Online Searches For Bidet And 'Bum Guns' Skyrocket In Australia Amid Toilet Paper Panic

The panic over stockpiling toilet paper is reaching fever pitch in Australia.

Thousands of people have been filling their trollies with loo roll because of a perceived threat that the coronavirus will either make them need to go to the toilet more or that stocks will be in short supply.

Both are false but it hasn't stopped many from buying as much as they can.

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But Aussies are a resourceful bunch and many have been investigating alternative methods to clean their downstairs'.

Online searches for bidets have skyrocketed over the past few days, with many Australians keen on the water-based bum washer.

Loads of different spellings have jumped up the search trends; even 'bum gun' has seen a 50 per cent rise in searches, according to 10daily.

Bidet retailers in Australia have been shocked by the rise in traffic on their websites.

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Australian Bidets saw their traffic increase by 500 per cent and there have been hundreds of enquiries as to how long it takes until they can ship the product to people's homes.

But in the most hilarious twist of irony, some retailers are struggling to fill the demand because of, wait for it, the coronavirus.

So while people have been panic buying from a false perception that Australia is running out of toilet paper because of the coronavirus, Covid-19 is actually causing a delay in shipping bidets.

Australia's largest supplier of bidets, The Bidet Shop, told 10daily: "This is an issue we are now suffering, special deals that have been on for a while have had to be stopped because we can't discount things we don't have."

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But a spokesperson added that once stock does come in, it is a good alternative to toilet paper.

"Eco bidets use about a teacup of water with each use and about $2.50-worth of electricity a year," they said. "If you were at a barbeque and picked up a bit of dog poo and somebody gave you a hamburger to eat, would you wipe your hands with tissues or would you go and wash with water?.

"You are a lot cleaner with water, all you are getting with toilet paper is pushing the poo into the micro-cracks of the anus."

So, if you're thinking of popping down to your local Woolies or Coles and buying as much toilet paper as you can muster, maybe have a cheeky squiz at the other options available.

Topics: News, Interesting, Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie