What a Gynecologist Wants You To Know About Using a Bidet, Uh, Recreationally

In a battle of bidet versus toilet paper, the former easily drowns the competition in terms of sustainability and user experience. With a bidet seat or attachment installed, you can say goodbye to the rolls of forest-depleting TP taking up precious bathroom space, and welcome a luxurious cleanse every time duty calls. But the upsides don’t have to end there. The nature and positioning of a bidet could make it useful for another kind of clean finish for folks with a vulva—as in, the kind that comes from using a bidet to masturbate, so long as you take precautions to keep things from getting (bacterially) dirty.

Similar to using a carefully aimed bathtub faucet for the purpose of self-pleasure (or even a faucet attachment designed to make that process easier on the body), using a bidet to masturbate invites the unique sensation of pressurized water into your sexual repertoire. And that can help you get in touch with the pleasure-centric clitoris in more ways than one. “Water flow over the clitoral hood and labia will stimulate engorgement of the clitoral structures beneath the surface,” says board-certified gynecologist and sexual-wellness expert Christie Cobb, OB/GYN. “And that may be more pleasurable than direct stimulation of the clitoral glans.”

“Water flow over the clitoral hood and labia will stimulate engorgement of the clitoral structures beneath the surface.” —gynecologist and sexual-wellness expert Christie Cobb, OB/GYN

Not to mention, most people with a vagina can more easily achieve orgasm via external stimulation, rather than internal penetration anyway, she adds: “So, anything—including a bidet—that creates friction on the vulva can be pleasurable.”

An extra bonus? You may also be able to adjust your positioning or the spout of the bidet you’re using to masturbate, depending on the model you have, in order to access other erogenous zones, like the perineum (the area between the vaginal opening and the anus) and the anus, both of which could be tougher to reach with a hand or toy. “It can be helpful to experiment with stimulating different areas of the vulva, too, and see how the sensation increases pleasure,” says Dr. Cobb.

But, as you might guess, there are some hygiene measures to consider before co-opting your bidet for a self-pleasure practice. “Given their location and intended use case, bidets are likely to have an inherent risk of exposing the body to irritants and infections,” says Laura Purdy, MD, national medical director for sexual-health provider Rise Medical. As a result, it’d be wise to thoroughly clean and disinfect a bidet and toilet before using it to masturbate (despite the inherent un-sexiness of that whole sentence). From there, read on for expert tips on how to safely use a bidet to masturbate for optimal effect.

How to safely use a bidet to masturbate for a finish that’s, well, extra wet

Assuming you also use your bidet for its intended purpose, it’s worth noting that you shouldn’t combine uses. That is, it’s ill-advised to transition from cleaning yourself after a bowel movement to masturbating, due to the risk of spreading bacteria from back to front.

In that same vein, the flow of water from a bidet for masturbation purposes should also never run from back to front, regardless of when your last BM took place, says Dr. Cobb. Thankfully, because most of the bidet attachments and seats on the market include multiple nozzles or adjustable ones, this typically isn’t an issue; you can simply choose the front nozzle when you’re aiming for self-pleasure, or switch the nozzle’s position in that direction. Alternatively, you could also straddle the toilet (that is, face the opposite direction as usual), so that even the regular back nozzle of the bidet can provide a front-to-back stream.

Another potential downfall to consider with the mechanics of using a bidet to masturbate is the extent of water pressure emerging from the device, which could inadvertently force water up the urethral or vaginal opening, says Dr. Cobb: “Since the pH of water is 7 and the pH of the vagina is about 4, this could cause a pH imbalance and lead to a bacterial infection.” While you can certainly dial down the pressure a bit (most bidet seats and attachments feature this capability), Dr. Cobb also suggests urinating after you use a bidet to masturbate in the same way you might go after sex to reduce the risk of a urinary tract infection.

Finally, before you dive in, it’s worth testing the water with a hand. Most electric bidet attachments and seats offer a range of water temperatures, and you don’t want to risk scorching the delicate vaginal mucosa with a stream that’s too hot, says Dr. Cobb. While warm water on the vulva is totally safe—and, in fact, the recommended way to clean the body part—you also want to avoid using a douche attachment that might come with a bidet. Remember: No matter what method of masturbation you choose, the vagina itself is happily self-cleansing.