World's Best Toilet Seat and Electronic Bidet

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• Why I Sell Bidets! (Am I Tilting at Windmills?!?)

• General Features of Electronic Bidets

• Different Models that we have Available (3 different US models & 1 foreign model)

• Cold Water Only Bidet (Why you probably don't want to use one!)

• Checking the Dimensions of your Toilet to see if an Electronic Bidet Will Fit

• Installation Instructions (It's pretty easy!)

• Finding Electricity in your Bathroom (Some secrets to make it easy!)

• The Science behind using a Bidet to Stay Clean (Not for the squeamish!)

• Converting a Bidet from Elongated to Regular, or Vice Versa (Pretty easy!)

• Weight Limit of Bidet Seat (All US models have a special seat to prevent cracking!)

• Using an Electronic Bidet with Handicapped Toilet Aids

• Using an Electronic Bidet with Vision Problems (Not a problem!)

• Battery Operated Water Alarm (If you're not sure of your plumbing skills!)

• Live Bidet Webcam from a Bathroom in Our Office (Watch us use a bidet!)

Well, me. I bought my first IntiMist as a birthday present for $1,195.00 plus tax! It was a gift that was both appreciated and used for a decade. This is your chance to give a gift that will be remembered for years.

Like most of us, you probably can't afford to have a car with a big bow delivered to your driveway as a gift (like the TV commercials suggested). A bidet is a gift that will be appreciated almost as much as a car - but it won't break the bank!

You'll also be able to get the benefits of your gift, if you get to use the bathroom too!

About 20% of the bidets we sell are to people who have just come back from Japan. Once they've tried an electronic bidet, they wonder the same thing I've been wondering for 19 years...

About 40% of the bidets we sell are to people who are handicapped. If you have a tough time using your hands or arms, an electronic bidet can be a life changing experience. With the push of a button, a problem you might have lived with for years is relieved.

Our control panel is on the right side. If you'd have a hard time pushing a button on the control panel on the right, our Remote Control version lets you put the Remote on the left side, or even mounted near the floor so you can hit it with your toe.

If you or the person you're buying the IntiMist for is handicapped, ask for your 10% Discount on either the regular or remote control version.

The IntiMist comes with a "T" fitting that lets you easily connect to the cold water line going up into your toilet tank (there is no connection to your hot water).

You also need a 110V AC outlet within a couple of feet of the toilet (electricity heats the water and seat, and runs the control panel). You can use an extension cord temporarily, but water and electricity really don't mix.

Using the IntiMist every day is a soothing and affordable luxury for most of us, or a necessity for those with health problems, the handicapped or the elderly.

In Tokyo, almost 70% of the homes have one of these!
What are we... Chopped Sushi?

30 years ago, the Japanese were literally using holes in the floor. Now most homes in urban areas have an electronic bidet on a real porcelain toilet, and you can find stores selling electronic bidets every few blocks!
There must be a reason why whole cities in Japan are using these devices?

In many countries, toilet paper isn't used at all. Soothing and refreshing water is all they use.
The IntiMist can give you all the benefits of not using toilet paper.

What's a phone man doing selling toilet seats?
Well I love our IntiMist, and I know you'll love it too!
It's really an amazing device.

How did I get into this? Being an uncouth phone man...the first bidet I ever saw was at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Chicago in 1981, where I was fixing wall phones in the bathrooms (the steam would kill the dials). The security guard who was with me had to tell me what these things were.

The bidets in the big buck suites were stupid! It's a big porcelain bowl. You turn on the faucets to adjust the temperature, and the water sprays straight up - soaking any clothes you might be wearing! More modern bidets now spray the water from the faucet, sideways. I have no idea how this thing works. Who the heck do you ask?

One customer mentioned that she had one of these when in her hotel room. She had no idea what it was, but she thought "maybe it was a foot bath?" For anything else, it sure looks like you're going to get wet!

With the electronic IntiMist, you can wear a suit or dress - it's the same as using a regular toilet!

The water temperature is always at the temperature you set it to electronically (no knobs to adjust each time you use it - and no spikes of hot or cold water when someone else in the home uses the water).

I saw my first IntiMist on display at an oriental grocery store in 1990. I had never seen anything like it, but it sure made sense compared to the ordinary bidets I saw in the hotel - and it would work on any toilet. I thought long and hard about spending over $1,000 on the IntiMist, but a month later I went back and bought it for a birthday present. As you can imagine, I definitely got some extra points for that gift!

