I don’t often post in IMHO, so here’s my random poll after seeing someone in my office building drag 4-5 feet of paper out of the dispenser, spend 2 seconds wadding it up, then jam it in the trash.
I like to be efficient in such things, so I use about 10-12". It doesn’t leave my hands desert dry, but they will be with evaporation mere seconds, so it’s fine. If I feel greasy, it makes a nice moist towelette for my face, following which I can use it to make a quick attempt at tidying up the counter, since I have a tendency to splash.
For drying after washing in a public washroom, you mean? 24 inches, assuming the sheets are 12 inch sheets. 2 or 3 sheets, or the equivalent in the non-perforated style.
At home, we use towels after washing, and paper towels only as napkin substitutes. For that use, I buy the generic brand of the select-a-size variety, as one of those (half a formerly standard sheet) is just fine most of the time.
Just don’t ask about baby wipe use. Oh bejeebers do we go through a lot of baby wipes. Makes me feel all kinds of guilty, it does. My mother is quick to point out every time she’s here that SHE used a warm wet washcloth on my bum and face (hopefully not at the same time) and that wipes are a waste of money and resources. I get it Mom, really I do. But with 3 Littles under the age of 3 (not all mine, but all here a lot), I can’t always run one to the sink while the other two tear things apart. We have wipes in every room for a reason.