Im working in a government office and had the misfortune to have to use the toilet one day. The sitting toilet not the urinal. While sitting there I could not help but notice that the toilet paper roll very obviously was smaller than the bracket that was holding it and an odd spacer had to be inserted between the paper and the right side of the bracket. At first my thought was what idiot mounted the brackets too far apart and why did they not just move it? But then I noticed that the issue was in all the stalls.
On closer inspection and then confirming at home I determined that the GI roll was in fact about 1 inch more narrow than my store bought paper. I did not actually bring in a measuring tape but just using my hand I would say it is about 3 inches wide rather than about 4 inches wide for my store TP. Conclusion; this must be some sort of government budgeting thing. But this then brought the real question to my head.
With all the various makers, brands and types of toilet paper on the market, who decided that the width of 4 inches (aprx.) was going to be the toilet paper standard?
Also is this just a US standard or can I expect that my roll will fit in the any holder in Japan, UK, Mozambique or wherever I may travel.
I swear this is the most thought I have ever given to the stuff past the all important brand preference issue.
My hunch is that it’s a paper roll that’s intended for a different type of dispenser. Specifically, there are dispensers where the roll is mounted perpendicular to the wall and the dispenser is flush with the wall instead of being a protruding bracket.
The paper for those dispensers is narrow and I believe matches the description you give. I’m betting somebody in procurement ordered the wrong thing.
I have no speculation on the question of standardiztion, though…
Fun fact: toilet paper is not as standardized as you think. There are two common commercial widths: 4" and 4.5". The 4" version is increasingly common because, hey, cheaper.
Luckily the OP has rolls available. When I started with the Gov’mt (Post Office 1959), we had sheets of not so soft paper stacked in a dispenser. These sheets would reluctantly soak up water. Some employees brought their own rolls, for that “personal ease”. Maybe 2 years later we had rolls, and everyone was happier, except once when the supply guy slipped a decimal point and ordered 100 cases instead of 10. We had to store the dumb stuff until the supply depot could send labels for us to ship to other PO’s. Happy New Year to all the dopers !!
Im thinking I will bring in my own as well but the thought of walking in with a roll under my arm just does not sit well in my self image. (Vanity)
Mostly I just learned to hold it until I can get home.
Still though Im thinking there has to be some reason we settled on the 4 to 4.5 number rather than say 3 or 5. Well maybe 5 is too wide to be safely flushed.
Is there a TP Syndicate? Some Bog Roll Illuminati? Will the men in Black (tissue) be knocking on my door just for asking?
OK now Im just being silly… whats that soun…
The US government used to have its own special size of paper (8x10.5" vs normal letter size 8.5x11") so it would not surprise me if Uncle Sam had his own size of TP.
There is no mystery. It is all part of The Hidden Rip-off. You know, where manufacturers downsize the package but leave the price as before. Liquid containers quietly drop from 1 litre to 900 or 850 ml but the price doesn’t drop accordingly. Dry and frozen goods which used to be sold in 1 kg lots surreptitiously change to 900 or even 800 gm, again there is no corresponding drop in price. Have you ever seen an advert announcing “Buy Bloggo with the new improved lower size - same regular price as before”. Of course not. And your toilet paper rolls trimmed to the new and improved lower width - guess where the saved paper goes.
The Hidden Rip-off is an insidious, mercenary ploy that dupes the public - worldwide. Not only that, but it falsifies Government statistics on inflation. Prices appear to be stable when in fact households are buying more frequently to compensate for being short-changed.
I noticed the Great Toilet Paper Economy Act when traveling. Public restrooms are being stocked with HORRIBLE TP that is narrower and much thinner than TP has a right to be! It’s usually on this huge mongo roll, and the weight of the roll plus the fragility of the paper means you can only pull off a small pinch of paper.
Since the paper is so THIN, you need an incredible LENGTH of it to do a decent job of wiping! It’s about as absorbent as waxed paper, too.