When I saw how well the IntiMist went over as a gift, I figured a lot of people would like the IntiMist just as much. I put it in our wholesale telephone parts and tools catalog in 1992, and then put it on the Internet in 1995 when we got our first web site. At $449.95 they sell a lot better than they did when they were over $1,000 in the early 90's!

We were selling the IntiMist well before the Internet became popular, and we were the first company selling electronic bidets on the Internet. Back in 1996 and 1997 we were chosen as the "site of the day" a number of times, since nobody had heard of a $900 toilet seat... Everybody thought we had a really bizarre web site!

I know I'm tilting at windmills trying to sell $450 toilet seats, but I really believe that eventually everybody will be using electronic bidets (probably not in my lifetime), just like we all made the change from outhouses and Sears Catalogs - to porcelain toilets and toilet paper.

An electronic bidet won't eliminate toilet paper, mainly because most people are too busy to wait the few minutes it takes to use the warm air blow dryer (most use toilet paper for drying), but it will certainly cut down on your toilet paper purchases. I wonder if toilet paper manufacturers will go the way of outhouse manufacturers? It'll save a lot of trees!

Power seats and power windows are expensive options in your car. A hot tub is expensive. Toilet paper and porcelain toilets ain't cheap any more. I think you'll find that even though the IntiMist is expensive, you'll use it all the time!

PLEASE NOTE: The Japanese manufacturer we've been buying the IntiMist from for over a decade decided not to export them to us from Japan... But they still sell it to the Japanese?!?

We now have a Taiwanese copy of the IntiMist, which includes a Warm Air Dryer, (that the Japanese had removed in the latest model). When we went looking for a new electronic bidet to replace the IntiMist, we found that other bidets sold in the far east just weren't made for Americans (some of them were really cheesy and didn't appear to be made for humans!).

Why? Well, most actually work OK for men. For women, the front spray just wasn't positioned properly. It didn't hit in the right place for women unless they leaned all the way forward to the point they were grabbing their ankles. A Korean manufacturer sent us a video of a woman using their single wand electronic bidet (a demo where she was fully dressed). I couldn't believe they would actually show potential customers how you'd have to contort your body to make it spray in the right place! It's not realistic to think that you could reach both places accurately with a single wand, as well as you could with two separate wands (but the single wand bidets didn't seem any cheaper).

The manufacturer in Taiwan was willing to work with us on fixing the spray. After shipping a few redesigned nozzles, we finally thought they had it right. The Taiwanese bidet worked as well as the IntiMist, but it included a Warm Air Dryer which the Japanese had removed from the IntiMist several years earlier (they certainly don't seem to think much of Americans!). This Taiwanese copy uses primarily Japanese mechanical parts. The Japanese have been making electronic bidets for so long they have it down to a science... Why reinvent the wheel?

The other benefit of the Taiwanese copy is the price! At only $449.95, it's at the point where you'll order a second one for your other bathroom after you try it out! As a matter of fact, we'll give you a 10% discount on any additional bidets you order! If you bought your electronic bidet somewhere else, just email us a picture of the bidet installed in your bathroom, and we'll still give you a 10% discount!

            • AC Surge Protector Included

            • Warm Water comes from Electrically Heated Internal Tank (adjustable)
               (1/4 gallon water tank provides over 45 seconds of warm water at
                medium pressure at the highest heat setting - it takes a minute or two
                for the heater to re-heat the water in the tank after it turns cold)

                                                           • Front and Rear Bidet Wands (water pressure is adjustable)

                                                           • Warm Air Blow Dryer (air temperature is adjustable)

                                                           • Heated Seat (heat is adjustable)

                                                           • Slow Close Lid and Seat (hydraulic dampeners)

                                                           • Waterproof Control Panel with Easy-Push Raised Tactile Buttons,
                                                              and LED Status Indicators

                                                           • Internal Memory remembers the water and seat temp, and water
                                                              pressure settings (both between uses, and after a power failure)

                                                           • Auto Shutoff when you Stand-up (for both bidet and dryer)

                                                           • Self Cleaning Nozzles (water runs as the nozzles retract into their
                                                               housing, to clean them each time it's used)

                                                           • Uses 550 Watts maximum, with everything heating (seldom happens)

                                                           • Heated Seat uses 60 Watts max when heating, on highest setting
                                                               (it's thermostatically controlled, so it's not heating all the time)

                                                           • 3 Year Warranty (if you keep the box!)

