# Why is toilet paper always measured in bizarre non-euclidean formats?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 22, 2020, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331 "2020-04-22T10:30:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/21 "2020-04-23T17:05:38Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#):
>
> I honestly don’t think the number of square feet is a helpful measure. Nobody uses 3/4 or 7/16 of a sheet of toilet paper. They use toilet paper in full sheet quantities (unless one accidentally rips).
It’s useful when comparing prices. As the OP said, it’s confusing comparing different types of toilet paper because there definitions of “mega”, etc. are all over the place. But when shopping I calculate price/square foot so I can tell which package is really the cheapest (of the brands I’m interested in).
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### Author:  [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/22 "2020-04-24T18:28:35Z")
The double roll/mega roll etc. thing can be deliberately misleading.
A few years ago I noticed that in the store I was in the double rolls were displayed right next to the regular rolls. The double rolls had large print on the front that proudly proclaimed 32 double rolls = 64 regular rolls. Both types had smaller print at the bottom giving both the square footage and the sheet count per roll.
Regular rolls: 220 sheets per roll.
Double rolls: 264 sheets per roll. Nowhere near double.
Doing a little math revealed that the regular rolls were considerably cheaper than the “double” rolls.
To be fair, this was only one brand, and other brands they carried had double rolls that were really twice the size.
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/23 "2020-04-24T19:44:52Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#):
>
> Doing a little math revealed that the regular rolls were considerably cheaper than the “double” rolls.
>
> To be fair, this was only one brand, and other brands they carried had double rolls that were really twice the size.
In comparing prices like this, you have the other variable also: the number of rolls in the package. Is the 12-pack or 24-pack or 36-pack the best deal (for each individual roll size)?
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### Author:  [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2020, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/24 "2020-04-25T04:29:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#):
>
> In comparing prices like this, you have the other variable also: the number of rolls in the package. Is the 12-pack or 24-pack or 36-pack the best deal (for each individual roll size)?
I calculated the cost per sheet, not just which package cost more.
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### Author:  [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2020, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/25 "2020-04-25T06:06:28Z")
Okay, I did some ciphering.
When the run on TP began I had 2 rolls and a 9 pack of my preferred brand “9 Mega rolls = 36 regular rolls”.
After the run eased off a bit just to be covered I picked up a 9 pack of the house brand version of my preferred brand. Same “9 Mega rolls = 36 regular rolls”. Both were 2 ply and seemingly triple rolls according to the label. I did my math with the numbers on the label.
House Brand
9 rolls bathroom tissue \* 484 2-ply sheets per roll
4 in x 4 in \* 484 total sq ft
4 in x 4 in = 16 in^2 = 1.33 sq ft, right?
1.33 sq ft x 484 sheets = 648 sq ft, yes?
So… a single roll is 648 sq ft/3 rolls = 216 sq ft per roll.
Preferred Brand
9 Rolls \* 407.5 sq ft
429 sheets per roll \* 3.8 in x 4.0 in
3.8 in x 4.0 in = 15.1 sq in = 1.25 sq ft. yes?
1.25 sq ft x 429 sheets = 536.25 sq ft
536.25 sq ft / 3 rolls = 178.75 sq ft per roll
Considering that house brands are usually less expensive than name brands and the 37.25 sq ft difference, I’ll continue to buy the house brand.
So there!
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/26 "2020-04-25T06:42:10Z")
Isn’t one of the constraints that the roll _has_ to fit in a standard holder, no matter how thick the sheets are or how many there are? So there are goals that are fighting against one another: the thicker the paper, the fewer sheets you can get in a roll of the same size. I know that we get some rolls that are too big to fit in our old ceramic holder that is built into the bathroom wall…
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### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/27 "2020-04-25T21:38:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#):
>
> For example, did you ever have a roll of TP where the two (or more) plies got separated and the outer ply unwrapped one more turn off the roll than the inner ply?
Sometimes they reunite. Other times, one ply wanders out of the house and onto the highway, where it is sometimes transported to a different city and reality entirely.
Some just lay low, hoping to decompose in peace. Others are driven to give in to their inner artist. Some become famous painters or opera singers.
Others found a rock band.
Thus we are given Ply And The Family Stone.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/28 "2020-04-25T23:20:16Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#):
>
> Thus we are given Ply And The Family Stone.
:: thwacks **Cartooniverse** with a wet trout ::
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/29 "2020-05-01T16:44:12Z")
I haven’t understood what’s “non-euclidean” about counting sheets.
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### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/30 "2020-05-01T18:11:10Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> :: thwacks **Cartooniverse** with a wet trout ::
–Beaming–
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-toilet-paper-always-measured-in-bizarre-non-euclidean-formats/852331/31 "2020-05-02T00:03:03Z")
> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> I haven’t understood what’s “non-euclidean” about counting sheets.
I’m not aware that Euclid ever discussed the counting of toilet paper sheets. That’s why the subject is non-Euclidean.
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