# Coronavirus--I don't get it.\[hoarding toilet paper\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 8, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107 "2020-03-08T16:25:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/181 "2020-03-14T14:46:49Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Based on the fact that I just see the same 2-3 photos posted over and over with nothing to indicate when or where they were taken combined with the fact that I do see empty or nearly empty shelves where the hand sanitizer is normally displayed my theory is still straw-man beating. Not to mention all the posts I see from around the country from other people who also report not seeing any empty TP shelves in their areas. Hand sanitizer was already out at my normal store last week when I went shopping. And when I asked the pharmacist where it might be she knew she was out and replied with that retail “oh gawd, I’ve been asked this a hundred times already, but I still have to play nice” tone of voice. I’ve had several local friends report that stores they went to were out of TP, and running low on food. And last night I went to 3 different stores to get rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer for Mom, all of them were out. The first had a sign saying “out of hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol, but we do have TP” We’ve had at least one case in Tarrant county, and several in Dallas. So when someone you know says that there isn’t a run on TP in their area, ask how far away the closest case of Covid19 is ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/182 "2020-03-14T14:55:37Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > What’s weird is, I was in a nearby shopping center early this morning (Dunkirk, MD) with a Wal-Mart and a Giant Food supermarket. > > Now Giant isn’t the priciest grocery chain, but they’re definitely more towards the ‘emphasizing quality rather than price’ end of the spectrum. While WallyWorld is all about the price. > > So I went into Wal-Mart, and they were out of paper goods pretty much altogether. No TP, no paper towels, just bare shelves. They did have some boxes of facial tissues left, but even most of those were gone. > > At the Giant, which is close enough to the Wal-Mart that it’s easy to park in between and shop at both places without moving your car, there were plenty of paper towels, plenty of TP. > > So people were apparently so desperate to get TP that they cleared every last bit of it out of Wal-Mart, but not so desperate that if they didn’t get there in time, they’d walk down to Giant and at least compare prices? (Maybe a couple bucks more for a month’s worth of TP. I mean, _seriously_.) > > Man, I just don’t get people sometimes. > [@Spiderman](#): > > Unless you happened to walk in to Giant right after they finished restocking. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Probably not; they’d been open only about 20 minutes, and there wasn’t any sign of restocking activity anywhere, just a quiet store first thing in the morning. > > It’s always possible that their truck came in during the last hour before closing time the night before. Some stores restock overnight while the store is closed ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/183 "2020-03-14T16:03:53Z")
There’s an article in today’'s NYT about hand sanitizer and mask profiteering. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/184 "2020-03-14T16:10:22Z")
> [@susan](#): > > There’s an article in today’'s NYT about hand sanitizer and mask profiteering. [Japan has the proper solution for that](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/03/10/national/japan-punish-reselling-face-masks/). ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/185 "2020-03-14T16:17:56Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > DIY hand sanitizer. Mix with aloe vera gel. The problem with that is sanitizer has to be a minimum of 70% alcohol to be effective. Rubbing alcohol is typically 70% or a bit less. Dilute that with the aloe vera and you’re below the threshold. There is rubbing alcohol out there with a higher percentage – up to 90% – but you have to look for them. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/186 "2020-03-14T16:19:47Z")
> [@susan](#): > > There’s an article in today’'s NYT about hand sanitizer and mask profiteering. This is probably the same type of thing which happens with popular toys at Christmas–flippers go around and buy them up at the mass merchandizers at retail price and flip them at two or three times the price at Amazon and eBay. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/187 "2020-03-14T16:20:33Z")
I haven’t been to a grocery store since the panic really set in, but both my mom and my sister have reported seeing folks buying bananas 4 or 5 big bunches at a time. Are these people completely unfamiliar with bananas? If you’re not picky, they might last four or five days. How many bananas per day are you planning on eating? And my sister was trying to buy a tube of toothpaste (just one tube, because it happened that the tube she had at home was running low right around now). Someone swooped in ahead of her and grabbed five of them off the shelf. If this goes on so long that you’re going through five tubes of toothpaste, we’re all already dead. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/188 "2020-03-14T16:26:36Z")
You can freeze bananas. It destroys the texture, but they are still edible. And there is _always_ money in the banana stand. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/189 "2020-03-14T16:44:12Z")
