THE TISSUE ISSUE : HOW DO YOU HANG YOURS?
Ok, I have a question. How do you hang your bathroom tissue? Are you an over person, an under person, or someone who couldn’t give a crap… so to speak.
It’s a silly question I know, but I ask this because the other day someone insisted that the toilet roll in my bathroom was hung incorrectly. I’m not sure that I’ve ever given the subject of how to hang bathroom tissue much thought, but I tend to always place the ‘loo roll’ so it hangs over rather than under, which I was told was the more eco friendly way of hanging bathroom tissue.
“Wait a second,” I thought to myself, “There’s an eco friendly way of hanging toilet roll?” Well apparently so. According to my recent house guest scientists have researched the subject of bathroom tissue usage and concluded that that people use more tissue when its hung over the roll as opposed to under it.
Being a somewhat eco-minded chap I searched the web looking for the facts and figures relating to loo roll positioning. I found various sites including one about a bizarre toilet roll conspiracy theory. Eventually though, I found a website that I felt sure would have details of the scientific study into the environmental impacts of tissue positioning, but unfortunately the toilet paper encyclopedia (I kid you not!) didn’t mention any such research. It did however state that 68% of people hang toilet paper with the first sheet going over the roll, while 25% hang the first sheet under the roll.
The site might not be as reliable as the title suggests though. A breakdown of what people use toilet paper for would seem to omit one very obvious toilet tissue usage which rather brings into to question any of the sites quoted facts and figures. It claims that nose care accounts for largest share of toilet tissue usage at 61%, with 17% for wiping small spills, 8% for removing makeup, 7% for cleaning mirrors, and 3% for cleaning a child’s hands/face, covering the toilet seat, and cleaning glasses.
While I remain unconvinced that there is an eco-friendly way to hang your bathroom tissue I did learn that the use of extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply tissue is causing serious environmental damage.
Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defence Council, said “Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution.” According to Hershkowitz, the process of making toilet tissue has significant environmental impacts in terms of deforestation and the chemicals used in pulp manufacture. More than 98% of the toilet rolls sold in America come from virgin wood, whereas in Europe and Latin America, up to 40% of toilet paper comes from recycled products.
His position on this is echoed by Greenpeace USA who are running a campaign to raise consciousness among Americans about the environmental costs of their toilet habits. That campaign is surely among the environmental groups more optimistic efforts. After all, getting Americans to think about how they should clean up their shit is hard enough without actually getting them to think about how to clean up their… well, you know…
So, environmental questions and moral issues aside, I’m left wondering if there is a right way and a wrong way to hang ones loo roll? Does my hang methodology say something about me, more even than the fact that I’ve already devoted more time to this than I should have done? In the end I suspect it simply doesn’t matter, but I’m curious, what kind of person are you, an over, an under, or someone who couldn’t give a crap?
—
Greenpeace tissue guide (Also available as an iPhone app!)
Wipe responsibly
American taste for soft toilet roll ‘worse than driving Hummers’
Toilet Roll Conspiracy Theory
Public rest
Now that’s just silly
The truth about recycling
→ Add your picture to your comments
→ Get my blog by Email
Wrote the following comment on Aug 6, 2009 at 7:16 am
why am i commenting here instead of studying, like i’m supposed to? because i actually read something about this a year ago or so, and started hanging my roll w/ the sheet going over instead of under. i never cared until i read whatever it was that i read, that i dont even remember where i read it. now i want the roll w/ the sheet going over! and you say that’s not good!
really, americans shouldn’t be targeted to change their toileting, but tissue makers should be fined for using “virgin wood” (is this a sexual reference, simon?!) gah.
anyway, that would drive up the costs of TP and therefore more people would buy the crappier-scratch-your-butt kind, aka, recycled wood TP. blydunno.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 6, 2009 at 10:29 am
We needn’t have been at all concerned at your silence..you were pondering loo roll!
No matter which way I hang mine I will still use what is comfortable for my needs…some things you can’t be mean with. I recycle in other areas though so no guilt!!
Thanks for the tip about Americans not liking the word ‘toilet’. I’m dating a really sweet American guy and you are right some words don’t sit comfortably with them. Take it easy Simon whichever way you hang your loo roll.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 6, 2009 at 10:40 am
Some of the replies on the ‘Wipe responsibly’ site are hilarious…I can’t believe we think/talk so much about this. Like Marcie I should be studying so that’s enough about loo rolls for today!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 6, 2009 at 11:41 am
What a funny subject to debate. I do the ‘overhang’ technique.
In response to Marcie’s comment, I don’t know what kind of recycled brands they have in America, but I think that if you were to spend the same money as you do on your luxury quilted toilet paper on a recycled paper brand, you wouldn’t feel any real difference.
I try to live as greenly as I can but I’m no hippy. I wouldn’t use recycled toilet paper if it was at all a “crappier-scratch-your-butt” experience.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 6, 2009 at 1:34 pm
hahahahaha!
