I conducted a questionnaire on the public's view of bum guns and here are the results:
Generally, people understand the benefits of bum guns saving money and trees and creating a cleaner toilet experience. However its uptake is held back by it still being an unknown experience for most people, and 3 main concerns were raised, these were: Having a wet bottom, water going where it shouldn’t and installing in a rented property.
Having a wet bottom:
Bum guns are generally used in warmer countries and there seems to be less of an issue with having a wet bottom in those climates. However drying is obviously an important issue here in the UK, and there are a few options to solve this.
I say to new bum gun users to use toilet paper to dry themselves, as this is still reducing the amount of toilet paper being used. Once you have dried with toilet paper and see that the toilet paper is clean, your bottom is as clean as it is after showering. Then, in the future we could use potentially more environmentally friendly methods to dry such as bum towels, but this will still take some time!
From the questionnaire: after a number two 5% of people felt spotless after using toilet paper, compared to 90% who felt spotless after showering.
This proves the necessity of water to feel clean.
Water going where it shouldn’t:
Two main issues were raised with this, and these can generally be solved through correct technique and positioning. The first is when cleaning a number two, how to prevent unwanted water going into the female anatomy. And the second is preventing water on the bathroom floor.
The technique I recommend is positioning the bum gun between your legs, from the front side, whilst sitting down. This allows you to create a seal around the back of the toilet seat with your bottom, keeping the water in the pan when you spray.
60% of people stated that they wiped from the back, and therefore this position would feel foreign to them. However, spraying from between the legs directs the spray of water away from the vagina reducing potential cross-contamination.
This is why the bum gun is more hygienic than the classic bidet or toilet seat attachment which squirts from back to front. Communicating the correct technique is important in the uptake of bum guns. It is still recommended for women to dry from front to back.
Bum guns in rented properties:
Bum guns are a personal investment in your anal hygiene and should be supported by landlords. The bum gun can be installed relatively easily on to existing bathroom plumbing and uninstalled leaving the toilet as it was before. I will soon have a letter that can be used to send directly to your landlord outlining the benefits of having one installed.
Other notable points:
This questionnaire showed that there is a great disparity in the amount of toilet paper people use behind closed doors. This can be annoying in a shared toilet when you may use a little and it always disappears, especially when you need it most!
There will always be clean water flowing to your bathroom that can be utilised for cleaning, instead of the processes a tree has to go to reach your toilet.
Also, people asked about having warm water coming to the bum gun. This is possible however it depends on where certain pipes are in the bathroom and will cost around £100 more in installation and parts costs. Personally on a cold day sitting on a cold toilet seat is more of a shock than a spray of water to the rear end.
A few people have shown concerns about being judged for having a bum gun. Bum guns are commonplace all over the world, and in the future, I hope that will become a norm in the UK. Therefore being a bum gun pioneer you should be prepared to constructively answer questions to help us collectively evolve our toilet habits.
A good counter-question to ask is: if you got poo on your arm and wiped it off with toilet paper, would your arm be clean?!
The bum gun really is something that needs to be experienced using the correct technique to fully appreciate.
For example, some customers told me how excited they were to get back to using their bum gun after going home for Xmas as they had got used to not using toilet paper. Another friend told me by using the bum gun they no longer have to time their shits with their showers to feel clean.
Thank you to the people who filled out the questionnaire, furthering the collective knowledge on this taboo subject!
