Still a scarce commodity, but wondering if anyone ran out yet? If so how are you coping? The most obvious replacement is facial tissue, paper towels and napkins, and I’ve seen suggestions of coffee filters. A bidet attachment was also floated.
What’s your stash at, and what are your backup plans if TP is not available when you need it?
I read somewhere that old telephone books would suffice. I think that is inspired.
I’ve not run out and probably won’t. I was a bit of a hoarder before all this.
I actually donated some TP to a women’s shelter.
I have been ahead of the curve on all of this.
I went to Costco on the front end of this thing and bought one of their mega-packs of Charmin. I had maybe six rolls in the cabinet before that. I live alone and I am good for the duration.
I had been meaning to but one of those Britta pitchers for a while and bought one of those with six replacement filters three weeks ago. I am so glad that I did. Santa Barbara water is horrendous and that pitcher is a miracle. They are a month back ordered now.
I think the toilet paper crisis is past. I actually was running low before this whole thing started but I was still able to buy a six pack last week. And from what I can see, the supply has increased since then.
Stores around here have it in stock.
Pro-Tip: Go to WalMart, get a dozen-pack of tube socks for $1.88
Insert hand, do your bizness, toss in the wash, dry and repeat.
You’ll never buy TP again!
I actually went through socks last night and pulled out some singles and old ones with holes. I have 2 rolls left and don’t plan to get out any time soon so paper will be used for #2 for as long as it lasts. I am doing the socks diaper bucket style. I have plenty clothes soap so I can wash every day if necessary.
I don’t know if the supply has come back here. My local Nextdoor is reporting when local stores get a load but it goes quick from what I’ve heard.I’m not going out to find out until food desperation kicks but today I did my first-ever grocery order for delivery. I tried to order TP but they say they’re out of stock on every brand.
My local Ralphs/Kroger has run out of TP and paper towels less than an hour after opening each day this week. Its getting annoying.
Hawaii is still in panic shopping mode. Lots of history since the 1950s mostly related to dock worker strikes. TP purchasing is ingrained in our psyche like spam musabi, shave ice, [del]ugly[/del] colorful shirts.
Wife hit Costco today for some other things - TP arrived on Thursday; Friday vaporized.
Current inventory is 8 rolls plus 2 partial on dispensers.
Most of the stores in my area are still completely out of it, most of the time.
It seems like they put some out in the mornings but it goes fast, even though it’s one to a customer. A couple of days ago I had to put some real effort into the TP quest.
All the stores have been opening at 7. I don’t think anyone has early hours for seniors. I got to Walmart at 7:05 and headed right to the TP. They had maybe 4 or 5 dozen packages of various sizes, one to a customer. I got an 18 pack of generic Charmin mega rolls- the name brand stuff was all in pack of 12 rolls or less. And (sue me) I managed to also get a small 4 pack of Scott by the woman watching the self checkout, it was small enough that she didn’t notice it once it was bagged.
They take the one to a customer limit very seriously at that store. My brother took 2 cases of water - 24 bottles, not the 40 bottle ones we usually buy - through the self check a few days ago. They caught him after he had rung it up and they voided the transaction and took it back.
On my way home, flush with victory, I stopped by the supermarket in my subdevelopment and picked up a 6 pack of Charmin. They probably had about a dozen, maybe two dozen but not more than that, assorted packs left. It was 7:30 AM by then.
Both stores were probably out by 8AM. Please note I’m buying for a household. We had been trying to find TP for two weeks and we were almost out. And I hate getting up early. So yes, I’m stocking up a little bit.
A family member works at a grocery store. People keep trying to break the limit (of one package!) and the extras that are confiscated are put into security. She bought one.
My mother and I were able to individually get a package each the last time we went grocery shopping (separately). Of course we went on the morning of the day the grocery store was resupplied (helps to have a family member there who knows these things). We are rationing, and we are fine. (How do you ration that? Well, we used to use toilet paper for other purposes.)
That is not flushable, or even clean.
I have, uh, 48 rolls left right now…
Still got our 30 roll Costco brick, unopened, and six other rolls. That’s about 90 days worth in our house. There’s also about six rolls of RV toilet paper out in the rig.
The wife found a website that was all toilet paper. She got excited and decided to order a block of it. She stopped at the payment page and asked “Should we use Paypal”? I said sure, and went to complete the transaction, as she didn’t have the password on her computer. When Paypal approved payment, it said something like "Returning to the Xingchau website (or something similar). I thought whoa, horsey, what the fuck is that? Cancelled it to be on the safe side.
About the same in the Lancia garage. But there’s 4 of us in the house full-time now. While I’m not in panic mode – this is probably 3 months of supply for us – I am concerned about how long this shortage will last. The very fact that people panic bought means that people are running out now and, as evidenced by the fact that most places are limiting customers to one package of TP per, want to snag it up, and stock up, when they can.
I’ve not seen TP in the stores since last Wednesday. My mom was discharged from the hospital after being in the ICU for 3 weeks. She asked me to go to Costco and buy them some. I literally laughed at her. I had to go around to the grocery stores at opening time to find any. Finally found some generic stuff at Safeway. $10 for a 12-pack, $8 for a 6-pack. I picked them up 3 12 packs and 2 six packs. Who knows when they’ll be able to get more. I went to the grocery store today and they seemed to be fairly well stocked of everything except TP.
Haven’t seen any in the stores since. This whole thing is making me reevaluate my previous skepticism toward people who stockpile goods in preparation for some massive supply disruption / famine / apocalypse / zombie attack. I honest to God never thought the stores would be empty – for a week and a half now – of fucking toilet paper. When this whole thing blows over, which may not be until September if the local gummint is to be believed, I will likely start striving to have 6 months of household necessities, including TP, as well as food and prescription medications on hand at all times.
I ate three rolls for breakfast this morning. A little honey, a little cinnamon, and it was…well, not delicious. But I need to eat enough to make a path from my bedroom to the bathroom so I can take a dump. Right now I just hang my ass out the window and yell, “Look out below!”
Stranger
Better than nothing. No, I wouldn’t flush it, at all.
I am not sure that old telephone books/newspapers are that filthy, at least before you wipe your ass with them.
From the show Survivorman (with the Canadian guy who can survive for a week at the South Pole starting with only the clothes on his back, a single match, and a rubber band) we learn that leaves are your friends (avoid the wrong ones, though!)
I’m down to about 2 rolls of charmin left. Luckily I did get a pack of generic walmart rolls a week ago, a 4 pack. Basically the worst TP they had and even that sold out pretty fast.
In theory I have enough TP to last me over a month, but I’d rather get something better than the rough walmart stuff. I am hoping I can find some charmin again sometime.
If my TP runs out before I get more I’ll use napkins and baby wipes.
Well, you could possibly use less each time, depending on what your habits are. I’ve known that people use big giants wads of the stuff and burn through it like wildfire,
We found a way to ration before I was able to restock. We only used TP if it was messy, smelly, or embarrassing. For all else we used Kleenex or a piece of a paper napkin and threw it in the wastebasket instead of flushing. It’s a good way to stretch the supply.
I really like Marcal and ordered a 48-roll case from Amazon a while back. I probably still have half of them, so I’m OK.
I looked into ordering another one, and that stuff is just plain old not listed on Amazon at all, as of right now.