# Toilet rolls: front hanging or back hanging? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 17, 2001, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308 "2001-03-17T00:46:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Screwtape](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Screwtape](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Screwtape)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/21 "2001-03-18T00:09:42Z")
Back-hanging, thereby foiling the attempts of Mrs. Peel (the Cat) to put it all on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![IndignantSarcasm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@IndignantSarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IndignantSarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/22 "2001-03-18T02:30:04Z")
Definitly front hanging… just drives me crazy if it’s any other way, doesnt matter whose house I go to, it get switched if need be. But now that I have entered college. I have discovered the true evils of the round dispencer cases mounted on the wall with the sharp metal “convenient” tearing edge where you can cut the flesh off your arm trying to reach up in there to find the end of the paper. Shouldnt those things be illegal? who’s with me! ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/23 "2001-03-18T04:36:50Z")
I hereby declare “wubbley wubbley wubbley wubbley wubbley” to be the official text representation for the sound that toilet paper rolls make when unfurling wildly out of control. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/24 "2001-03-18T05:15:09Z")
Front, no ifs ands or buts about it. Especially at a party or in a public place. Then you aren’t fumbling for the roll, putting your hands on hard surfaces where other’s have put theres. Oh and not to mention it’s easier to roll and rip. I am one of those that uses more than I should because I can’t stand the idea of getting pee or poo on my hands. eeeewww even thinking about it grosses me out. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/25 "2001-03-18T05:18:25Z")
> [@](#): > > other’s have put theres SHEESH er “others have put their’s” \< slapping self because I have been doing this all day! \> ---
**Author:** ![Theobroma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@Theobroma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theobroma)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/26 "2001-03-18T05:37:47Z")
Gotta start previewing them posts. I meant I have to put the TP unrolling _FRONT_ to keep my marriage on-track. I put “unrolling BACK,” probably a typewritten manifestation of a deeply-felt wish. (If only he liked unrolling BACK better…_sigh_…) ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/27 "2001-03-18T05:57:55Z")
Front-hanging. ---
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/28 "2001-03-18T06:14:48Z")
Badea. (I spelled that wrong… right? right?) ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/29 "2001-03-18T06:24:29Z")
Front hanging so you can see the pretty print! And I always get my way, because not one person in my household can replace a roll of toilet paper on the spindle. The skill eludes them. They are TP challenged. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/30 "2001-03-18T06:31:15Z")
Front hanging! Didn’t Ann Landers have a war in her column over this very question a few years back? And didn’t she end up forbidding anyone from ever writing about the subject again? Why is this so important to people? ---
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/31 "2001-03-18T09:01:32Z")
Well, my unofficial, and admittedly alchohol impaired survey of this thread (at the time of posting) shows: Front hang) 12 Back hang) 6 Other) 3 (meaning roll upright on dispenser or counter) So, it seems the front hang people are in the majority, but I am sure I will get shit about this crappy survey 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/32 "2001-03-18T10:41:04Z")
Toilet paper? What’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Evnglion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@Evnglion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evnglion)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/33 "2001-03-18T11:20:04Z")
I am a strong believer in my tradiotion of front-hanging the TP. The worst, however, are the side hanging ones you can fins in some public bathrooms. The angle for ripping the paper on the perferation is very awkward, and never seems to work the way you want it to. Front hangers will eventually cover the earth as the back hangers begin to go extinct with the induction of the larger, 3-ply and 4-ply toilet paper hits the market…only then can these stubborn-minded people be converted… ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/34 "2001-03-18T13:26:46Z")
Front hanging is the evolutionarily correct way to go. Back hangers will die out when more and more of them fail to attract mates. As for the cat issue, fortunately my cat doesn’t mess with the TP, but she has plenty of other weird habits to make up for that. We used to have another cat who would spin the roll onto the floor. When we were forced to hang the roll backwards (I am ashamed to admit that I, too, was a backwards uncultured serf), she eventually discovered, after much fruitless spinning, that she could have just as much fun shredding the whole goddamned thing, thus making it entirely useless. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/35 "2001-03-18T14:26:05Z")
Both! Why? It’s simple. In the main toilet, there is a standard toilet roll holder on the wall. This is where I prefer the back method of mounting a toilet roll. However, the other toilet is in the bathroom, located between the shower and the sink. Therefore, there is no wall to hang a toilet roll holder on. This situation was very annoying, and I couldn’t find an alternative in the stores, so I went to my father and explained my idea to him. Using his incredible skill with wood, my father made a free standing toilet roll holder for my bathroom. The only drawback is that when you hang the sheet to the back, it tends to drop down the wrong side of the holder. I have actually put some work into this, and built a toilet roll holder page for you to look at so you can see my father’s woodworking skills, and understand what I mean about the paper getting lost. 🙂 The link is [http://www.mbtree.com/trh.htm](http://www.mbtree.com/trh.htm) In conclusion, this household has a front-hanging toilet and a back-hanging toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/36 "2001-03-18T22:13:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cazzle \* > \*\* I have actually put some work into this, and built a toilet roll holder page for you to look at so you can see my father’s woodworking skills, and understand what I mean about the paper getting lost. 🙂 The link is [http://www.mbtree.com/trh.htm](http://www.mbtree.com/trh.htm) > \*\* …um…_okaay…_ Aside from that, I firmly believe that toilet paper configeration says much about a person’s psyche. Us front hangers are honest, open and full of confidence. Those who ‘hang the other way’ have dark souls. Side hanging is not an option. Unless the roll is exactly perpendicular (is that the right word? Uh, well, I suppose you cannot know since that’s the only word you have to go on) to the user, one side of the toilet roll will be facing towards you. Therefore the roll will still be either front hanging or (urgh) back hanging. Interestingly, I’ve also asked others this question and I’ve never been given the reply “it doesn’t matter”. Find me another question which gets such a definite reply from everybody asked? (Don’t believe anyone who says this. They are lying. Hiding they are; hiding in a world of back hanging depravity…) ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/37 "2001-03-19T07:15:20Z")
Front hanger. And if I go poop in a house which has it’s TP back hanging I always become a good Sam and hang it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/38 "2001-03-19T15:05:13Z")
To all you people who would change my properly back-hanging toilet paper: stay the fuck out of my bathroom. When the roll is still relatively full, it tends to become stuffed against the wall and/or difficult to, well, _roll_. If the TP is hanging in the front of a full roll, I either have to carefully roll the toilet paper down before tearing or else suffer the humiliation of having the toilet paper tear in my hands, yielding a piece no larger than a post-it note. Back hanging presents no such problem: just give the roll a good spin and tear. > [@](#): > > Us front hangers are honest, open and full of confidence. I beg to differ. The typical front-hanger experiences little except self-loathing and fear, convinced of the fact that everything in this world must fit into a neat little box, when it clearly does not (hence the fear). > [@](#): > > Then you aren’t fumbling for the roll, putting your hands on hard surfaces where other’s have put theirs. Well we wouldn’t want to do _that_. How do open doors? Sorry, everyone. I just get ticked off when my roommates (who _never_ change the fucking toilet paper) switch it to front-hanging. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/39 "2001-03-19T16:03:21Z")
IF you’d just put the blasted roll on the side just like your paper towel holder, it wouldn’t matter if it was front or back, see? ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308/40 "2001-03-19T16:56:09Z")
And don’t get me started on you god damned paper towel Nazis. . . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-rolls-front-hanging-or-back-hanging/58308.md?page=3)