• Remote Control Model... Put Remote Control Panel anywhere you can hit the buttons. $549.95

Available in White for both Regular and Elongated
toilets, and Biscuit Color with White Accents
for Elongated toilets

Adds the Remote Control, a Charcoal Based Deodorizer (no, the air filter doesn't work magic - it's just marketing), and a Massage Function (pulses water from the rear wand when the Massage Button is pushed (no, it's not really a massage - it's just marketing) to the Standard Model's features.

If you can't use a regular bidet because you can't use your right arm, the Remote Control model allows you to use your left hand, or even your toe!

Mount the Remote on the wall or vanity, or just leave it on a table (don't lose it!). The Infrared Wireless Remote works from 10' away (uses 2 AA batteries). We have customers who have a caregiver who can push the buttons remotely for the user (the only way I can think of using it 10' away).

There are Mini Controls on the Left Side of the base of the bidet that you can't see, but you can feel with your fingers if you reach down (in case the batteries in the Remote die at a bad time?).

The Remote Control has an ALERT button (recessed), which is pushed once to turn on a fairly loud beeper (sounds like a truck back-up alarm) that the user can press to summon help (push the Off button to turn it off).

Seldom used controls are located behind the Flip Down Door on the Bidets's Remote Control

Because there's no control panel sticking out from the right side, you can use the Remote Control Model with some devices that assist the user in standing up from the toilet (they have posts that are placed right where the control panel would be). CLICK HERE for more information on helping a handicapped person use a bidet with a toilet (farther down the page).

The buttons on the Remote are each about 3/4" square. The Front, Back, Dryer and Massage buttons are grouped together in a square. The Off button is on the right side of the Remote, in blue.

Seldom used controls for water pressure, and water, seat and dryer temperature are located behind a flip-down panel on the Remote.

• Cold Water Only Non-Electric Model... only usable in very warm climates! $144.95
Cold Water Only Model Bidet with Manual Knobs for Front and Read Wands

Available in White Only (Regular and Elongated)

It just has front and rear wands, and a slow closing seat and lid.
Nothing else.

SPECIAL... 220VAC 50cycle Foreign Model (elongated, without dryer): $429.95

Foreign Model works in countries with 220V 50 Cycle electricity. Limited Quantity

Cold Water Only Bidet! Only $144.95 *Ask for your additional* 10% Discount if you or someone in your household is Disabled**

For Warm Weather Areas ONLY!

We came out with this Cold Water Only model especially for those of you who can't quite convince yourself to spend $450 to $550 on a bidet. Since it doesn't use electricity, neither the seat or water is heated. There's no dryer. It's shaped *exactly like* our Electronic Bidet, and comes in Regular (Round) and Elongated models, but it *doesn't use electricity. It still has the two wands (pink and blue), and has two dials which you turn to adjust the front or rear spray. Note that the Electronic* model would be better if you can't grip and turn the knob, since all you have to do is poke the button on the Electronic Bidet. It's not only shaped like our Electronic Bidet, but it uses the same T adapter and flexible hose to connect the water, and it uses the same slide-on bracket as our Electronic Bidets. That means you can *upgrade yourself* to the Electronic version by simply sliding the Cold Water Only bidet off the bracket, sliding the Electronic Bidet on the bracket, connecting the same hose to the back of the bidet, and plugging in the AC cord on the Electronic Bidet. I put this in a bathroom in our office in Chicago, last August. It was usable for a while, but I'd much rather have the same warm water I've been used to on our Electronic Bidet for the last 19 years (to say nothing of the heated seat!). When the temperature dropped into the 30s at night here, I'd say the Cold Water Only model is no longer usable. The best way I can put it is that the cold water will now numb the parts it sprays on, *very quickly. It'll certainly wake you up!* If you live in the south or Hawaii, this is probably usable? If you live in the north, I'd say it's not usable. If you live in the south and would like to try out the concept of a bidet very cheaply, this is a good way to do it. Before you buy, turn on the cold water in your bathroom on a cold day and hold your hand under it for 30 seconds. If you think you can handle that temperature and need to save some money, try the Cold Water Only model to see how your life will change using water rather than toilet paper. Once you find that you can't live without it (like the rest of us who already own an Electronic Bidet), it will be easy to upgrade in a few minutes to our Electronic Model. Maybe put the Cold Water Only model in your guest bathroom (for guests you don't like?). Check the A, B, C and D dimensions in the chart below to make sure it will fit your toilet (it looks and is shaped just like the Electronic Model). It comes in Regular and Elongated versions. NOTE: This model connects with a T adapter in-series with the short pipe from the spigot to the bottom of your toilet tank (like the Electronic Model). There is no connection for hot water, it can't be connected to hot water, and if you think you could adapt it to use hot water I'd think again - it will be hard to explain your scalded parts in the emergency room!

