Back in the day toilet paper came in packages of 4 rolls. That’s how it was for as far back as I can remember ('60’s) and up until maybe the '90’s. Then they came out with packages of 6 rolls, then the rolls were “double” in size and in packages of 12 or more. The last package I bought says, " MEGA ROLLS 1 roll = 4 regular rolls" and it’s a package of 6 rolls! I remember buying just one package of 4 rolls every week back in the '80’s. I look at those “regular” 4 roll measly packages now and think, “how did we not run out of TP back then when we had 2 kids in the house?” We never did tho. What happened? Is everyone using more TP or is everyone pooping more than we ever did before? I use “we” as in all of us humans.
That Mega roll package I bought is presumably the same as 24 regular rolls. Obviously, it will last longer than a week but I find it hard to believe it will last 6 weeks. I guess I don’t pay attention to how long a package lasts now. I just buy it when we’re close to running out.
Go back in time and you’ll find that today’s “regular roll” is only half the size of what it used to be. In particular, the central tube is now much larger, so each roll looks bigger but actually has fewer sheets. The “MEGA ROLL” contains 4x the sheets of today’s “regular roll” but back in the day, it would advertise itself as being only 2x bigger than what used to be regular.
Come to think, I don’t remember seeing “regular” rolls in a while – only the doubles and the megas. Recently I accidentally bought the doubles (instead of the Megas) by mistake; man, they were puny. A pack of eight rolls only lasted two weeks. :smack:
When shopping for toilet paper, it pays to read the label. Roll labels (double, mega, etc.) vary in meaning. Look for the total square feet on the package. Price divided by square feet will get you the unit price in cents per square feet.
Some people say cheaper TP is uncomfortable. I figure it’s like playing a guitar. It’s better after the calluses build up.
Yes, you’re correct. I always do this if I plan on buying something different. I go by number of sheets. The numbers are all over the place. I’ve just resigned myself to buying the giant crate of TP at Sam’s Club.
I actually looked one time in the supermarket; some were unit priced by sq ft & some were unit priced per piece, which made the unit price comparison useless. I forget which was which but I did notice the store brand was the one that was different; no doubt to obfuscate that it really wasn’t (much) less expensive than the name brands.
While we’re at it, how come there’s just one style of roll for home use but different types for commercial use? Some are regular rolls, some have those really big rolls, where the cardboard tube is 3-4" in diameter & a new roll is a foot or more across. Where I work now, the building has rectangles interfolded into squares, such that pulling one out pulls out the next one (kind of like tissue boxes). Have you ever seen anything other than the roughly 1" cardboard tube in someone’s house (or hotel room)?
When I was very little, the older kids in the family would go on field trips to a paper mill. One thing that they all had to do was buy boxes of TP for real cheap at the plant and bring it home. Then we moved so I never had to do this. (whew)
One company I used to work for, the guy responsible for purchasing supplies was a notorious cheapskate. I used to ask him if he got a special discount by ordering the TP directly from 3M.
Does anybody like the TP you find at large institutions like airports and hospitals? It comes on a giant roll about 10 inches in diameter, locked inside a plastic housing. It has no perforations and has the texture of notebook paper, with no absorbency. I hate that shit.
Unless there was a joke there that went over my head, I’m guessing he/she doesn’t use TP because he/she uses a bidet. But even when I had the surprising pleasure to use a bidet for a week on vacation, I still followed up the soothing warm water wash with a couple of swipes of TP. Just to be sure all was clean, and to dry off the ejection port.
But, yeah, like others mention, a “roll” isn’t a longstanding unit of measure. I don’t really pay much attention, just grab the huge package of Sam’s Club brand every couple of months.
The cardboard tubes haven’t gotten larger and the width of the rolls has not gotten narrower. I have toilet paper than barely fits into the paper holder.
Awhile back I was comparing packages of TP in the store and looked closely at the “double size” rolls and regular size from the same company. The regular sized had 220 4X4 sheets per roll, and the “double sized” one (16 = 32) had 260 4X4 sheets per roll. So, nowhere near double sized. I still have the pictures I took and posted on Facebook to point this out.
