# I'm Getting Crazy w/ the Toilet Paper **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2000, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608 "2000-08-24T17:43:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shhh\_zzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@shhh\_zzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shhh_zzzz)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/1 "2000-08-24T17:43:39Z")
I really hate to do this, but pleeeze respond as I have searched the web and the archives here and can not find proof to back me up. My sister needs to see _proof_ that she’s wrong before she’ll _ever_ consider changing. She’s a frequent visitor in my home & insists on installing the new rolls of TP **under** instead of **over**. It’s driving me crazy. She says it’s no big deal, yet still–quietly and methodically–installs it upside down… [ul] [li]Every…[_]Single…[_]Time…[/ul]even tho’ it’s my house & she knows my preference.[/li] Ann Landers stated, years ago, that OVER is correct because if there’s a design on the roll, it is correctly viewed from the OVER position and this makes the OVER position correct. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/2 "2000-08-24T18:31:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Ann Landers stated, years ago, that OVER is correct because if there’s a design on the roll, it is correctly viewed from the OVER position and this makes the OVER position correct. Right? Not quite. A reader stated this in a letter. However, this argument is rubbish because: If it were printed on the other side the design would be on the inside and would not show no matter how you hung it. There is no “correct” way to hang it. It is all a matter of preference. Of course, if it’s your house you get to make the rules, and they should be respected by your guests. If it’s a joint household, well, it’s really not worth fighting about. It wipes just as well either way. I’ve often thought I should make a rotating TP dispenser, so that the current user can just flip it whichever way he wants. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/3 "2000-08-24T18:32:03Z")
The correct position for toilet paper is… …between your hand and your ass when you wipe. Nothing else is important. ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/4 "2000-08-24T18:49:25Z")
If you hang it over, and your cat decides to start batting at the roll, it will unwind. That makes it even more fun… ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/5 "2000-08-24T19:45:31Z")
I prefer to have it hung over (oh! hungover, hee hee hee) because in my bathroom, it’s pretty much behind you when you’re sitting, so it is way easier to turn around and bat at it and get it to start rolling so you can grab some if it is hung over. If it’s hung under, I have to turn around too much and risk falling off the john. Not a cool or cleanly thing to do. Also, my cats prefer it hung over so they can get it rolling. When the roll is a certain size, sometimes they can get it rolling at the right speed so that it will unroll completely under its own momentum. They loooove that. I do think, though, that you should honor the preference of your host/ess and not insist on being contrary. That’s just rude. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/6 "2000-08-24T20:21:07Z")
Your sister is wrong in oh so many ways. It’s _over_. Anyone who hangs it under has obviously just escaped from somewhere. I just can’t fathom the mind of someone who prefers it underhung. I know they exist, but I try to imagine myself looking at the roll, turning it over, and listing for myself the possible benefits that this practice confers on my life. And I can’t. I just _can’t_. I’m left with the sad conclusion that it can be nothing but sheer perversity. She’s obviously just a contrarian at heart, your sister. And probably a drug abuser and a Republican. No offense to your sister, of course; I mean all that in the complimentary sense. ---
**Author:** ![Meephead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@Meephead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meephead)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/7 "2000-08-24T21:16:45Z")
I say OVER…In fact I am adamant enough about the paper question, that the contract with my roommate has a clause about it. Of course the whole contract, though legally binding is written so that it is entertaining as well. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/8 "2000-08-24T21:33:03Z")
I say you set it down sideways on top of the empty roll that you never replace. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/9 "2000-08-24T22:01:36Z")
YES, mouthbreather! THAT way you can pick it up and carry it around with you in case you need to clean something up. Over, under, what a bunch of hooie! ---
**Author:** ![shhh\_zzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@shhh\_zzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shhh_zzzz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/10 "2000-08-25T03:58:55Z")
Thanks so much all–I just felt _so right_ about the whole thing that I just had to get it straight. We had it out, my sister & I. After correcting the placement of the roll earlier today, I went to p-p a little while ago and–you guessed it–it was “under” again. I confronted her. She said it was “falling off” & she had had to replace it. I said "Oh, right, _upside down AGAIN_??? What _is_ your motivation?? To which she revealed to me that in the “under” position, one is less likely to “waste” it as it doesn’t roll as fast or isn’t quite as accessible this way. This rather gave me reason to pause and reflect in bewilderment, then quiet contemplation. If her life is such a void that she has to worry about those extra two squares of TP that _I_ may or may not be wasting with each wipe in _my_ house, then our problems are much deeper than I suspected. Prior to that, I had rejoiced in the support of those of you who so eloquently responded in a kind and empathetic manner. I, of course, felt the chatisement of those of you who poo-pooed the whole issue. Now that this particular issue has been exorcised, I don’t know, I feel…somehow…clean. I don’t know if it’s realizing the futileness of the sister/control thing or just having vented, but _Eureka_! mouthbreather, I’m with you! ---
**Author:** ![JimmyNipples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/11 "2000-08-25T13:54:22Z")
This is quite simple… **OVER** It’s farther away from the wall when its hung over. Easier to grab. Very simple. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/12 "2000-08-25T14:05:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Marge (reading): “Squalid hellhole … toilet paper hung in improper overhand fashion …” I’ve always been in favor of the underhand fashion myself, but the holders in my house are recessed into the wall, which causes underslung rolls to be very difficult to get a grasp on. Consequently, I’m a convert to oversling. ---
**Author:** ![Anniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cc9497/32.png) [@Anniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anniz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-crazy-w-the-toilet-paper/30608/13 "2000-08-25T16:06:06Z")
**May your life be like toilet paper… Long and useful.**