Measure your toilet to verify that it will work with the IntiMist before ordering. See the A, B, C and D measurements on the diagram (above). We can't take it back if you ordered the wrong one (nobody wants a used bidet!).

The A measurement determines whether you need the regular (round) or elongated bidet. There's only about an inch difference, so this measurement is VERY important! Even we guess wrong when looking at a toilet sometimes, so use a tape measure or yardstick. You may have to guess where the middle of the seat bolt hole is.

Measure to the front of the INSIDE of the bowl from the center of the bolt holes (not the outside of the toilet bowl).

The D measurement makes sure you have enough room on the right side of the toilet for the control panel. It should be at least 12" by code, but if your toilet wasn't installed to code you may not have it. You may also have to move the toilet paper dispenser if it's right where the control panel would go, or get our Remote Control model that has no control panel on the right.

The B measurement makes sure you have at least an inch and a quarter (1.25") or so between the middle of the toilet seat bolt holes and the beginning of the toilet tank. This is a critical measurement! The tank in the IntiMist is actually located there, so your toilet has to be flat (not curved) for at least 1.25" in that area leading from the bolt holes to the front of the toilet tank.

Some really fancy and expensive one piece toilets are curved everywhere to make them look fancy (so they won't work with the IntiMist), but most are flat behind the bowl, up to the tank. The bracket for the bidet has to lay flat on a solid surface.

The C measurement is almost always 5.5" in the US. There are some really strange toilets that use a special seat, where the bolt holes go into the INSIDE of the toilet bowl (not on the outside). You'd probably need a plumber with a socket wrench to install a bidet on that type of toilet (the IntiMist will work on most if the surface is flat where the bidet sits behind the bowl, and you have at least 1.25" before it would hit the toilet tank on both a 1 piece and 2 piece toilet).

If you can see or feel the nuts on the seat bolts on the outside of the toilet bowl (under the rim), and you're in the US, you should have a standard seat on your toilet.

Your toilet should have a spigot coming out of the wall, with a pipe going up to the bottom of the tank. If the pipe is flexible, you remove the top end from the bottom of the tank and put our T-Adapter in-series with the pipe (you'll need a wrench and some white Teflon plumber's tape... but we do put a small wrench in the box that will probably work for the plumbing connections, as well as the bidet bolts).

If the pipe from the spigot is solid (not flexible) you'll need to remove it and take it to the hardware store to get a flexible version (probably a few dollars). From the side of the T Adapter, we give you a braided metal flexible hose that goes up to the bidet.

Remove the two nuts on the bottom of the toilet bowl holding the seat, and clean where the seat was removed.

Put our flat mounting plate (slide-on bracket) with two plastic bolts down from the top into the two seat holes (see the included instructions for the order of the washers and the rubber pad), and use the provided wrench to tighten the nuts on the bottom of the toilet bowl. They must be tight to prevent the bidet from moving. If your bidet slides around when you're done, be sure to tighten these bolts again. You'll probably have to loosen the bolts when you slide the bidet onto the mounting plate to get it into the correct position, and then tighten the nuts a final time.

I bought an American Standard toilet that's supposed to suck down a bunch of golf balls. It's pretty amazing, but the area where the nut goes on the bolt on the left side of the bowl (facing it) was a bear. It's recessed into some kind of pocket (the right hand nut is fine). I had to use a long nose pliers to turn the nut, instead of the plastic wrench we include with the bidet.

The Bidet's mounting plate comes with two rectangular shaped metal washers (that aren't normally needed) that allow you to use your own metal bolts, or metal bolts that came with your seat or toilet.

The plastic bolts that come with the mounting plate (standard) have square heads that lets you slide the mounting plate forwards or backwards to position the bidet, and come with plastic nuts that go on from the bottom.

The included rectangular metal washers let you use a smaller metal bolt that might be made for a particular strange toilet. There's at least one strange toilet out there where you have to put the nuts on from inside the toilet bowl.

