If you have to wipe so much after you poop, the most likely reason for this is your stool consistency. In particular, loose stools that are on the pastier side tend to smear quite a bit. This is the worst kind of poop to clean up after.
It is rather soft and will smear all over your bum AS you wipe it, leaving you with that feeling of having to wipe over and over again just to get it clean. By the time you’re done, you’d have wasted so much time and toilet paper already.
But, you’re not only wasting time and toilet paper, wiping so much can also leave you feeling itchy, irritated, and uncomfortable by the time you feel clean enough to get out of the bathroom.
When this happens, it can be such an uncomfortable situation. But just remember that you’re not alone. I for one have experienced this countless times before so I know a thing or two about what causes it and how to prevent it from happening.
Let me share with you my knowledge about this in more detail as we go through the article.
Table of Contents
Why You Have to Wipe So Much After Pooping
As I’ve previously mentioned above, the main reason for this is your stool consistency. If you have loose stools that are on the pastier side that tends to smear, then this is what’s causing your problem.
But you may ask, what causes your stool to be at this consistency in the first place?
Well, the consistency of one’s poop can vary quite a bit from one bowel movement to another. And the characteristic texture of poop can differ between people as well.
But, stool consistency largely depends on your diet. If you have enough fiber and water intake, then your stool is more likely to have a firm consistency. On the other hand, if you have low fiber and water intake, your poop will be quite loose and “runny”.
When your poop is like this, it’s quite a bit messier to clean up as it’s soft and tends to smear all over your bum when you wipe it. As a result, you feel like no matter how many times you wipe, there always seems to be some residual poop left.
Wiping feels endless, and before you know it, you’ve wasted 20 minutes of your time trying to get your bum clean, and you’ve used up one full roll of toilet paper.
How to Prevent Wiping So Much After You Poop
If you constantly struggle with this situation of having to wipe so much after pooping, then no doubt you would be looking for a solution on how to prevent it.
Fortunately for you, I have three very helpful tips that can help you solve this problem:
- Increase your fiber and water intake
- Use wet wipes
- Get a bidet to rinse the poop off
Let’s discuss each of these in more detail below. Try some or all of these tips to see which one works for you.
Increase your fiber and water intake
As I mentioned above, your diet is probably contributing a lot to your poop-wiping problems. If you lack fiber and water intake, then your poop will most likely be very loose and hard to clean up.
If you want to improve the consistency of your poop, then you have to increase your intake of these two. They will help pack your poop up into a more solid mass and make it easier to pass.
Since the poop exits from your butt much more cleanly with a fiber-rich diet and enough water intake, there would also be less mess to clean up with toilet paper, thereby preventing that feeling of wiping so much after pooping.
If you want to increase your fiber intake, then make sure you’re eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods. In general, it’s best to get your nutrition, including fiber, from food. But if your fiber intake is low, you might also consider taking a fiber supplement as well.
I’m not a medical expert so if you want to learn more about how to increase your fiber intake, Healthline has quite a good article about it.
Use wet wipes
Instead of only using dry toilet paper, you should consider using wet wipes first and then use toilet paper after, particularly the unscented ones so that your skin won’t get irritated.
After pooping, do one to two passes using dry toilet paper, then get some wet wipes and use them to further clean your butt. The good thing about wet wipes is they have much better cleansing properties than normal toilet paper.
Most wipes are made of non-woven fabric like those used in dryer sheets, which are then saturated with a solution of water and gentle cleansing agents such as isopropyl alcohol.
Using wet wipes will be much more effective in cleaning off all the poop from your butt, therefore solving the problem of having to wipe so much after pooping.
Just one last note: if you do decide to use wet wipes, do not flush them down the toilet as they can clog plumbing. Alternatively, you could also purchase flushable wet wipes instead such as the DUDE Wipes Flushable Wipes. This way, you would be reducing your toilet paper usage, while also helping the environment at the same time.
Get a bidet to rinse the poop off
An even better alternative to wet wipes is to just get a bidet.
The best way to prevent wiping so much after pooping is to use a bidet to rinse off all the poop from your bum.
The gentle stream of water from a bidet will thoroughly cleanse your rectum without using up toilet paper and better yet, without any irritation. It is simply the cleanest, healthiest, and most hygienic way to rinse off poop.
Think about it. We already use water to clean everything. It surely wouldn’t be a crazy idea to use it to clean your poop right? Think about it.
If for some reason, we got poop on our hands, arms, or legs, we would probably use some water and soap to clean it and get rid of the odor. We wouldn’t feel clean enough just using toilet paper to wipe it off, right?
By using a bidet, you would probably eliminate more than 90% of your toilet paper usage, simply because your butt will already be clean after rinsing it with water. You won’t need to wipe your butt after pooping if it’s already clean with the water from the bidet.
You just need the toilet paper to dry off your butt. Or alternatively, you could just wait a couple of minutes in the bathroom and let it air-dry instead of using toilet paper.
I recently discovered the Tushy Classic 3.0 Bidet Toilet Seat Attachment, which I think is a quick and affordable way to rinse off all the poop from your butt. It easily attaches to any standard toilet in under 10 minutes, so this is definitely a good option, especially for a first-time bidet user.
Summary
Going back to the original question: Why do I have to wipe so much after pooping?
The short answer is it’s because of your stool consistency. If you have loose tools, particularly ones that are on the pastier side that smear quite a bit, then this is what’s causing your problem.
Poop with this consistency can be quite hard to clean up after as it tends to smear all over your bum as you’re wiping it, leaving you with that feeling of having to wipe over and over again just to get it clean. By the time you’re done, you’d have wasted so much time and toilet paper already.
If you want to solve this problem, then I would recommend you to do three things:
- Increase your fiber and water intake
- Use wet wipes
- Get a bidet to rinse the poop off
Hopefully at least one of these tips help solve your problem so that you’ll never encounter that feeling of having to wipe so much after pooping.
However, if none of them work, then it’s probably best to seek professional help from a doctor.
There may be an underlying medical cause, and treatment can help you feel cleaner, more comfortable, and prevent you from wiping so much after you poop.