They need to make them affordable. Ridiculously overpriced in North America.

Don't worry they won't be. Big toilet paper will never make it so

In people's homes, it's actually connected to the regular water faucet. The button on the shower head simply diverts the water from the faucet to the shower head as long as you press on it. So the water is as warm or as hot as you care to set it.

In public bathrooms, like in office buildings, hospitals and such, the shower head has its own water supply with a hot-cold mixer knob, so you don't have to lean over to run the faucet.

That’s a bidet

Like I said, there are no French-style bidets or Japanese-style techno-johns here. Most johns have a small dedicated shower head next to them.

I suppose if the previous user's business is still on the shower head, you will get some of it on your own rear-end when you turn the water on first thing. That's why I usually "flush" the showerhead for a second directly into the bowl before directing the jet onto my rear-end.

I'm pretty sure it's more than sanitary enough. Not perfect, probably, but it's probably fine. How do I know? Because most people here - including I - don't seem to get sick more often than the rest of the world, and have a long life expectancy.

Can a bidet beat wetwipes, though?

Probably not. But wet wipes are an environmental disaster. Not to mention, if you've ever had to call a septic service in the middle of the night because all the toilets in the house are backing up, because your septic tank is chock-full of those hateful things - that are anything but biodegradable, if you didn't know - you know better than to use them.

Also, if you have to use several of them because you bum is exceptionally dirty, they too will irritate your rear-end because of friction, like TP does. Just less so.

I keep wet wipes in my bag and in my car as a last resort for when I travel somewhere where a spray-based bum cleaning option isn't available - which may be a bathtub or a shower with a detachable head in the vicinity. Otherwise I stay clear the hell away from them. But they sure beat TP any day.