Hold the button in on the right side of the base of the bidet, and slide the bidet onto the mounting plate. When you release the button, the bidet should be firmly anchored to the mounting plate on the toilet.

You can remove the bidet from the mounting plate later by pushing the release button located on the right side of the bidet (facing the toilet).

Always press the release button in when sliding the bidet onto the bracket. As long as you press the release button in firmly when installing or removing the bidet (so you don't wear out / break the plastic catch), the whole bidet can be slid forward and reinstalled without removing the bolts so you can clean under it. That's a popular feature at the hotels and bed and breakfasts we've sold the bidets to.

Connect the flexible pipe from the T to the bidet with Teflon plumber's tape, and tighten it with a wrench. There is a rubber gasket in each hose connection, but the Teflon tape is easy to wrap around the threads as an extra precaution.

Plug the included AC Surge Protector into a 110V AC outlet (ground fault or regular), and plug the bidet's 4' AC power cord into the surge protector.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't plug the bidet in to the AC until it's mounted to the toilet! If the bidet is plugged in without water in the tank, and the bidet is set down on its back or side, the built-in float in the tank will be fooled into thinking there's water in the tank and the heater will try to heat the water in the tank. Running the tank heater without water will burn up the tank's heating element. The tank's float will prevent the heater from coming on without water if the bidet is mounted flat on the toilet.

To fill the tank with water, turn on the spigot. Push the bidet function so the tank will fill with water (it might take a minute or two as the air goes out of the tank and it's filled with water). When it sounds like it's done filling and the wand comes out and water starts to spray, push the off / stop button. It will take a minute or so for the water to heat up. Adjust the temperature and pressure buttons on the control panel (I always leave mine all the way up).

You can view the spray by pressing down on the seat until you hear a little click on the model with the control panel on the right, or by holding your hand a few inches away from the little black window on the front of the Remote Control model. The IntiMist won't normally spray unless someone is sitting on the seat. Try not to get hit in the face by the stream of water for the bidet and/or family nozzles! That's fun to try once, but after that you can test it by sitting on the toilet seat.

The Cold Water Only Model has no tank, so the wand will come out right away and spray you in the face. There's also no automatic shut-off when you stand-up.

Most bathrooms already have electricity, but it may not be convenient to the toilet. The cord on the bidet is 4 feet long, but there has to be an outlet closer than that since you can't string the cord so it's "banjo tight."

I guess you can use an extension cord, but water and electricity don't mix. You'd want to make sure it's up off the floor, and can't be sprayed by water. I think a lot of our customers use an extension cord temporarily until the electrician installs a permanent outlet.

In our bathroom, the toilet was right next to the light switch. We had an electrician go straight down from that switch to install an AC outlet (the electrician may have to run an extra wire for the neutral from the light fixture).

In my Mother's house, there was a hallway on the other side of the wall from the toilet. There was an outlet in the hallway almost directly behind where the toilet was in the bathroom. I decided not to call an electrician, and simply installed a surface mount box made to hold an AC outlet on the other side of the wall from the outlet in the hall (in the bathroom), and ran a wire from the existing outlet into the new surface mount box (with a ground wire!). It sticks out from the wall about two inches, but she was OK with that (might not be the perfect solution for a really fancy bathroom, where an electrician could put a box in the wall facing the bathroom, next to the original outlet.

If you look on a wall opposite the toilet, you may find an outlet in a hallway or bedroom?

Customers have mentioned that they had an electrician come down from the razor outlet by the vanity, and either put the outlet on the wall next to the vanity, or actually on the side of the vanity facing the toilet.

If you have tile, you're going to want to make sure the electrician installing the outlet has worked with tile before, and knows how to cut it! You may need some spare tiles.

If you have an unfinished basement below the bathroom, or one with removable ceiling tiles, it should be easy for an electrician to go straight up to put an outlet in the bathroom. Likewise, it's pretty easy to come down a wall for an outlet if there is an attic above the bathroom.

Customers ask me about installing a "Ground Fault Outlet." I think they're required by electrical codes in a bathroom? They aren't the same as a surge protector. They are more like a fuse, where they turn off the electricity to the outlet if they detect a short - even caused by water in the outlet or the cord plugged into the outlet. They don't stop surges. You need a surge protector for that.

