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Hi Jennifer Yoingco of Texas Home Group.  Toilet paper issues?  What to do when there is no toilet paper? No problem. Today, I would like to deviate from my usual real estate topics and show you our way on how we clean ourselves using water instead of toilet paper. So Let’s start right now.

1 – toilet paper

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Today’s topic is totally different, not real estate related but a must that we must learn during this time.  I know a lot of people are stressing out on so many things and one of them is toilet paper.  Honestly, this is not even a problem in my household because we use minimal toilet paper even prior this crisis, so this is really not news at all.  We are not bothered by it, as long as we have our basic necessities like WATER, we are good.

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I am born and raised from the Philippines and toilet paper is actually not a necessity but a luxury item.  Not a lot can spend money to buy these things and even then we learn how to survive without using this so called “luxury item”.  I know here in America, it is common to have it and it is considered a basic necessity.  I guess this crisis will be a wake up call for all of us not to depend on this basic item and use what we have available in our very own home.   Not only does it cause problems in our septic tank, it also poses environmental problems.  I know there are biodegradables, or anything that can help the environment, but why not use something and that at the same time, help take care our environment, right?

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I will talk about a practical way of cleaning yourself using water instead of toilet paper. I know others will recommend the use of bidet, but we don’t need to buy anything expensive like that; you can buy it if you want, because there are cheaper bidets that you can purchase. But what if you don’t have the money to purchase a bidet?

Or you just don’t want to buy a bidet. In my country, all of us use what we call “Tabo” or water dipper or pitcher in English.  I know all of the Filipinos know about this already, but I know all of you who are born or living here, might not be familiar on how we use this household tool.  You can clean your front , rear end just using this simple household tool after you take a leak or defecate.

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At first you will be grossed out because you are using your own hands to wash yourself, but hey, its your own body, your cleaning your own body, so there is really nothing nasty if you are doing it for your own body, right? Do you agree? Just make sure you have clean hands prior to washing any sensitive areas to avoid bacteria or infection and towel dry yourself and wash again your hands after all done. We are already doing the washing of hands, so this is a perfect way to do it during this time.

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Here is what a tabo looks like..I have around three of them in different colors.  I bought these prior to coming here (in the early 2000s). I disinfect this all the time.  You can buy these in asian stores, but if you are not able to buy it and would not like to go to the Asian stores,

you can use a variety of household pitchers in the meantime, as long as it has a handle or anything that you can grab your hand into without slipping because you don’t want water to spill all over you.

You can also use empty plastic water bottles as an alternative and then recycle, because obviously you will not have this household tool at home. You can also use jugs that you are no longer using.  Keep in mind, once you use your jug, pitcher, etc, please for sanitary purposes, do not reuse them for drinking.  That will be considered gross and may cause you to be sick…

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Not to confuse you,  I also use toilet paper when I am out there using the public restrooms (since there are no tabo in place, it is not even logical to do), but when we are at home, then we use this to conserve our toilet paper.  This is a cheap and alternative way on cleaning yourself..not only that you will feel much more refreshed and clean when you do it, you will also save money in buying this so called luxury item.  Honestly, when I use a toilet paper versus the tabo, I feel much cleaner.  I feel I have to use a lot of toilet paper to clean myself and sometimes I still don’t feel clean.

Make sure you also have dry wash cloths on hand.  I have several wash cloths folded (these were laundered already and dried in the dryer with high heat). In this way, I also save by not using much of the paper towel.

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It is hard to do an actual demo because you will NOT want to see me doing it in front of you….so that would really be inappropriate.

I will only show you the hand position and will use my stuff toys as volunteers – so you can picture it yourself.

It is really very easy to do.  Like for everything, practice makes perfect.

1.)    Fill up water in your tabo.  Put liquid soap until you have a small lather, then wash your front first and then your behind.  What’s the reason why we start front to back…usually when you get rid of your solid waste, you also empty your bladder at the same time.  So better to clean both sensitive areas. Again you want front then back to avoid bacterial infection or UTI. If you need more water in the tabo, just fill it up again.   The first time you try it, you will create a mess..water everywhere.  It is like water flossing, at first water will scatter everywhere but once you get a hang of it and with practice, you have more control of it.   The same thing with using the “tabo”.

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2.)    After your done, make sure  to dry yourself, you can use paper towels or if you don’t have paper towels, use wash cloths that are dry and clean.

3.) For sure you will spill water in the toilet bowl lids, cover and flooring.  If that happens, just dry it out using paper towel or sanitized wipes.  You really do not need a lot of paper towel here to dry..at first you might but when  you get a hang of it, only 1 to 2 squares is needed.

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I hope you are were able to learn some survival skills and an alternative way of cleaning yourself without the use of toilet paper. If you have enjoyed this video and learned something, give it a thumbs-up and subscribe to my channel. Feel free to share it to your friends. And if you have any ideas or tips that you want to share, feel free to put it in the comments line below.  We are all here to learn.  As a gift, I have include several checklist. Scroll down in my description below. Feel free to download them.  Again, this Jennifer Yoingco, you are my priority for anything real estate.  Serving Houston, Tomball, Spring and the surrounding cities. I will see you next Tuesday.  Bye.