In an entertaining review of electronic toilet bidet seats made by Toto and Kohler, The New York Times reporter Farhad Manjoo wonders why the idea hasn’t caught on in the U.S., often appearing only in the most expensive homes.
“You don’t try to clean the rest of your body with a dry towel, right?” Jerry Bougher, the marketing manager for toilet seats at plumbing fixtures company Kohler, asks The New York Times reporter.
Bidets are very popular in other parts of the world. Ones that are built into toilets are particularly common in East Asia and the Middle East, and are slowly replacing standalone bidets in Europe.
Electronic bidet seats, on the other hand, attach to existing toilet bowls, and cost anywhere between $250 to $1,700, based on additional features.