It's been nearly a year since the Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020.

As toilet paper flew off store shelves at a frenzied rate last year, bidets -- not surprisingly -- saw a rise in popularity. According to Bespoke Surgical, the first “paperless toilet” was launched in Japan in 1980 by manufacturer Toto; it was a combination of toilet and bidet which also dries the user after washing. After finding success in Japan and South Korea, bidets went on to find international popularity elsewhere. For some reason, the US has been pretty slow to adopting the porcelain throne alternative; for many Minnesotans, our only exposure to a bidet has been when visiting a European country where they are much more common.

Still, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures, and Minnesotans who used to poo-poo on the idea of using a bidet warmed up to the idea as COVID-19 limited our access to toilet paper. According to Bespoke Surgical, 12.1% of Americans  have access to a bidet or bidet attachment including 1.85% of Minnesotans. That may not sound like many when you think there are 5.64 million Minnesotans (according to 2019 numbers); it sounds a lot more impressive (shocking? alarming? laughable?) when you do the math and realize 1.85% is still 104,340 Minnesotans, give or take.

You won't find Minnesota at the top of any lists about bidets popularity, however; that title goes to these states, according to Bespoke Surgical's recent survey:

1. Alabama (23.5%)
2. D.C. (21.6%)
3. Arkansas (20%)
4. Hawaii (19.2%)
5. Michigan (17.7%)
6. Washington (17.3%)
7. Maryland (16%)
8. Alaska (15.7%)
9. Florida (15.7%)
10. Virginia (15.7%)

While bidets aren't currently widely used in America, Americans aren't opposed to them, either. A survey of 3,600 individuals found that most were likely to purchase one in the near future!

We'd ask how you prefer to clean your tush, but that just seems far too personal. So instead we'll just leave the full results of Bespoke Surgical's survey for you to read on the toilet (or bidet) here.