CAUTION: This design analysis discusses defecation and related matters. Those who find these things disgusting should go no further (and probably should not be involved in design on the most serious levels.)
"I discovered, said Gargantua, by long and painstaking experiments a way to wipe my ass, the most lordly, the most expedient that ever was seen."
- Francois Rabelais, Gargantua & Pantagruel, trans. by Donald Murdoch Frame
It appalls me that, in a society overflowing with unnecessary toiletries of all kinds, the design of ass-wiping paraphernalia has remained in a primitive state. The dominant method of ass-wiping in advanced societies is to use a dry paper product. Dry paper is obviously an unsatisfactory to remove glutinous matter from the human skin. Moistness is essential to such a process.
We will put aside the bidet for the purpose of this discussion. It is too complex, too expensive, too ecologically demanding and too effete for a young country such as ours. The same is certainly true of more complicated toilets which rinse, air dry and connect you to the internet.
For many years the solution was right in front of us in the form of moist tissues for wiping the asses of babies. But the product was not marketed for adults and only a few enlightened adults were clever enough to adapt the product to their purposes. (The adult user avoided the potential toilet stuffing problem by tearing the approximately 9-inch by 6-inch wipe in half before using. Two such half-wipes were more than adequate for most ass-wiping purposes, followed by a minimal use of one or two sheets of ordinary toilet paper for drying purposes.)
I am happy to report that an attempt is being made to market moist toilet wipes to adults (years after introduction in Europe.) Kimberly Clark is leading the way with its Cottonelle brand. I have not yet tried them and I doubt they will match the baby wipes for cost effectiveness. When I have done more research I will report the results. I will also address the question of whether these products are indeed "flushable" as advertised.
As a concluding footnote I point out that the cleaning of the ass would be made easier in general if children were educated, at home or in school, to spread their ass cheeks when defecating. A survey has shown that, at present, only 58% of the population do so.
"I discovered, said Gargantua, by long and painstaking experiments a way to wipe my ass, the most lordly, the most expedient that ever was seen."
- Francois Rabelais, Gargantua & Pantagruel, trans. by Donald Murdoch Frame
It appalls me that, in a society overflowing with unnecessary toiletries of all kinds, the design of ass-wiping paraphernalia has remained in a primitive state. The dominant method of ass-wiping in advanced societies is to use a dry paper product. Dry paper is obviously an unsatisfactory to remove glutinous matter from the human skin. Moistness is essential to such a process.
We will put aside the bidet for the purpose of this discussion. It is too complex, too expensive, too ecologically demanding and too effete for a young country such as ours. The same is certainly true of more complicated toilets which rinse, air dry and connect you to the internet.
For many years the solution was right in front of us in the form of moist tissues for wiping the asses of babies. But the product was not marketed for adults and only a few enlightened adults were clever enough to adapt the product to their purposes. (The adult user avoided the potential toilet stuffing problem by tearing the approximately 9-inch by 6-inch wipe in half before using. Two such half-wipes were more than adequate for most ass-wiping purposes, followed by a minimal use of one or two sheets of ordinary toilet paper for drying purposes.)
I am happy to report that an attempt is being made to market moist toilet wipes to adults (years after introduction in Europe.) Kimberly Clark is leading the way with its Cottonelle brand. I have not yet tried them and I doubt they will match the baby wipes for cost effectiveness. When I have done more research I will report the results. I will also address the question of whether these products are indeed "flushable" as advertised.
As a concluding footnote I point out that the cleaning of the ass would be made easier in general if children were educated, at home or in school, to spread their ass cheeks when defecating. A survey has shown that, at present, only 58% of the population do so.
No comments:
Post a Comment