Yes. If you’re planning on baking with bananas or making smoothies with them freezing them is a great option. I suspect at least some people are going that route. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/190 "2020-03-14T17:42:47Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Ultrapasteurized milk is common around here. You do have to refrigerate it, and it doesn’t last a year; but I’ve often seen it dated a month or more later than when it’s on the store shelves. (Though not always; if it’s not selling fast, stores seem to leave it there right up to the date, just like they do with the regular pasteurized milk.) You are talking about two different things. UHT milk, more common overseas, is indeed shelf stable until opened. European refrigerators are practically dorm-sized, and shelf-stable milk is almost mandatory. UHT does change the way the milk tastes, and it has never been very popular in the US. HTST pasteurization does increase the refrigerated life of milk, marginally. It is a product which must be kept refrigerated. ~ ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/191 "2020-03-14T17:49:06Z")
I get so flippin’ angry when my “VOW” goes missing. _adding VOW to above post_ ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/192 "2020-03-14T18:22:16Z")
Amazon is refusing new sales of hand sanitizer. I read an article about a guy who bought 17,000 sanitizes and now can’t find a place to sell them. > **[Amazon tells sellers it's not taking new listings for face masks or hand...](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/amazon-blocks-new-sale-listings-of-face-masks-hand-sanitizer.html)** > > Amazon, like other e-commerce companies, has struggled to police sellers who have sought to take advantage of the panic and flooded online marketplaces with overpriced goods. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/193 "2020-03-14T18:35:02Z")
Nm wrong thread. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/194 "2020-03-14T18:57:17Z")
If it’s not toilet paper or human waste, it’s not flushable. I did a little Googling on that this morning because I am not very well positioned for a toilet paper shortage. I am however sitting (heh) on a pretty hefty stash of facial tissue and paper towels. Both specifically listed as non-flushable. If it comes to that I guess I’ll be bagging it. I used 7 squares this morning, shooting for 6 tomorrow. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/195 "2020-03-14T19:12:11Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > You are talking about two different things. Yes, I know. I wasn’t trying to contradict your info; I was trying to add to it. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/196 "2020-03-14T19:21:30Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > If it’s not toilet paper or human waste, it’s not flushable. I did a little Googling on that this morning because I am not very well positioned for a toilet paper shortage. I am however sitting (heh) on a pretty hefty stash of facial tissue and paper towels. Both specifically listed as non-flushable. If it comes to that I guess I’ll be bagging it. > > I used 7 squares this morning, shooting for 6 tomorrow. 😃 If you are on a septic tank, then Kleenex is a no no. Municipal sewer systems can accommodate a few more goodies, but a private septic needs to be coddled. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/197 "2020-03-14T19:31:11Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Yes. If you’re planning on baking with bananas or making smoothies with them freezing them is a great option. I suspect at least some people are going that route. Indeed, we buy large hands of bananas and use them as they ripen. When they become fully ripe we peel and freeze what’s left. Smoothies, daiquiris, waffles, etc are great with frozen fruit. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/198 "2020-03-14T19:52:19Z")
If you are planning on freezing nanners, a little prep will make life a lot easier. Use an ice cube tray. Smush the banana into the little open squares, then freeze. Once frozen, you can pop out the nana cubes and keep them in a sack in the freezer. The cubes easily fit in a blender jar, with no mess. Freezing a whole banana in the peel is a gawdawful drippy mess when you try to use the damned thing. The curved bananas don’t cooperate when you keep them in the freezer, either. They block your normal rectangular packages, and they like to clatter to the floor when you want to pull out just one thing. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/199 "2020-03-14T19:58:26Z")
Let’s consider panic buying vs. updating supplies based on stores and anticipated need vs. predatory clean-out with the intent to gouge. Example: 1. ZMG!!!1!! Teh 45 haz declared an EMERGENCY!!! We’ll be trapped at home for a YEAR!!!1!!! 2. I have 3 children and both I and my father, who lives with us, are in risk categories. Better lay in extra supplies so that if we need them, we won’t have to risk going out during a community outbreak. 3. I think I’ll buy up all the sanitizer and N95 masks in Kentucky, then sell them at $75 each online. I’ll be rich! rich! **rolls in pile of filthy lucre** ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/200 "2020-03-14T20:20:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Indeed, we buy large hands of bananas and use them as they ripen. When they become fully ripe we peel and freeze what’s left. Smoothies, daiquiris, waffles, etc are great with frozen fruit. Shit, I never thought of peeling them first. No, really. Idiot here tries to peel frozen bananas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107.md?page=11)