Why use toilette paper and not moist wipes?

[krazykidd]

Weird question i know , but something happened to make me wonder this .

A friend of mine recently had a baby . Now she doesn't have much money and she's a single mom . While visiting her , i needed to use the bathroom , and lol and behold there was no toilette paper ( i ALWAYS check beforehand ) . But i saw baby wipes on the counter . So i asked her if she had any toilette paper , she said that it was too expensive but to use the wipes instead , they are cheaper and work really well . Needless to say i held my urge .

Now this got me to thinking . We will wipe a childs bottom with a moist wipe , but adults use toilette paper . Why? Why don't we adults use moist wipes ? I would imagine it's better to get "grime" off . Also it's good for babies so it should be fine for adults . And it's cheaper than buying toilette paper . I imagine there would be a wet sensation that we aren't used to , but that's easy to overcome .

So my question is , why do we wipe a childs bottom with moist wipes but " upgrade" to toilette paper as we get older?

Bonus question . Would you wipe yourself with a moist wipe if necessary?

 

[tippy2k2]

Is it cheaper than TP? I would imagine that my $8 super duper 24 pack would be far cheaper than....whatever baby wipes cost (I don't have a baby so I don't know the price). Price would be my reason but if that's not the case...

EDIT: On sale at Cub Foods (please feel free to double check my math)

16 pack of double count TP (so equals 32 regular rolls): $8.99 (.28 cents a single roll)
80 baby wipes: $2.49 (.03 cents per wipe)

So by my math, you get 9.33 wipes for baby wipes for every single roll of toilet paper. I don't know about anyone else but it's looking like cost-wise, TP blows the baby wipes out of the water.

 

[Aris Khandr]

Would "Pocket Full of Hawthornes" be too NSFW to link here?

But yeah, I imagine it is the cost. I'm sure that normal toilet paper is cheaper, but if you already have a baby and thus have to buy the wipes anyway, may as well save some money and have everyone use them.

 

[soren7550]

Moist wipes tend to not dissolve, therefore it's a terrible idea to flush them down the toilet.

 

[Heronblade]

Better, but related question:

why aren't bidets more popular outside of Europe?

P.S. Where the heck are you guys buying moist wipes that are cheaper than standard TP?

 

[tippy2k2]

Baby wipes at the dollar store, much better than the reject dollar TP that is basically thin printer paper that falls apart, and doesn't grab onto anything.

Who the hell buys "good" toilet paper? its all pretty awful regardless of brand.

If the TP you're buying is thin paper print, you're not buying the good stuff.

The stuff I buy is like wiping your ass with a cloud ^_^

 

[JimB]

Also you can't flush moist wipes, and I imagine most people find the idea of a waste basket next to the toilet slowly filling up with shit-stained wipes to be more trouble than the hygiene is worth.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Better, but related question:

why aren't bidets more popular outside of Europe?

P.S. Where the heck are you guys buying moist wipes that are cheaper than standard TP?

In Argentina, every house I've been to in the history of my life has had bidets in it. If I had to single out the one thing I hated from my US visits: no bidets. What the hell, people?

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Who the hell buys "good" toilet paper? its all pretty awful regardless of brand.

Lies! Quilton loves your bum. It says so inside the cardboard tubes and all. Not to mention the triple length rolls are fantastic if you ever feel the need for an impromptu papier mache jam.

 

[Screamarie]

In my home we use toilet paper to wipe up pee and then throw it in the toilet and then we use baby wipes for wiping yourself after a BM and then throw them in the trash. It works really well...I'd go into details but that would be rather gross so...just try it yourself is all I can say.

 

[EHKOS]

I ALWAYS use wipes. So much better than TP, I hate having to go to public bathrooms.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

Toilet paper is supposed to not fuck up your plumbing (or thats what I have always been told). I imagine that most papers don't dissolve and especially those that are already moist.

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

Personally im fine using wipes to clean up certain times but they are to thin so i get chills if i try to use them for a regular after bathroom use. I actually get chills since you can feel through them. *brrrrrrrrrrrr*

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Also you can't flush moist wipes, and I imagine most people find the idea of a waste basket next to the toilet slowly filling up with shit-stained wipes to be more trouble than the hygiene is worth.

You use a plastic bag in it that you can easily change.
Also I love high quality paper to wipe with because it feels so much better against the skin.

 

[Maevine]

OH OH OH I HAVE A BABY. I shall answer this:

1) Where I'm at at least, wipes are actually more expensive. A pack of 64 wipes is about $3, while 6 rolls of tp are $1

2) Though wipes are quite nice on your bottom (I had to use them for a while after my delivery), they don't work as well as tp. Tp picks the mess up, but wipes tend to smear it, and they basically don't do anything for pee.

3) Wipes do not work in the toilet. Trust me, if you flush them, they will turn evil. And throwing them in the trash generates some strange smells after a while...

It seems like a nice idea in theory, but unfortunately it's a little problematic in practice D:

 

[axlryder]

TP is cheaper to my knowledge (I mean I get it for a quarter a roll and I only use a couple of sheets).

Don't work as well a lot of the times (smearing) and I like my ass to feel totally dry when I'm finished. I also just don't like the way they feel (cold, wet and icky).

smell weird

I agree that they have their benefits though.

 

[War Penguin]

Firstly...

lol and behold

... I'm stealing this whether you want me to or not.

Secondly, since so many people answered the economic/environmental aspects of the question, I suppose I am left to leave you with this: do you really want to have your ass wet after you take a deuce? God knows I'd want my ass dry after that ordeal. Seriously, have you experienced wet anus [small](wet in the sense that the moist toilette makes it wet, not by other factors)[/small]? It's not fun! ESPECIALLY after you take a shit! I dare you to put your undies back on after that! I'd go into more detail on the subject of wet anus, but I think I've gone far enough with the imagery.

You're welcome, Escapist.

 

[Yuno Gasai]

Moist wipes tend to not dissolve, therefore it's a terrible idea to flush them down the toilet.

This is basically the sum of my argument against using moist wipes.

I also tend to avoid using them unless I have to, because the fact they make me feel moist afterwards isn't always pleasant.

Particularly when it's cold.

 

[Caiphus]

Trust me, if you flush them, they will turn evil.

Good premise for a cyberpunk novel, I think.

Someone get on that. Maevine can have like, a quarter of the royalties or something.