# Toilet Paper **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451 "2011-02-24T14:49:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/21 "2011-02-24T18:29:31Z")
I just want to say that I just can’t believe that people argue about this. It’s just so mundane! I’ll care about the way toilet paper is hung when we’ve cured cancer, ended hunger, and achieved world peace. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/22 "2011-02-24T18:38:11Z")
It depends if you have cats that like to play with the TP roll. Assuming the cat’s paws spin the roll in a downward direction, if it comes down from the front, the cat can spin the roll until all of the toilet paper comes off. If it comes down from behind, it’s nearly impossible to claw the paper off the roll. Next: dogs and toilets, and why it’s preferable to keep the lid closed. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/23 "2011-02-24T18:40:18Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Try the search function. This his been discussed numerous times, including many polls. Since, as you alluded, there is no real answer and it’s subject to preference, try the IMHO forum, as opposed to GQ. > > ETA: Here’s a recent thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=587788&highlight=toilet+paper](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=587788&highlight=toilet+paper) There is so a real answer - every poll, even ones done by the TP manufacturers themselves, shows that better than 80% of people hang paper over the top, and that proves that the others are deviants (who often blame their cats for their abnormal behavior). Can’t get much clearer than that. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/24 "2011-02-24T18:54:53Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > I’ll care about the way toilet paper is hung when we’ve … ended hunger… Yeah, I can see it being a lot more relevant then. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/25 "2011-02-24T18:56:25Z")
I think front is best because you can see the end more easily. Also, if you have to search for the end by turning the roll it does not head to the floor as much. Having said that, I personally leave the roll installed and keep a loose roll nearby for my own use. The one on the roller become just for show. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/26 "2011-02-24T19:02:42Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Sitting on top of the toilet tank. Yeah, my answer to these threads is always: I have solved the problem by never hanging it in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/27 "2011-02-24T19:27:19Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > There actually is a way to figure this out. Get yourself a couple of different rolls of patterned TP from various manufacturers (either printed or embossed patterns.) See which way they look “right” when you unroll them. If they all look right when unrolled in the same way, then that’s how the manufacturers have decided they should hang. > > If, OTOH, one pattern looks right when unrolled from the front, and another looks right when unrolled from the back, then the manufacturers are being arbitrary, and you can, too. > > Coming up next: aluminum foil, shiny or dull side? Followed by automotive gas caps, on the right or the left? Actually, if you look at fancy patterned TP, you always need to have it with the paper over top in order for the pattern to be right side up. That is enough to settle it for me. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/28 "2011-02-24T19:39:26Z")
If you want to pull 3-4 squares off the roll at once, that’s pretty easy to do when the paper goes over the top. When it hangs down behind the roll, the paper has to practically touch the floor before you can reach the point where you can break off that much. That’s mildly irritating at home, but who wants to use TP that’s dragged the floor of an institutional bathroom? Another thing: in the bathroom (in ours, at least), TP doubles as facial tissue: they’re close enough to being the same thing, so why also have a box of Kleenex taking up space on top of the tank? If the TP goes over the top, it’s easy to grab a few squares off if you need to blow your nose while standing at the sink. If it hangs down behind the roll, you’ve got to crouch way down to do so. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/29 "2011-02-25T05:44:03Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > God doesn’t use toilet paper. Cite? (Does this have anything to do with the Pope shitting in the woods?) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/30 "2011-02-25T07:10:32Z")
He uses rabbits. ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/31 "2011-02-25T12:54:00Z")
The only proper way is to let the roll sit on the toilet tank. Like that. No need for fancy device. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/32 "2011-02-25T12:56:36Z")
It has to hang over the top of the roll. If it comes out from under the roll, the loose end hangs closer to the wall, increasing the probability that a contaminated hand could smear feces on the wall while grabbing the sheet. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451/33 "2011-02-25T20:19:18Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > There is so a real answer - every poll, even ones done by the TP manufacturers themselves, shows that better than 80% of people hang paper over the top, and that proves that the others are deviants (who often blame their cats for their abnormal behavior). Can’t get much clearer than that. Is this surveying Americans? You know, the group where 50+% believe in creationism? And 75% can’t find Europe on a map? Seems to me that if 80% of American’s really do prefer TP hanging down in front, odds are about 50/50 that the right way is the other way. Now if the question was “Which way is more popular?”, then you’ve got a winning point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper/572451.md?page=1)