You're going to get a small surge protector in the box with the bidet which you need to plug into the outlet, and then plug the cord from the bidet into it. Please use the surge protector! Anything electronic is susceptible to being damaged from surges during storms, or when the power goes out and then comes back on. If you have a whole house surge protector in your breaker panel, you probably don't need the surge protector we send, but it's better to be safe!

One customer in the northeast had an extended power outage from an ice storm. The main circuit board in their bidet blew out when the power finally came back on. For whatever reason, they decided not to use the included (free!) surge protector when they installed the bidet, and couldn't even find it - so we sold them a new one when we fixed their bidet. I think they're going to use it from now on!

If you're not sure of your plumbing abilities, or even if you are, our little Battery Operated Water Alarm will scream at you if there's water on the floor under it:

It just sits on the floor. There's a Water Sensor on the bottom of the case. If there's any water under it, it will scream at you.

Uses a regular 9V Battery that lasts for years (Included). No power cube or cords needed.

This is a great inexpensive gizmo to put in your basement, bathroom, or any place where a tub or sink may overflow. It could save you thousands of dollars in damage!

I have one in every bathroom. It ain't fun to see water leaking through a ceiling, or even flooding your basement. Be sure to order one or more with your bidet.

Moving? The bidet and slide-on bracket is pretty easy to remove from the toilet, after which you can just put the old seat back on. An electronic bidet is a nice selling point if you decide to sell the house with it.

Our bidets normally last a decade, (they come with a 3 year warranty as long as you save the box), so you may end up replacing the toilet before you replace the bidet.

You don't have to buy the same type of toilet you had, regular or elongated, as long as you check the new toilet against our dimensions to make sure it will work on that toilet. We sell a replacement seat for all our bidets for under $50. You can replace it yourself (maybe 10 screws after you remove it from the toilet), or send it to us to do for you. It's pretty easy.

It's very easy to change the seat on our Remote Control model, where you just flip a lever and unplug/plug-in the heating element.

You can also replace the lid along with the seat, but it's probably not worth changing since there's only about an inch difference between them.

Eljer makes an odd (expensive) toilet with a square front. Whether it uses a regular or elongated seat, when you put a bidet with the rounded seat on the square font toilet, you'll see over an inch of the square porcelain front of the bowl (that's normally under the seat on a rounded front toilet).

You can use an elongated seat on a round toilet, or a round seat on an elongated toilet, and everything will be fine... except you'll see an inch or so of the porcelain bowl in front or behind the seat (depending on which way you're going). For $50, replacing the seat is a pretty reasonable fix compared to living with it that way.

Some bidet manufacturers don't make two sizes of bidets. They only make an elongated bidet. It works on a regular (round) toilet, but it seems crazy to see the porcelain bowl showing every time you go to the washroom!

In general, men like elongated toilets (and they're less messy in the long run), and women like regular (round) toilets. These days, we sell about 75% elongated bidets, and 25% regular (round). It was the other way around when we started selling them in the early 90's. I guess the men win out today? Or maybe the women have to clean the things, and make the real decision!

It seems like all of the handicapped toilets are elongated. Some are so long that you might see a little bit of the porcelain bowl with our elongated bidet.

PLEASE NOTE: We stock a special bracket for the bidet for handicapped who have to slide on and off the seat. This bracket screws onto the bottom of the bidet, with the mounting bolts facing down into the seat holes, instead of the bidet sliding onto the bracket. You can use your own metal bolts with the bracket instead of the plastic bolts supplied with the bidet. This bracket is $10, and is the same for all three US models.

If you can just sit down normally on the toilet (instead of dragging yourself from your wheelchair, sideways), you don't need this bracket. The standard slide-on bracket is great because you can push a button to slide the bidet towards you to clean under it, and then push the button and slide it back onto the bracket. The regular bracket is designed to be used like a regular toilet, where you simply sit down on the seat - not for the sideways forces caused by someone sliding onto the seat.

In the picture on the right, there's a metal framed device that sits around the toilet to give you "arm rests" that help you stand-up. This makes a lot more sense than falling down and breaking your arm or hip!

To use an arm-rest type device with our bidet, you'd have to make sure that it doesn't attach to the toilet seat bolts, which would prevent you from mounting an electronic bidet to the toilet. It would have to attach to the wall, or sit on the floor to be used with our bidet.

There are electric lift devices on the market that will raise you at the push of a button. They're expensive, but would be needed by someone without enough arm strength to lift themselves. At that point, sliding onto the toilet seat from a wheelchair probably makes more sense (and is cheaper!).

