# How should TP be hung? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 28, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752 "2010-01-28T12:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/21 "2010-01-28T15:34:26Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > By the neck until it’s dead, dead, dead. :: shakes fist at Ahunter3 :: ETA: I’m a woman and I don’t give a rat’s ass. I don’t even pay attention to which way it goes, when I have a dispenser to put it in. The roll in my bathroom sits on top of the tank. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/22 "2010-01-28T15:50:18Z")
I predict, when genders are combined, that over-the-top will win with [thread=536537]89.63%[/thread]. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/23 "2010-01-28T15:52:13Z")
IME: 1. When you have to reach under the roll to get to the paper, it’s harder to get the exact amount of paper you want. 2. If you’ve just wandered into the bathroom for something to blow your nose into, then it’s a real nuisance to have to bend down and reach underneath the roll to get a few squares of paper, rather than being able to pull them right off the top. (I suppose I could keep a box of kleenex in the bathroom, but that seems silly when TP will work just as well for blowing one’s nose, and there’s already a roll of it sitting right there.) ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/24 "2010-01-28T15:59:57Z")
I used to prefer it coming from the bottom of the roll. I think this came from my mom. But then I took a job where I was literally living in motels/hotels for a year (several different ones a week) and every single hotel I ever stayed at has it hanging from the top. I figured that they know better than my mom. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/25 "2010-01-28T21:29:36Z")
My mother was the only person I’ve ever known who literally didn’t care. She’d put it on the roller just however she happened to be holding it. Of course if she put it on coming from behind, someone would correct it. She never noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/26 "2010-01-28T21:58:41Z")
My reasons for preferring the “over the top” method: Good reason: 1. Better visibility Probably misguided reason: 2) Reduced probability that the paper touches the possibly dirty wall, then picks up germs off the wall, and then transfers the germs to your nether regions ---
**Author:** ![Redwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@Redwing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redwing)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/27 "2010-01-28T22:01:50Z")
I had a cat that liked to paw at the roll. If you have it coming of the bottom, you end up with a roll of toilet paper with some claw marks in it, however, if you have it coming off the top, you end up with a pile of toilet paper on the floor – and kittens will think it’s nice that the big cat made them an alternate litter pan. Beyond that, I can not imagine actually caring about this, it’d be like caring what way my shirt was facing on a hangar. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/28 "2010-01-28T22:03:09Z")
It doesn’t really matter. Unfortunately, the poll doesn’t offer that option. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/29 "2010-01-28T22:08:22Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Vertical holder. Makes sure that everyone is equally unhappy. Clockwise or counterclockwise? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/30 "2010-01-28T22:08:59Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > You forgot the option of > > **I have a cat. The TP must come off the bottom of the roll or the cat will bat at it and unroll it all.** I voted “top”, but I’m willing to let you go with “bottom” if this is the case for you. What’s really important isn’t that it come off the top, although that is the right way. What’s important is that **it always be the same**. Then there’s no fumbling with the roll, trying to figure out which way it comes off. Consistency is good, in hanging toilet paper like in so many other areas of life. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/31 "2010-01-28T22:15:30Z")
I am a woman and have never encountered a man within my household who actually hung the toilet paper at all, preferring to leaving it sit on the counter or the back of the toilet. I have an opinion but not strong enough to argue with anyone over it (for real…play arguments on the internet are another matter) I just pick it up and hang the roll to my preference and then get on my with my life. 😉 I have been known to re-hang the roll when someone has done it “wrong” but it doesn’t bother me enough to say anything and it bothers me a whole lot less than just setting the new roll on the counter…grrrr… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/32 "2010-01-28T22:15:30Z")
Why is everyone talking about cats, when the obvious answer is “like a horse”? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/33 "2010-01-28T22:16:01Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Clockwise or counterclockwise? Also, no matter what kind of holder: Left or right of toilet? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/34 "2010-01-28T22:18:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’m a woman, and I just want it to be there. I don’t understand why someone will leave an empty roll hanging there. Especially if they got out a new roll. It takes two quick motions to swap them out, including dropping the old one in the trash, as opposed to one motion to plop the new roll down on the sink or the back of the tank. A couple of years ago, I decided that it was just my geas to always swap out the roll. Since then I’ve been less annoyed by the whole thing. Which way it’s hanging is irrelevant. ---
**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 28, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/35 "2010-01-28T22:21:55Z")
Hanging from the front should be the default position, unless other issues intervene, such as cats or small children pawing at the front of the roll. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/36 "2010-01-28T22:23:50Z")
I was astonished that my husband cared about this. I just wanted the TP roll to be hung! And still don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/37 "2010-01-28T22:31:32Z")
> [@nudgenudge](#): > > Printed toilet paper appears to be designed to fall on the side away from the wall (off the top, in the OP’s terminology), so presumably that’s what the manufacturers intend. Since they’re the experts in this important matter, I’ll go with them. Yes, but in little illustrations of TP they always show it coming off the bottom. So where does that leave us? Just easier to draw that way clearly, I suppose. I’m very happy when someone gets a new roll out, and ecstatic if it makes its way onto the holder at all. I don’t even look at which way it’s going on when I change it, couldn’t care less. Luckily, neither does my husband, although he does care about which way the shirts are facing on the hanger, go figure. ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/38 "2010-01-28T22:32:43Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > You forgot the option of > > **I have a cat. The TP must come off the bottom of the roll or the cat will bat at it and unroll it all.** I have 3 cats and have the toilet paper coming off the top of the roll and have no problems. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/39 "2010-01-28T22:33:35Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Also, no matter what kind of holder: Left or right of toilet? Depends on the layout of the bathroom, no? Our upstairs and downstairs bathrooms are oriented opposite, with the holders being mounted on the vanity in each room. So one’s gonna smack your left elbow when you sit, the other one smacks your right. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752/40 "2010-01-28T22:53:32Z")
Here is the correct guidance on this: Rolls with a printed pattern on one side of the paper should come over the top. This gives maximum exposure for, say, the President’s likeness, and avoids showing the undecorated underside. Houses with children or animals which are allowed to amuse themselves by playing with the roll should hang the paper with the end coming from the back (bottom) so that when the roll is spun it does not spin off the paper. This rule may take precedence over the first one, although a further guidance is to have better-disciplined children and animals. If there is no print, either way is acceptable, although as mentioned above, over the top makes it easier to find the end and is therefore preferred. Finally, a small buzzer near the toilet paper is a thoughtful addition in case the wife needs to be summoned to bring more. what? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-tp-be-hung/526752.md?page=3)