Easy Questions?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Toilet paper in the UK consists of two layers of paper. Why don't they make it from one thicker layer?

This may require some experimentation: A thicker paper is used in kitchen paper towels and the the texture is similar.

Erm... try using it as toilet paper and you should get your answer.

[Griffin NoName]

No, kitchen paper is a different texture - coarser - and thicker than two sheets of toilet paper.

Actually, toilet paper in Turkey is more like kitchen paper..... but then they don't flush it.

[pieces o nine]

And some of you siblings wonder why others disappear for weeks at a time...

[Swatopluk]

No, kitchen paper is a different texture - coarser - and thicker than two sheets of toilet paper.

Actually, toilet paper in Turkey is more like kitchen paper..... but then they don't flush it.

Ever used toilet paper made in the Eastern Bloc? VEB Sandpap(i)er.

[Griffin NoName]

And some of you siblings wonder why others disappear for weeks at a time...

Nobody is forced to read this thread   

we must ensure the ability to enquire into all aspects of life on our planet 

No, kitchen paper is a different texture - coarser - and thicker than two sheets of toilet paper.

Actually, toilet paper in Turkey is more like kitchen paper..... but then they don't flush it.

Ever used toilet paper made in the Eastern Bloc? VEB Sandpap(i)er.

Hmm. Thinking further on this, the countries I have been to that have the coarser papers also have single layer papers. So perhaps combinging layers causes a corsening? Perhaps something to do with the fibres?

[Swatopluk]

Standard: the more layers, the more luxurious. I think only the US (and maybe Japan) go up to 4 layers.

This site may be of use:
http://encyclopedia.toiletpaperworld.com/

[Aggie]

What's wrong with using the Sears Catalogue, like our ancestors? (they had the non-glossy version)

(not sure if this was as popular with Americans, but y'all DO know why the Farmer's Almanac has a hole punched in the corner, right?)


I think that TP has to balance strength with softness; like with wood products, you can get away with using softer materials if you layer them up (softwood plywood), but to achieve the same strength for the same thickness in a single layer, you need to have good strong stock.  Softness is increased in the multi-layers because of the airspace between layers, I think, and also because weaker fibres can be used.

I grew up using an industrial-supply grade single-layer.  Paper towels seem luxurious by comparison. I recently looked at the economics of it and convinced my parents that cheap retail double-ply brands were actually a comparable deal (one tends to use more squares of a single-ply per use, so you can't price it on a sheet-to-sheet basis) and much less flaying. (Swato, I'm pretty sure that the grade I grew up on was comparable to Eastern Bloc TP - similar to newsprint, but thinner and more porous).

Double rolls (~400 sheets) of adequate 2-ply go for about $0.50 Canadian here when bought in semi-bulk (36 rolls).

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Hypothesis: more layers mean each layer is thinner therefore easier to leave particles.

I took a bit and started to move my fingers against each other with the paper in the middle and it didn't took long to start leaving tiny bits of paper on my fingers. It is possible that a thinner ply works in a way that may resemble a lubricant, hence feeling softer.

[Aggie]

Suggests that one will have more willknots from high-ply TP...

When dealing with industrial water conditioning, one classifies water conditions (hardness, pH, concentrations of certain dissolved elements) as scaling (leaves deposits) or corrosive (removes deposits and/or the original material of the processing equipment). I can confirm that single-ply industrial tends towards the latter.

Hmm, the Toadfish have historically stayed out of the toilet; are we unacceptably breaking any taboos?  Slap me with a trout if I cross any lines, because I can honestly state that nothing here is outside of what I'd be comfortable discussing at the breakfast-table (and would extend that back two generations on my mother's side, if my maternal grandparents were still living).

[Opsa]

Let me go on record as saying it was high time we brought up the subject of toilet paper texture, thickness, price and nationality here. And Turkish potties. What indeed is a monastery for, if not this sort of winsome conversation?

Being a New Englander, I tend to prefer one-ply Scot tissue, in white only. No frou-frou puffy TP for me, nosirree! It has to be strong and straightforward and no nonsense. And none of those little crocheted potty dolls for me, either! When I do my business, I mean business.

_{Did I say that out loud?!}

[Griffin NoName]

Is it always good to have an enquiring mind?

[Swatopluk]

The first in-depth study on different 'ass-wipes' can be found in Rabelais' Gargantua. Whether he actually conducted the experimental studies is in doubt though.

[Aggie]

I suspect the price of a goose has risen substantially in the past few centuries.
_{and what do you wipe up all the goose shit with?}



The chapter in question is priceless. 

[Pachyderm]

The "TP" we used to get issued in our ration packs was smooth, glossy and best used as tracing paper for making maps.

The trooper who remembered to heat seal a roll of Andrex in a binbag was everybody's bestest friend....

[Griffin NoName]

We had tracing paper at home for years after everyone else had changed to softie cos my Dad didn't believe in pandering to our requests for relief.