In the second picture you'll see a different type of arm rest, that can be folded up when not needed.

With any type of arm rest or lift device, you would probably need the Remote Control Model Bidet, since the Control Panel on the right side on the Standard Model would probably interfere with the arm rest.

Note that a plastic seat riser from a drug store
is NOT compatible with an electronic bidet.

To use an electronic bidet with a toilet that needs to be raised, there is a device called the Toilevator, shown in the picture on the right.

The Toilevator will raise a toilet by a few inches by putting a "riser" or base under the toilet bowl itself. It's easy to install on an existing toilet (a plumber is probably needed on this one!)

The Toilevator can be removed from the toilet pretty easily when you decide to move (as can the electronic
bidet).

Do you really need a raised seat on the toilet with the bidet? Pick up one of the cheap plastic risers at the drug store to see if it helps (I hope they don't take them back after they're used!). If it does help, then you can get the more expensive Toilevator to use with your electronic bidet.

We get inquiries from people who have vision problems pretty regularly. There's no problem using the bidet if you have a hard time seeing.

Just like a telephone dial, the buttons on the bidet's control panel are always in the same place. The buttons don't move, so blind people have no problems dialing a phone, using a talking calculator, or using an electronic bidet.

Even if you can see, you might not want to turn on the lights in the bathroom in the middle of the night. Not a problem! The buttons on the control panel are slightly raised, which lets you count back two or three buttons from the front to turn on the bidet function / dryer. Your fingers will know where the buttons are within a couple of days, without thinking about it. I can never remember where the buttons are on the control panel when I think about it, but my fingers seem to know where they are.

You won't have to look down at the control panel to use the bidet... Your fingers will handle everything! Keep in mind that if you hit the front or rear button by accident, just hit the other button and the function will change right away.

There's no "instant freeze" or "flame thrower" button on the bidet, so hitting the wrong button isn't a big deal and it won't hurt you.

When someone heavier than 300 pounds uses the seat on the bidet, small cracks will probably develop next to the "bosses" (plastic bridge-like supports that are inside the seat to give it strength), where the seat flexes a tiny bit each time it's used (because the seat is hollow for the heating element).

Like an aluminum can pull-tab that's flexed at the same place over and over, anything will break eventually (right where it's flexed). Metal or plastic, it's all going to break right where it was flexed - some day.

The seats on all three model US bidets are now made of a special plastic that so far has resisted cracking 100%, even when used by someone over 300 pounds. We're pretty sure it has to develop cracks eventually, but this special plastic material is able to flex many thousands of times before developing a crack.

Someone who is 400 pounds may need to replace the seat eventually (we stock the seat)? We're not sure what the weight limit is? The old plastic material would probably last a year or less for someone at 400 pounds.

Note that at over 300 pounds the whole seat won't crack apart. It can develop really tiny cracks that are hardly visible, but that pinch a really tiny bit of skin as the plastic flexes when you sit on the seat. It kind of feels like a tiny pin prick. It doesn't hurt, but it's annoying.

At some point the seat has to break, but we don't know how many times it would have to be used at what weight to totally destroy it. If you're over 300 pounds, a replacement seat is only $50 if you need it.

We recommend the Remote Control Model for our wide bodied customers. Since the control panel on the Standard Model is on the right, the outer thigh could cover the control panel when they're sitting on the bidet, and might not be comfortable. The Remote Control Model has no fixed control panel sticking out, so that will never
be a problem.

Here's the Science of why the IntiMist will probably change your life. This might be more than you want to know! It's certainly more than I want to write about, or talk to a customer about on the phone.

So why would a stream of water work better than toilet paper? The simple answer is that it washes bacteria that can cause skin irritation away from the skin, into the toilet. Toilet paper can sometimes do that, and sometimes it can't.

For a woman, the front spray is going to wash the bacteria away. It's handy, but not critical for a healthy woman unless she has a hard time using toilet paper because she's disabled. Urine is sterile when it comes out, so bacteria is not normally a problem. It's certainly nice to feel as clean as possible.

For both men and women, the rear spray is more than a luxury. In many countries toilet paper has never been used by most of the population. They use water and their hand, and hopefully some good soap.

In the US, toilet paper is a huge business. We use it because we've been taught to use it. Friendly Mr. Whipple played to the occasional irritation we all feel from toilet paper. I wonder what happened to Japan's toilet paper industry after the electronic bidet became popular there, to the point that it's in almost every home in Japanese urban areas?

