If you feel that your run-of-the-mill toilet seat just isn’t cutting it anymore, you’re not alone.
As with many technological advances, the Japanese are at the forefront of the electric toilet seat trend. Plumbing companies such as Toto have been making high-tech, luxury toilet seats since the 1980s, which are tremendously popular in Japan, Asia and even parts of Europe. It is only in recent years that the American market has begun to accept the idea of these ‘fancy’ new seats (even Costco has them now!).
With features such as seat warming, rinsing, drying, and even more ‘high-end’ amenities such as remote controls, fans and converters to remove gas from the bowl, these electronic toilet seats can have as few or as many features as you’d like.
‘But what’s the point?’ you might argue. It all comes down to hygiene.
According to an article in The New York Times, “You don’t try to clean the rest of your body with a dry towel, right?” said Jerry Bougher, the marketing manager for toilet seats at Kohler, the plumbing fixtures company. Say you’re covered with mud, he said. “Will you clean yourself up with a bunch of paper? No, obviously, you’ll take a shower. It comes down to the same thing with this. Here in the United States we’ve used dry toilet paper to clean ourselves, and it doesn’t always do the job effectively. Cleaning with water is kind of like taking a shower. It’s just, you know, cleaner.”
Models of these high-tech seats can range from roughly $250 to nearly $2k, but manufacturers claim that once you try one, you’ll never go back to your dry, cold toilets again. Still not convinced? Check out the video below to see all that you’re missing!
