Infographic about a toilet

 

Global Sales of TOTO’s Popular WASHLET® Line exceed 50 Million

Company’s innovative, intelligently designed WASHLET personal cleansing system has sparked a worldwide revolution

(Morrow, GA) October 22, 2019 — TOTO, the world's largest plumbing manufacturer with more than $5.2 billion in annual sales, announced today that its celebrated WASHLET line (encompassing both WASHLET and NEOREST® products) has surpassed 50 million units sold internationally since TOTO introduced the world’s first WASHLET in June of 1980. With the launch of WASHLET, TOTO established a completely new product category and ignited a global revolution in personal cleansing. Today, WASHLET is recognized as the best-selling brand of electric toilet seats with bidet function in the world.

“’Life-changing’ is how most people describe the experience of using WASHLET for the first time,” said Shinya Tamura, CEO, TOTO USA. “WASHLET reinvents the way people perform an important daily ritual, making them cleaner and more comfortable by cleansing with water. Once they discover the benefits of WASHLET, they do not want to live without this high-tech personal cleansing system. Whether they opt for an introductory WASHLET or a high-luxe NEOREST intelligent toilet, consumers are confident that they meet TOTO’s exacting quality standards, which are the highest in the industry.”

History of WASHLET
In 1980, TOTO pioneered the luxury toilet seat with bidet function by introducing WASHLET and sparked a global revolution in personal cleansing. Since that time, TOTO has spent nearly 40 years enhancing and perfecting WASHLET.

WASHLET uses pure, clean water – and myriad technological innovations – to make its users cleaner and more refreshed than they have ever felt after a bathroom break by reinventing the humble toilet seat as a warm water personal cleansing system. When the cleansing cycle on WASHLET is activated, a self-cleaning wand with WONDERWAVE® technology extends from the beneath the seat to provide a soothing warm flow of aerated water for complete cleansing. Because the water is drawn directly from the home's fresh water supply, WASHLET delivers warm, aerated water that is always clean and pure. Once the cleansing cycle is completed, the user may engage the drying cycle, which uses warm air to gently dry the area, protecting the environment by reducing the need for toilet tissue.

Other luxury features today’s WASHLET models feature include: high-tech sensor operation with auto open/close and auto flush; heated seat; in-bowl catalytic deodorizer; energy- and water-saving features; and EWATER+ technology.

Sparking a personal cleansing revolution, @TOTOUSA’s WASHLET has sold 50MM+ units globally. #WASHLET uses pure, clean water and amazing technology to leave you clean and refreshed after every bathroom break.  

CLEAN SYNERGY
On its WASHLET+ line of specially designed toilet and WASHLET combinations that seamlessly connect, leaving with no protruding supply connections (water or electrical), CLEAN SYNERGY is unmistakable in its three cleaning technologies that work together to deliver unparalleled cleansing performance and maintain the bowl’s cleanliness longer.

First CEFIONTECT®, TOTO’s nano-technology glaze seals the porcelain with an ionized barrier, creating a super-slippery, non-porous surface that repels matter, mold and mildew. Second, TOTO’s TORNADO FLUSH® technology reaches and cleans the entire bowl and concave rim with every flush. Third, TOTO’s proprietary EWATER+ technology ensures the cleanliness of the bowl’s surface by misting it with electrolyzed water.

Nexus® WASHLET+ Toilet with Auto-Flush
This year, TOTO introduced the Nexus WASHLET+ Toilet with Auto-Flush, which is poised to set the standard in design, flushing performance, cleansing performance, ease of use, and sustainability. TOTO’s Nexus WASHLET+ boasts a beautiful modern design and skirted bowl, making maintenance a breeze. It seamlessly connects with its companion WASHLET bidet seat with Auto-Flush compatibility (available in a wide array of options). Its TORNADO FLUSH technology offers unparalleled, high-performance with two powerful nozzles that create a vigorous centrifugal rinsing action that keeps the bowl cleaner longer. Using only 1.0 or 1.28 gallons per flush (gpf), this sustainable, high-efficiency TORNADO FLUSH technology is more effective in one flush than most toilets are with multiple flushes.

The Nexus WASHLET+ Toilet offers CLEAN SYNERGY—CEFIONTECT, TORNADO FLUSH Technology, and EWATER+ —to ensure the cleanliness of the bowl longer.

NEOREST
In 1993, TOTO introduced NEOREST and innovated another new product category––the first intelligent toilet with integrated WASHLET personal cleansing system. Most recently, TOTO launched the NEOREST NX2, its most beautiful intelligent toilet with its most advanced cleansing technology. Inspired by the natural beauty of pebbles shaped by water over time, the NEOREST NX2’s sophisticated elliptical silhouette will serve as an artistic focal point of any bath. It offers the people-first innovations consumers appreciate: high-tech sensor operation with auto open/close and auto flush; integrated WASHLET personal cleansing system with warm, aerated water to cleanse, warm air dryer; ACTILIGHT® cleaning technology; heated seat; in-bowl catalytic deodorizer; and energy- and water-saving features.