A Korean doctor sent me an email a couple of years ago suggesting that I carry his brand of bidet - which had an enema function. You've got to be kidding! I'm going to sell enema machines? Right.

Just mentioning enemas in the US is usually out of bounds, but maybe it's more normal in Korea? In any event, his website had an animation of how his bidet worked, and some serious explanations of all kinds of medical problems that his bidet could prevent or cure (pretty questionable, and those claims seem to be gone from his web site now). Several electronic bidets now say they provide an enema function, but they really don't work differently than any other bidet. Kind of like the "massage" function or the "odor elimination" feature, which are essentially marketing hype.

When I saw the Korean doctor's animation, I remembered a customer calling to tell me how well his bidet worked for him. He said that he had to turn down the spray (from the highest setting), which was going inside him. He also mentioned that he tried to wait until he got home to go to the bathroom. His IntiMist was the only bidet he knew of in his small town. Diagram of the Anal Canal

After seeing the Korean doctor's web page, it all came together for me. The IntiMist is giving the user an enema, but only in the anal canal - which is the last inch and a half after the rectum. The lower rectum is at the top of the anal canal, holding the stool that's about to be released (through the canal).

If the stool is solid, it's expelled and the 1.5" anal canal is left pretty clean.

If the stool is soft, some of the stool is left in the anal canal, and it's nearly impossible to clean out with toilet paper - which might get the last half inch or so. The rest will work its way down using gravity to make it out of the canal, onto the skin around the anus (and in the underwear).

Generally speaking, the longer the irritants are left on the skin, the more the skin will be irritated and the longer it will take to heal. Unlike urine, which is normally sterile when it comes out, feces is made up of lots of bacteria and other things that can irritate skin if it's left on it for a while.

The IntiMist (or just about any bidet) will pretty much change your life by cleaning out that last 1.5 inches every time you go to the bathroom and use the bidet. If there's nothing in the canal to work its way down (the internal sphincter muscle at the top of the canal will normally keep stuff from entering the anal canal until you're ready to go to the bathroom), you're truly going to be clean. Medical problems you have from using toilet paper or having that bacteria on the skin for too long are going to be a thing of the past... Unless you can't get home to use your IntiMist.

The warm water stream of the IntiMist tends to relax the muscles, which helps clean the area. The heated seat may also help you relax, if you're in a colder climate. I doubt cold water would help you relax, but it's probably better than nothing (if you can handle the numbing cold).

The IntiMist isn't going to give you an enema, which is normally water or some liquid going into the rectum or even higher into the colon/intestines. On the other hand, if cleaning that last 1.5 inches of your digestive tract out with water every time you go to the bathroom seems like an enema, call it whatever you'd like.

If you have hemorrhoids, an anal fissure, or any kind of problem in that area, washing it with warm water is just plain going to let it heal faster than if you used toilet paper.

Our regular electronic bidet doesn't have a "massage" feature, but our Remote Control Model does. We tested some other bidets with a massage button. Some of the single wand bidets will simply move the wand in and out a little when you push the massage button (pretty disappointing when I tried it!). Our Remote Control Model pulses the water when you push the massage button. Not really a "massage."

There are one and two wand bidets on the market. Our electronic bidets have two wands. For a single wand to work for both men and women, they extend the wand farther out to spray closer to the front (two wands are more accurate, and have different types of nozzles so the water stream is different). Some of the single wand bidets will simply move the wand in and out a little when you push the massage button (pretty disappointing!).

We've had people enquire about purchasing a bidet for a relative with Alzheimer's, who are using diapers. They'd like to just remove the diaper and have the bidet clean everything up. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. If there's a big mess in the diaper, the small directed spray from a bidet just isn't going to clean the skin much. Most caregivers use a hand spray wand in a shower for that (along with wipes).

Likewise, we had a guy call with a mother with Alzheimer's. He wanted to just sit his mother down, show her how to push one button, and have the bidet take care of everything else - including stopping and drying. It would be great if it would work, but a bidet is not magic. Even if you could program it to spray the front and/or rear for X seconds, then dry for X seconds, then stop... An electronic bidet just wouldn't get the person clean.

In order to direct the spray to the right place, the person using the bidet has to lean forward or backwards (or sideways) a little. If they can't adjust the position of their body a little so it's in the right place for the spray, the bidet just isn't going to help.

Keep in mind that I'm not a doctor, and I didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.