Using the bathroom in France?

Question

Hi there,
This will sound like a really weird question, but I hope someone can shed some light on the answer. We are currently in a student flat with a few other people, two of them French. We have (since they moved in) been using up a ridiculous amount of toilet paper, which all seems to end up in the waste paper basket in the bathroom. There's mountains of the stuff in there every day. Now my question is: Is it possible that in France they do not flush toilet paper? I was wondering if this had something to do with the bidets that are common over there. We are aware that it IS these two people who are disposing of the paper in this way, we're just not sure how to ask them to dispose of it in a more hygienic way! Walking into the bathroom and seeing stained toilet paper piled high in the bin is not a nice way to start your day...

Answer 1

I am French and I went 'ugh' at your question. I have never seen that kind of thing and hope never to. No, it is not normal unless they grew up in a place with no flushing (that must be 0.000001% of the French population) or with an old sceptic tank that cannot handle it (could happen after all) or even with bio toilets where you separate paper and waste (ugh). In any case, tell them to throw their paper in the toilets.

By the way, bidets are disappearing fast in France and are not that common anymore.



Ravie: nope, it is not common to wash with rolls. We use a towel or a facecloth.

Answer 2

That's not normal in France unless you grew up in the country and had a septic system that couldn't handle toilet paper. I did spend a summer on a farm in France and we could not flush paper, we put it in a bin with a lid on it that was emptied every day. But when I lived in Paris, we flushed everything down the toilet



You don't use toilet paper with a bidet - you wash yourself with water and dry with a towel



Maybe just tell them that it's ok to flush toilet paper in your house

Answer 3

It is common in other countries to not flush the toilet paper. My family and I went on vacation to Thailand and a lot of their toilets don't even flush. The have foot treads where you normally sit and you squat over the bowl. When you are done the paper goes into the waste basket and there is always a basin of water next to the toilet with a bowl in it. You get a bowlful of water and dump that into the toilet wash away your waste.



You need to have a roommate meeting and explain that they can't do that anymore.

Answer 4

I have never heard of that & I agree that this might be due to the ppl being in the countryside and an old septic tank. If you are sharing a bathroom in a hall and living in a separate apt., you might just carry your own roll of t.p. to the restroom. If you guys are actually in the same household, then everyone needs to buy the t.p. Maybe the ppl using up huge amts will use less if they have to pay.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

out of interest, can anyone shed some light on a similar thing I've been wondering?



I'm in the same situation as adrenaline rush but we have also noticed that we seem to burn through soap REALLY quickly. We've got those carex liquid soap dispensers...



( http://www.cannonconsumables.com/files/D6431EEA-047C-4BEA-990C-988600FBDDA2.aspx/204014.jpg )



... which would normally last quite a while but we've been through 2 in about 10 days, which is obscene.



We have a theory that perhaps it's common in France to use toilet roll and soap to wash oneself, which would explain both the toilet roll mountain and the soap hemorrhage. Does anyone know if that would be a correct assumption?

Answer 7

Never heard of this.