# Great Toilet Paper Debate **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 8, 2006, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003 "2006-01-08T10:28:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/21 "2006-01-08T19:54:58Z")
I have only one thing to say about people that that comment on the orientation of toilet paper. Your life is way less exciting than mine is. I would make a mental note if there were nothing similar to toilet paper in the general vicinity of the bathroom but other than that, those types of details are simply washed out by greater things. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/22 "2006-01-08T20:03:54Z")
Guy here. God bless the Dope, because I had _no_ idea that there was a right and wrong way to hang a TP roll. Of course, that’s because when I get out a new TP roll, I just set it on the back of the toilet. Where it belongs. Surely ladies don’t have a problem with that solution? If they don’t like it, they can just put it on the roll whichever way floats their boat! 🙂 - Peter Wiggen ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/23 "2006-01-08T20:26:21Z")
I’m a woman and I _always_ put the paper on the roll in the “incorrect overhand position”, because it just rolls smoother that way. It’s silly, but I hate having it the other way and it takes every bit of self-control that I have not to switch backwards-placed rolls around in my friends’ homes. My cat doesn’t mess with it, because he’s afraid of the bathroom and its scary loud shower and flushing noises. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/24 "2006-01-08T20:39:11Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > It’s not a woman thing. Whatever gave you that idea? My _entire_ life I’ve understood it to be a woman thing. Every woman I have ever shared a house with has done this. Every time I’ve talked about it with friends, they instantly knew what I was talking about and agreed it was a woman thing. Possibly related to the difference in the way men and women operate the TV remote 😉 (big brush - joke!) As to the cats, no cat I have ever had has ever expressed the slightest interest in the toilet paper. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/25 "2006-01-09T02:09:36Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Yeah, it’s the cats thing. You put it the roll on the wrong way and you come home to find all the toilet paper in a heap on the floor. After that, you put it on the right way. No problem. Nonsense. I have had cats since I was 6 years old [38 years] and of the past 26 or so years, I have never had a cat play with the toilet paper. It always goes what you folks call the wrong way. I had more troule with a visiting toddler than I ever have from cats. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/26 "2006-01-09T02:30:35Z")
Maybe it’s nonsense for you, if your cats have never done it. But ours have, and other people report the same experience. That’s why we’ve mentioned it. I wouldn’t call that nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/27 "2006-01-09T03:00:37Z")
My cat can tear up the toilet paper either way it’s hung. I don’t think anybody in the house cares how it’s hung except me. If it’s the wrong way, i.e. so the paper lays against the wall instead of hanging out, I might chip my nail polish on the wall while tearing it off. You wouldn’t want me to chip my nail polish, now, would you? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/28 "2006-01-09T03:28:36Z")
Maybe we should go to the toilet paper experts? In every TP commercial I can recall the TP always comes over the top/front of the roll. I doubt those bears are doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/29 "2006-01-09T09:11:05Z")
I am male and I used to be of the opinion that the only sane way to present the toilet paper was so that it came off the roll over the top and off the front, but I have changed my mind on this; if you have boisterous or michevious children, they can very easily unroll the whole thing onto the floor by performing a sort of doggy-paddle motion on the roll; install it the other way around and they can still do it, but the repetitive upward motion required is not nearly so comfortable or fun. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/30 "2006-01-09T11:17:03Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > I have a cat and I am able to install it correctly. How _does_ one correctly install a cat? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/31 "2006-01-09T11:48:20Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > How _does_ one correctly install a cat? :dubious: Bring it into the house, and get out of it’s way. It’s a plug-and-play component, and no further user operations are required to install the cat. Routine maintenance is still the user’s responsibility, of course. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/32 "2006-01-09T13:40:55Z")
For me it wasn’t cats, it was kids. My youngest daughter took great delight in running over to the toilet dispenser and spinning it, all the while saying “Pwush! PWUSH!” I don’t know if it was a sound effect, or her attempt at “Push” but while it was rather cute, it was definitely also annoying. So, the toilet paper hung backwards. Now it hangs the “right” way but neither way especially bothers or pleases me. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/33 "2006-01-09T17:40:24Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > How _does_ one correctly install a cat? :dubious: [Cat Owners’ Manual](http://www.andreas.com/catman.html): > [@](#): > > Bring the CAT to operation in an environment temperature at 20º C (± 3 º tolerance). Use a quiet room with the primary user(s) present. Open the transportation case and let the CAT unit auto exit. Initialize the self learning program catfind() by displaying the input bins. These should contain H2O (liquid state, room temperature, 99% purity) and dry energy pellets. Immediately afterwards, display the output bin. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/34 "2006-01-09T17:49:45Z")
I’m a big stickler for over-the-top toilet paper in my house. Of course, in the house I have right now, I cannot actually _reach_ the TP holder, so I’ve just left it on the sink for the last three years (not the same roll, of course) so I could reach it without having to stand up. For the first year I lived there, I actually had to hide the roll-holder, because my friends would assume I was too lazy to put the TP in the holder, and would “help” by doing it for me–meaning I couldn’t reach it again. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/35 "2006-01-09T18:07:03Z")
\I actually do get pretty anal about this\, but it seems like most of you have far too complicated a method of describing the direction. It’s either overhanded or underhanded. Overhanded is the correct way. Sitting the roll on the back of the toilet is second-best. Since I don’t believe in having TP come out via the underhanded method, it doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/36 "2006-01-10T01:36:22Z")
It must be over the top. Towards the front. My SO differs, but I win, since I’m the one who usually bothers to put the roll on the holder in the first place. I grew up with cats. And I am female. I don’t like it hanging down the back because it’s right against the wall and is harder to grab. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/37 "2006-01-10T02:26:30Z")
It doesn’t matter, does it? It’s just toilet paper. Of course, I am another one who normally just puts it on the back of the toilet. You see, for short trips (i.e., peeing) I have the door open, but for longer trips, the door is shut. And guess where the toilet paper dispenser is? That’s right, on the back of the door. And guess whose arms are \*just \*too short to reach comfortably? That’s right, you’re looking at her. FTR, I am not short. I am 5’5". The bathroom was designed for very tall people it seems. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/38 "2006-01-10T02:40:51Z")
The space effieicent way is to have the go towards the wall and thus unroll from the bottom not the top. It would take a complete lack of Feng Shui to have the paper come from the top. 😉 In addition if you have a cat thatlikes to play with TP, it should never be left to roll off the top. Jim ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/39 "2006-01-10T02:56:44Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > It doesn’t matter, does it? It’s just toilet paper. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003/40 "2006-01-10T03:33:39Z")
Ours just sits on it’s side on the shelf in front of the toilet. We don’t even have a roller to hang it from. I do think I’d have it going over the front, although I don’t know how our cats would react. Then again, they don’t mess with it sitting on the shelf either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-toilet-paper-debate/339003.md?page=3)