alex9179: "We're absolutely getting an advanced seat (used washlet term like Kleenex). I haven't decided which brand. "I really like the idea of stainless wands and the silver oxide sanitizing feature of the Coway and Brondell, as well as their lower profile. I live in the very humid south, so any extra anti-germ feature for a toilet is great." You may be over-thinking. We spend a lot of time in Japan (relatives), where we have used Washlets and Inax advanced toilet seats many, many times; and the humidity (and summer heat) in much of Japan is at least as great as it is in the American South. Toto and Inax have been selling advanced toilet seats there for more than three decades, and I have never seen or heard of any problem that stainless steel wands or sanitized wands could solve. In modern models of advanced toilet seats, each wand is automatically flushed with water before and after each and every use . . . and the amount of splash-back during use is minuscule: the wands are located several inches below and away from the surface toward which the spray is directed. Two more important features than the ones that you mention are: (1) one-wand vs. two-wand designs; the two-wand (separate wands for posterior and feminine) is more efficient at cleaning (because of optimized angle of spray for each function); and -- relating to your earlier concern -- the posterior wand is not exposed to any splash-back when the feminine function is activated, and vice versa. (2) Possible maintenance. Toto and Lixil (parent of Inax) are GIANT international corporations, with major commitments to the American market (Lixil bought American Standard last year); and each subcontracts with American suppliers for subcomponents. With large warehouses and American suppliers, you are not likely to have parts unavailability problems with either Toto or Inax. Moreover, I suspect that a sanitizing mechanism will require a reservoir of a sanitizing fluid, and where do you go to purchase a refill? "Inax is known for longevity but is more expensive..." The site you are using for comparisons lists only the luxury L series (Luscence) model Inax toilet seats; the Inax C series (Clessence) seats (which have an integrated "armrest" control rather thn a "remote" control) are several hundred dollars less expensive, and (other than the "remote" control) are functionally the same as the L series. And -- honestly now -- how far are you planning to stray from the toilet seat: do you really need a remote control that allows you to operate a toilet seat in the bathroom from the comfort of your living room? This post was edited by herring_maven on Sat, Apr 19, 14 at 0:15

enduring: "I have watched the Inax system work on their product video. I see that there is a separate wand for the feminine wash. Does the feminine wand get splashed with the used wash water?" The same considerations apply as with the posterior washing -- only more so. The feminine wand directs the stream at a shallower angle for a greater horizontal distance, so one might conceptualize that the amount of splashback (if any) would be less. Incidentally, a major difference between the Toto and the Inax engineering approaches to the posterior cleansing is that the dedicated posterior wand of the Inax directs the stream upward at a 70 degree angle from horizontal, just 20 degrees from vertical, whereas the dual function single wand of the Toto directs the stream upward at a 43 degree angle from horizontal, which is actually two degrees "more horizontal than vertical." The Inax angle makes for more efficient and thorough posterior cleansing than the Toto, but, theoretically, it also increases the possibility of backsplash contamination. I say, "theoretically," because we have never seen any evidence of it in actual use. "But it worries me about the cross contamination, not only from back to front (female), but person to person." In two-wand advanced toilet seats, only one wand at a time extends, so you need not be concerned about front to back cross contamination. We have used the facilities at Tokyo Narita Airport, Tokyo Haneda Airport, Kagoshima Airport, Nagasaki Airport, and Sapporo Chitose Airport, all of which are equipped with toilets fitted with advanced toilet seats (mostly, Inax). We also have stayed in public accommodations in Japan where the en suite facilities in the guest rooms included advanced toilet seats. It is very hard to imagine that such facilities would be installed in the first place and, once installed, would continue in use for years, if there were any field evidence of person to person cross contamination. "Over and over I hear that people love these units and state they don't know how they lived without them :)" Once you have used an advanced toilet seat for any length of time (say, more than a week or so), there really is no going back. This past summer, we spent four days at a resort here in the United States that had only (brand new) old-fashioned toilet seats, and we felt vaguely dirty during the time we stayed there; we also found ourselves conscious (to a degree that we never had been conscious before) that the other people swimming in the swimming pool with us had not been using advanced toilet seats in their own personal hygiene: that is an ironic unintended consequence of long-time use of an advanced toilet seat.

Adding to this thread for anyone considering a DXV... I spent a lot of time considering plumbing fixtures for my home addition. I love the look and feel of the DXV Fitzgerald, and got the console for my powder room and undermount sink for my master, along with the matching toilets. The functionality seems great (nice flush and solid feel) however, on both toilets, the white porcelain is different colors -- the tanks are a grayish white compared to the rest. I'm still trying to work this out with Ferguson and the manufacturer... something to be aware of. When shopping for my fixtures, the Ferguson rep made the point that if you want your whites to match, go with all the same manufacturer (rather than mixing, say a Kohler toilet with a DXV sink). I did that and yet the whites are still not matching. I've had guests comment on my "two-toned toilet" -- not the look I was going for.

We have a washlet on a Kohler Santa Rosa. I don’t believe they are specific to Toto toilets. That said, I far, far prefer the Bio Bidet in our guest bath and it is a fraction of what we paid for the washlet. I know many will disagree. The washlet has many features and warms the water, but water pressure is compromised IMHO. In our previous home we installed three Toto Promenades — one regular and two ecos. They were all flawless. I saw little difference between the regular and the e-flush. We had sanigloss on one or two — cannot recall — and saw little difference. In our new home we needed a compact elongated so went with Kohler SR. Love it, too. Very well flushing, uses little water. Much larger water spot than any of our old Totos, FWIW.