Top level mod reminder: commenters here should please remember we are looking for comprehensive historical information on bidets. We are not looking for information about your personal use of bidets and wet wipes, or for jokes about Americans. Thank you.

Different question: Did they catch on anywhere? I mean i only saw them in hotels in different european countries. But i never heard of ordinary people having those things at home in their bathrooms.

Mods: not sure if a top level response can just be a book suggestion.

OP, read "The Big Necessity: The unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters" by Rose George for all you never knew your never knew about poop, sanitization, toilets, and the cultural biases for and against different kinds of toilets, sanitation, and poop.

Rose George says using a bidet after pooping is a good, maybe one of the best, methods of sanitation, but logic doesn't generally dictate our actions regarding poop. The bidet was only ever really popular in France - at one point, 90% of French households had one, but now only 10% do.

A sociologist the book quotes suggests that the bidet never overcame the fact that it's French, and in America this meant it was viewed with suspicion, given France's reputation for "naughtiness" (sex).

Using water instead of paper to clean also seems to require learning a complicated technique, which was embarrassing to learn and to explain. Bidets (and those thousand dollar Japanese toilets) are intimidating. And Americans never saw a need, so why go through the hassle and embarrassment?

Finally, marketing the bidet means convincing potential consumers that they need one - that they are dirty and unsanitary and covered in poop. The first ads for bidets were pictures of bums. This offended and grossed out Americans.

This book has a lot more about water versus paper and how the world basically divides into using one or the other after pooping. It's a fascinating read.