Hello, kids! I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of our household: the Brondell Cleanspa Bidet. Actually, it’s a step back in time for our family. We were recently living in Southeast Asia, and my kids have only ever known having a spray bidet in bathrooms. It wasn’t until we came back to the States that they realized they aren’t the norm here. How barbaric! I’ll admit when I first saw the spray bidet, I thought it was an ingenious little contraption designed to clean the toilets easily. And when my two younger boys were toddlers, they thought it was a water gun. That was fun. Anyhoo, I’ve since become a spray bidet convert. For my busy house with four three boys (oldest off at college *tear*), the spray bidet is a must for the potty-training years and way beyond.
I’ll spare you the details of household usage, but it’s pretty much what you’re imagining. It keeps the boys clean and no longer clogging our toilets with TP and “butt wipes.” I started to put the pieces together myself at Home Depot for a true DIY spray bidet, but I ended up buying this one off the shelf. Everything is included in the box, and only a wrench was needed to un-tighten and re-tighten connections. You might also want to grab some towels and a shallow bucket to catch any water that may drip.
Also, make sure your connections are solid before proceeding. You should also know where the main water shutoff valve for the house is. The second I touched the (apparently original) water supply line in our powder room, it disintegrated and fell to pieces on the floor. So I was left with a watery mess and an extra couple of days added on to the project while I fixed this secondary problem. Not cool, house. Not cool.
When you’re ready to get started, installation should take all of ten minutes – more if you accidentally start renovating the master bathroom while you’re at it … whoops.
Installing the Brondell Cleanspa Bidet
1. Turn the water off at the wall for the toilet and flush the toilet while holding down the handle to completely empty the tank.
2. Disconnect the water supply line that is directly under the toilet tank. Place the washer in the T-valve (shutoff), then connect the T-valve to the toilet tank. Connect the water supply line to the bottom of the T-valve. Be careful not to over-tighten the connections.
3. Attach one end of the bidet hose to the open end of the T-valve and the other end to the sprayer.
4. Mount either the wall holder or the toilet bowl hanger. Our toilet bowl cover has an inside edge, so the hanger didn’t work for us, but since I am removing the beadboard that the previous owners installed, I didn’t have any qualms about drilling into that for the holder. Make sure you mount it at a comfortable reaching height. Maybe have a test sit – yes, I said “sit” – to be sure.
5. Turn the water supply valve back on and check for leaks. If you have a leak, disconnect, use plumbers tape and re-connect.
For a video version of all this, straight from team Brondell, check out:
That’s it! You should be ready to blast off. I installed ours so that the “off” position was pointed to the back wall, and “on” is pointed toward the front of the toilet. That way I can tell at a glance whether it’s on or off. No more water gun wars in my house! And, Brondell recommends leaving it in the off position when not in use. So far, no leaking from the spray bidet. All is clean and happy here. The only drawback is now my bathroom has become the most popular in the house. Luckily I have this ingenious little toilet bowl cleaner handy! The Brondell CleanSpa Hand Held Bidet is available at Home Depot online and in stores for $39.99.
Main Image: Brondell
Clean as a whistle.