If you don’t want to carry a roll of TP with you into the john, take a handful of Kleenex. Your tushie will thank you!
~VOW
Several years ago, a toilet tissue manufacturer (I don’t remember which one, sorry) actually included one of those spacers in their packaging to accomodate a bigger sized roll. Could it have been that one you were looking at? I don’t think the guv’mint would buy one-ply for all its assholes, do y’all? :)
The toilet paper cores, the inside cardboard rolls, are usually from 90 to 140 inches long. The TP is wound on these cores and then later the log is sliced into the individual widths. These individual rolls widths can be customized to any size.
Many of the various brands that you see in the store are actually made at the same facility and the specifications and packaging are changed to suit the needs of the end customer.
The OP is talking about a government building, though. In my experience, institutional buyers are fully aware of what you’re talking about. In regards to TP, they’re often the ones pushing for it. Thinner 1-ply paper has a lower volume of paper used compared to a wider 2-ply. Sure, people might compensate by using 20 sheets of paper instead of 6… but, again, the volume of paper used is lower, on average. Scott brand has even done studies on this, and they make sure their institutional buyers know it.
As for the rest of your comments on “the hidden rip-off” - to me, this seems like manufacturers give people what they want. As long as people want to pay $5/x lbs and not $x/1 pound, then manufacturers are doing what people want.
Sometimes when I’m at my Barnes & Noble and just can’t help it/hold it any longer, I’ll use the throne there. They have the large-diameter roll holder cases that hold (I’m guessing) 3-inch wide TP. Have to be very careful to avoid overwipe.
Thought I’d compare that with my tried and true(?) 1000-sheet per roll of Scott’s at home.
Well, the package says that the sheets are 4.0" x 4.5" but they are actually 4 3/16" wide (outer edge to outer edge) and 3 3/4" long.
Does that qualify for a (cl)ass action lawsuit?.
Oh, and they have gotten even thinner (thickness) recently. I use 6 layers vs. the former 4 to avoid poke-thru. .
[FONT=“Courier New”]WW-H-l911A
February 28, 1978
SUPERSEDING
Int. Fed. Spec. WW-H-001911A (GSA-FSS)
September 10, 1975 and
Fed. Spec. WW-P-541/8 (In Part) October 12, 1971 FEDERAL SPECIFICATION HOLDER, TOILET PAPER (SINGLE ROLL)
This specification was approved by the Commissioner, Federal Supply Service, General Services Administration, for the use of all Federal agencies.
SCOPE AND CLASSIFICATION
1.1 Scope. This specification covers three types of toilet paper holders.
1.2 Classification.
1.2.1 Types. Toilet paper holders furnished under this specification shall be of the following types as specified (see 6.2):
Type I - Roller mounted on two support brackets.
Type II - Roller mounted on single continuous bracket. Type III - Formed steel rod.[/FONT]
Sorry. Now that I’m thinking more clearly, the adaptor included allowed the toilet paper roll to drop down so the thicker roll could be accomodated in the existing holder. It replaced the existing plastic roller IOW.
What is the size of a sheet of toilet paper?
This is important! The size of a sheet of toilet paper may vary from one manufacturer to another. The standard size has always traditionally been 4.5″ x 4.5″.
However, in the last ten years manufacturers have come out with “cheater sheets”. These can run as small as 4″ x 3.8″! This means about 15% less paper. So don’t be confused by the advertisement that says “our roll of toilet paper is the cheapest”. It may be that theirs has less sheets and smaller size sheets. (More information on the standard size of toilet paper sheets).
The great site Dimensions Info has some stuff, including claiming that the “original” is 4.5"^2, because it is the size of a hand (??). No standard.
More on market games in the plaintive Is My Toilet Paper Shrinking?, from the toiletpaperworld blog.
You should find that if you measure all the rolls in the pack that some of them are longer and make up for the short rolls, so on average they come out to the correct dimensions. It’s easy to make all the rolls the same width but harder to keep them all the same length.
