India
12 Jul 08
i do it with water i am an indian and in india its an old tradion that after the job we use water and then wash our hands.there is nothing bad in that nor do i regret it
@ifglan (1152)
• China
8 Jul 08
Well,in our country,we use toilet paper ,and wash our hands after it,it is the first time i heard you are washing while after that big job,hehe...and i can imagine if i do it like that ,i will probably fell uncomfortable.Cause i want to be dry .
@XXTYCHABBYXX (239)
• United States
19 Jul 08
in america we use toilet paper. just wondering how do yu clean with water like where does the excess go? on your hands? and in america we also wash our hand with soap.
2 people like this
@AJ1952Chats (2332)
• Anderson, Indiana
17 Jul 08
I'm very fussy!
I'm from Indiana in the USA, and I will generally take toilet paper, fold it, and place it on the area needing cleaned and hold it there to let it soak it up--much like I would blot lipstick.
I'll do that again, and, if I feel it's needed, keep repeating.
After the initial blotting, I move it around more.
When I feel as if I've done all I can do with the paper (which I flush), I'll then either wet a paper towel or a baby wipe with warm water and further clean the area. This I dispose of in a trash bag beside my toilet. I usually repeat this about three times.
And you can bet that I'll wash very well with soap and very warm water afterwards.
@AJ1952Chats (2332)
• Anderson, Indiana
17 Jul 08
One more thing! Although on my dad's side (an Army brat family), I'm sure that it was toilet paper all the way, the same can't be said about my mom's side.
She, my grandparents, aunt, and uncles all went to an outhouse--or used a slop jar indoors at night. After that, they cleaned up with the rougher pages of a Sears & Roebuck catalog.
I noticed this method of wiping mentioned earlier by someone else.
Before Sears & Roebuck catalogs, what was used most by country folks was a corncob.
When people went in the woods, they would use leaves, and this was even true in my mom's time, because she and her best friend were out playing in the woods when my mom had to go.
After she was done, she grabbed up some leaves to wipe with--and she found out too late that they were poison ivy! She had also managed to transfer some to her face, so she missed going to The Quincy Picnic, which was a big event around her neck of the woods. Of course, she was crestfallen about that, because you saw everybody there, got lots to eat, and it was a lot like a carnival.
Of course, they had no air-conditioning back in the early 1930s when this happened--in fact, the community she grew up in didn't even have electricity until sometime after she and my dad got married in 1947.
So, she not only had poison ivy but she was also putting up with it in summer heat where there wasn't even any electric fan, much less central air.
Here's something romantic. When my folks were newlyweds, they used to go "down home" for the weekend from their new hometown of Anderson. At some time, a few people in Cunot and the surrounding area were starting to get electricity, and they made a game of looking for signs of it.
It would be getting dark, and most of the homes would have coal oil lamps, and there would be a dim light coming from their windows.
But, here and there, they would notice homes with brighter lights, and they'd know that electricity had come to that family!
Soon, it came to the house shared by my widowed grandpa and uncle. Grandpa hadn't been all that concerned about getting electricity in, and neither had Uncle George.
But he got it and got so used to it that, one evening, my folks arrived down there to find grandpa sitting at his kitchen table with a coal oil lamp waiting for the lights to come back on again. Before then, he had easily gotten around his house with no more light than that, but he was now just sitting there waiting out the outage.
Got spoiled, otherwords!
I can remember when Grandpa and Uncle George got indoor plumbing. I was two or three, and I watched it getting put in.
1 person likes this
@nupats (3564)
• India
17 Jul 08
Thank you so much dear..that is quiet some information..well we have faucet which sprays water and clean the butt while you are still on the pot...and so the poop is washed off and then you can dry yourself wih a paper and wash your hands with a soap..i think it varies from region to region....have a nice day
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
7 Jul 08
As an Indian, I of course use water and then wash my hands with Dettol. However, I think its people in the western culture who use toilet paper. Though I don’t know why but my thinking is that these are mainly winter countries where the summer is short. Using water in freezing winter conditions is not a viable option and so people of these countries started using the toilet paper. However, in our summer countries, water is the best option available.
2 people like this
@jammyt (2818)
• Philippines
7 Jul 08
I'm not from America but I am from the Philippines. Our practice is to use water and soap. Diverting from this will really feel weird. It's like you are still not clean. Some people do use toilet paper but they wet it with water. In the absence of water, wet ones will do--- for the meantime. Just make sure you still clean when you get at home.
@littlepinoy (600)
• Philippines
7 Jul 08
I'm Asian.
I use water. It's more hygienic. We wash our butts and hole. Then we can wash it with soap so that it'll smell good and to remove all the excess pooh. Then we wash hands. It's hygienic. Not to mention environmental friendly.
With toilet paper, where do we throw our papers? Trash. Trash which contributes to the wastes in the landfills. Not good for the environment. And when you wipe, there's no hundred percent assurance that all the pooh has been removed from your butt. And if you keep on wiping, it'll make your bottoms sore. Yikes.
I go for water... and soap.
@taface412 (3175)
• United States
7 Jul 08
Toilet paper is biodegradable and it is flushed in the toilet and it is environmentally friendly. It also prevents germs and such nasty things like pooh from getting on your hands, the same hands you eat food with or wipe off a baby's mouth with....this is call crosscontamination, and it is environmentally friendly as it can introdcue Ecoli into your system, give you sores in your eyes, lots of little germs there.
I am a strong advocate of T-Paper. I work in a field where there are a lot of wiping of butts and I could not imagine what it would be like and all the cross contamination that would occur with just water and soap.
I just could not imagine....
2 people like this
hi dear u r right water and soap is truely the best alternative..@littlepinoy (600)
• Philippines
7 Jul 08
I forgot to mention. We wash our hands thoroughly with germicidal/antibacterial soap after we wash our butts.
1 person likes this