Well I hang my scratchy thin recycled unbleached environmentally friendly dunny paper over and it bugs the hell out of me when guests hang it under.
HOWEVER- people I know who have young kids tend to hang it under as it supposedly stops the kids pulling the whole lot off.
On environmental matters- down here they say: if it’s yellow let it mellow, If it’s brown flush it down…
Wrote the following comment on Aug 6, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I hang mine with the leading edge under. If I leave the edge over the cat paws at the roll and I wind up with a pile of toilet paper under the hanger.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 6, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I am with you and hang it ‘over’ whereas my wife hangs it ‘under’. I find it harder to grab hanging it under but hey ho!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 3:00 am
I used to feed from below. I found it to be more subtle that way. Over the top just screamed “Wipe Your Ass!”. But it’s easier to find the end from over the top. So I switched. Then I married a feed from below kind of guy. Can this marriage be saved????
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I always did it the “correct” way, spilling over in front, until a friend pointed out that he did it the other way, the “wrong” way, to keep his cats from unrolling it. I switched, and no longer have to reroll the toilet paper after my cats get bored from being left home alone too long.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I actually started to respond to this, but halfway through I realized how stupid this whole issue (not tissue) was!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 3:08 pm
for many years, i pulled from the bottom. until i noticed one day that many hotels and restaurants feed from the top. so i converted. and i even do the little triangular fold on the top like they do in hotels
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 3:49 pm
The smaller the issue, the larger the number of comments, eh?
I tend to agree with the over-the-top method, but only an asshole (pun) would actually complain out loud about it being done the other way.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 3:53 pm
My mom’s boyfriend (whom I detest) insists on having the paper the wrong way. I take the pleasure of a petulant teenager to always switch his TP to the right way whenever I visit. Yes, it’s dumb and immature but who dictates to guests how they want the TP on the holder!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 5:22 pm
There is only one right way, the ‘over’ method or ‘Waterfall’ as it is sometimes known.
I can’t find the end of the roll in the middle of the night the other way and end up spinning the stupid thing around and around.
I will also replace the roll at people’s houses if I use the last, as long as they have a roll around. I feel strongly that one should be curteous and leave the bathroom so the next person has a pleasant experience. Yes, I will replace it in the ‘waterfall’ fashion even if they had it on wrong.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 5:40 pm
The cats issue trumps all else! There’s nothing worse than coming home to 50 ft of tp unrolled all over the bathroom. (OK, there are many things worse than this but in the context of this forum this ranks as the worst! Unless, of course, your cat has unrolled AND shredded the tp.)
Meow
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I really can’t believe this is an issue. It’s toilet paper! The only time I think about it for longer than 10 seconds is when it’s run out and I’ve just sat down. Then the yelling commences.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I’d rather do it OVER, but I have to do it UNDER now or the cats (and/or my child) will unroll the entire thing if I don’t. (sigh)
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Why I thought all y’all Europeans used that thing that looks like a water fountain for your butt. And ain’t there some of those Middle Eastern types that use their left hand, so toilet paper don’t really matter to them.
——-
Okay, really I tend to hang the toilet paper under, as otherwise it provides more temptation for young kids to pull out about a football fields length of paper onto the floor. Other than this, I am more concerned about the actual wiping experience (nothing that is so pulpy soft that it too easily breaks up, or nothing too unprocessed that it comes across as fine grit sandpaper. The stuff I get from Costco is pretty much the Golden Mean when it comes to toilet paper).
Wrote the following comment on Aug 7, 2009 at 11:05 pm
My mom and I have fought silently over this for years. I’m an “over the top” person and she is a “from the bottom person.” When ever I go back home, I switch it without saying anything, and later she switches it back. I think one visit the TP was switched about 20 times.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 12:49 am
This debate has raged on for decades. I HATE it when the paper comes forward over the top even though we’ve all heard the supposed rule about printed designs on the paper needing to face out. But when you pull the paper going over the top, it always runs away from you! Down the back, taking paper from the bottom allows more control. And I change rolls to go this way in other people’s houses.
What amazes me, though, is that after seven years of marriage, my husband still doesn’t even notice which way it’s going. Now, about that toilet seat…
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 1:43 am
Reading this and the comments was a pleasant diversion. I for one always switch the roll on the holder to face in the “correct” direction in any bathroom I am in. No matter if my bathroom or not. Type A? Most definately.
Though, my biggest toilet habit annoyance without a doubt is the failure of some people to put the toilet seat down after they have used it! Grrr! :-)
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 1:51 am
I have a vertical toilet paper holder, so this is not an issue for me. Even so, I make sure the end falls on the right not the left, otherwise it would get caught in the shower door and get all wet. So see, we all have our preferences!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 3:10 am
This post is so anal!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 5:04 am
My boyfriend will do it underhanded, and I will do it “waterfall”. I am the one who usually changes the roll though, so I usually win.
My argument once when I brought up his “wrong underhanded technique” was that I use toilet paper twice as much as he dose, so I should get to choose the hanging method.
