[23478s882u]

I'm American (with no kids, so my hands don't touch feces often). The idea of using a bidet seems strange because the toilet paper protects my fingers. Do bidet users just accept that their fingers will get all mucky and then they will follow up with a thorough hand washing? (Is this a strange question, even to other Americans? Googling doesn't find the answer.)

[PeanutNore]

If your fingers get "mucky" while using a bidet you're doing something terribly, terribly wrong. The point of a bidet is so your hands don't need to get anywhere near your, uh, "vent". If you're just going to muck out your bung with your fingers, what do you even need a bidet for? You could just do that, and then wash your hands. With a bidet, water under pressure takes care of everything for you.

[23479s882u]

I doubt whether water alone can thoroughly dislodge all traces for those of us with sticky, fairly solid poo.

Besides, there seem to be lots of cultures where people have water but not pressure, and it seems that they use fingers. (Often the left hand.)

I found kragen's answer above to be much more helpful, in that he explains both water-only and water-plus-fingers options.

I would feel a little uncomfortable about handling poo that closely and maybe getting it under my fingernails, but that's my own hangup. I don't believe my habits are objectively superior.

[asadjb]

Yes