Luxury Hotels in America’s Heartland Offer WASHLET in Every Room
Award-winning developers and preservationists, Amrit and Amy Gill specialize in renovating architectural landmarks that are down on their luck, restoring their historic beauty while infusing them with a chic, modern sensibility.

The Gills have a unique way to distinguish their luxury properties from their upmarket competition. They offer WASHLET and high-efficiency toilet combinations in every room of their upscale hotels in Davenport and Sioux City, IA, and St. Louis and Clayton, MO. “After owning WASHLET for the last 18 years and recommending it to all our friends, we realized that we couldn’t own a luxury hotel and not offer the same ultimate in luxury to our guests,” said Amrit Gill, President, Restoration St. Louis. “We are definitely installing WASHLET in all of our hotels from now on.”

With The Current Iowa restoration project, the Gills gave new life to the Putnam Building (1910), Davenport’s first skyscraper designed by iconic architect Daniel Burnham. Today, The Current is a sleek, stylish Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel that emphasizes an artful approach to all aspects of the guest experience. Unlike hotels whose walls are covered with bland, generic artwork, the Gills sourced over 500 original paintings, sculptures, and photographs by local, contemporary Midwest artists to display throughout the upscale hotel. The Current Iowa’s artful approach to the guest experience is highlighted in its bathrooms where the Gills installed WASHLET+ S300e and Drake® II 1.28 gpf high-efficiency toilet combinations in each of the hotel’s 78 guest rooms and suites.

Amrit and Amy Gill’s newest property, the Hotel St. Louis, revives The Gateway City’s Union Trust Building (1893) designed by famed architect Louis Sullivan. To this Marriott Autograph Collection property, the Gills applied their winning formula: each of its 132 rooms and suites as well as its 15 luxury apartments feature WASHLET+ S300e and Drake II 1.28 gpf high-efficiency toilet combinations. Throughout the hotel’s sophisticated modern interior, the Gills have paid homage to Sullivan, the father of the high-rise, while weaving in St. Louis history, architecture, art and visuals. A vintage record player along with several albums with a St. Louis connection is found in each room.

Currently, the Gills are restoring Sioux City’s Warrior Hotel (1930) and connecting Davidson Building Apartments (1913). Both on the National Registry of Historic Places, together the restored structure will be Sioux City’s first Marriott Autograph Collection property. This elegant art deco hotel will feature combinations of WASHLET+ S300e and Drake II or Vespin® II 1.28 high-efficiency toilets in each of the hotel’s 148 rooms and suites and 22 luxury apartments. This terracotta-ornamented architectural grand dame evokes an enduring magnificence that captures the luxury of times gone by. Infusing a sophisticated modern aesthetic into the virtuoso property, the Gills offer guests a glimpse of Sioux City’s exciting, artful next chapter while preserving a strong sense of its storied past.

The next project on the Gills’ horizon is Clayton, MO’s, Seven Gables Inn (1926), a three-story stucco and brick Tudor Revival structure trimmed in brown that, too, is on the National Registry of Historic Places. Here, again the Gills will employ their winning formula by featuring WASHLET S300e and Drake II 1.28 high-efficiency toilet combinations in each of the upscale hotel’s 32 rooms and suites.

“We often say that it’s the guest experience that we live for—and our TOTO smart toilets make the guest experience a real WOW!,” said Amy Gill, President, Checkmate Design. “One of the most frequent comments on our Trip Advisor reviews is ‘you should experience the TOTO smart toilets.’ It makes us proud to WOW! people every time they stay. We believe the WASHLET experience helps us get even greater guest survey scores.”

About TOTO
TOTO USA is headquarters for the Americas Division of the TOTO Global Group, which was established in 1917 with the founding of TOTO, Ltd., in Kitakyushu, Japan. TOTO is the world’s largest manufacturer of bathroom fixtures and fittings with $5.2 billion dollars in annual sales (as of March 2018). For more than 100 years, TOTO has been the recognized leader in innovation, technology, performance, and design with products that enhance the luxury bathroom experience. Today, the company maintains 33,431 employees in 19 countries and regions and owns manufacturing facilities around the world in countries as diverse as Japan, Mexico, Germany, the USA, India and China. Guided by its corporate philosophy, the TOTO Global Group strives to create a great company, trusted by people all around the world, which contributes to the betterment of society. Dedicated to engineering products that respect the environment while meeting people's needs for comfort, beauty and performance, TOTO is the sole plumbing manufacturer to maintain a research and development center devoted to universal design, advanced science, and technology. Consumers enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing they purchased a brand that innovates to improve people’s quality of life. Winner of numerous domestic and international awards and recognitions, TOTO is the only plumbing manufacturer honored as Water Efficiency Leader by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The company continues to raise industry standards and consumer expectations as to what is possible in the bath space, as TOTO believes a high-quality bathroom is an experience and an everyday luxury people value and appreciate.

For more information, consumers may visit www.totousa.com or call 1.888.295.8134, Option 5. Follow TOTO on Twitter (@TOTOUSA) and Instagram (@TOTOUSA) and become a TOTO fan on Facebook.

For more information, contact:
Lenora Campos, Ph.D.
917.593.6752
[email protected]