I won!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 6:37 am
Funny topic, and even funnier comments.
I’m a fan of the ‘over’ method, for purely sanitary (rather than aesthetic) reasons.
Think about it – in order to tear off a piece of TP when it’s in the ‘under’ position, you typically have to brace the roll with your hand. That means you’re touching the unused toilet paper… with your hand… um… your UNWASHED hand. Ick.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 9:16 am
Maybe I don’t wnt to know the answer to this, but when I read Tina’s comment I wondered what on earth she’s been doing with her hands while sitting on the toilet?
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 12:44 pm
This makes me think of this web page, wherein toilet paper hanging direction is the number 1 issue:
https://www.polyfamilies.com/polycohab.html
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 4:28 pm
As the founder of publicrest, a photo blog dedicated to public restroom self portraits, I think I can consider myself somewhat of an authority on this issue and maybe even offer some insight to environmental impact. The best and most convenient way to hang your roll is to hang it over. It is not only easier to find where the roll starts but it is also allows gravity to assist the in the dispensing of toilet paper. Hanging the roll under could cause users to use less paper though because it is harder to get more sheets without breaking.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 4:51 pm
For me this is a great way to check compatibility! if the person says “yes”, I know we wouldn’t be a good fit!!! i would drive them crazy!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 8:15 pm
The answer is technical.
Most of the time the “right” way is the waterfall, but that’s because of the typical location of most toilet paper holders.
It depends on where the holder is, vertically relative to your hand once you reach for it.
If the holder is at or below your hand, then the waterfall method is better because you can grab the end sheet at the right angle, and easily rip the paper between straight out or straight up.
If the holder is really high, then the underhand method is better because you’re approaching from below. Then you can rip anywhere between straight out and straight down.
Also the overhand method is typically more aesthetically pleasing, because most of the time you look at the toilet paper from above, because you’re standing. That’s probably why most people prefer it. In hotels, if you fold a triangle in the end sheet, nobody’s going to notice if it’s under the roll.
It’s simple physics, really.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I took a trip to Egypt and Libya once, for the solar eclipse a few of years ago. They often don’t provide toilet paper at all — in some cases, it’s held by a person (woman, in my case) to whom you must give baksheesh (a tip) in order to be given any before you enter the stall. It pays to carry a supply in your day pack!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Although after about 10 posts they started to get kinda boring, I’m amused by the argument, especially since my stepfather and brother-in-law had the debate once. Personally, as long as it’s there when I need it, I’m not really worried about it. However, out of sheer habit from the way it was growing up, I pull from the bottom. That being said, if a guest in my house took it upon themselves to rearrange something in MY bathroom (or anywhere else for that matter), as the person in comment #20 said they would, they would not be invited back. I mean how dare they! I think some people need to take a deep breath and realize that the planet does not revolve around them. It’s toilet paper, for goodness sake, and you don’t even live there!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 9, 2009 at 4:44 am
It seems there is still so much intolerance in the world! I mean really- switching the roll in other people’s homes if you don’t like the way it faces? Shouldn’t we have bigger things to worry about?
Wrote the following comment on Aug 9, 2009 at 5:21 am
so i s’pose that just putting the new roll on the back of the toilet while the empty cardboard tube stays on the holder for an extra few days is REALLY the wrong way, huh?
Wrote the following comment on Aug 9, 2009 at 8:42 pm
hmm when i saw this i thought LOL i do mine over :) just feels right lols,
anyways a thought of mine! who’s idea was it to use tissue paper to wipe ones Arse? …. why tissue?
why not fabric of some sort…? :)
haha enjoy
Wrote the following comment on Aug 10, 2009 at 12:36 am
I have a mate who has a posh bathroom in his house and they have one of those bedays or whatever they’re called, you know the butt washig thing that looks like a toilet.
I often look at it and wonder how on earth such a device is practical. I wash all my parts in the shower and don’t ever feel the need to stick a hose up my wazoo after I’ve taken a dump. I just look at those contraptions and think to myself who on earth gets so dirty when they poo that they need to shower their entire butt! I mean seriously, that’s a nasty thought!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 10, 2009 at 2:18 am
my mom has been on me about this my whole life. i don’t care! it’s stupid to have it come over the top. it’s easier to wind up with too much tissue and have to wind it back up. it looks stupid. it is so annoying to have hotels do it that way with those little folded points. i can find the freaking end of the roll, thanks.
if someone switched my roll, i would call them out. get your own damn house
Wrote the following comment on Aug 16, 2009 at 1:19 pm
I don’t think I could live with someone who cared about this.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 18, 2009 at 4:14 am
I once saw an interview with a woman who recently lost her beloved husband. She said she would give absolutely anything to find the toilet paper on the “wrong” way because that would mean he was still there with her. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 13, 2010 at 5:27 am
If you ever ran a study I think that you would find that the number of incidents of getting too much, or ripping off half a square instead of the full square (at the perforation) happen far more often with the over the top method than with the back method. And if you’re at my house, you will use it the way it’s hung or not at all! ;P