- For the South Park episode, see Toilet Paper (South Park episode).
[[Imagepoopll, date roll, and ass wipe. "TP" is often used as a verb (we TP'ed the school principal's house) where it means throwing rolls of toilet paper over large objects (trees, cars, houses) to leave long streams of toilet paper fluttering in the breeze. In the 1970's Marion (The Mom) in Happy Days (with Ron Howard as Richie, and Henry Winkler as "the Fonz") would write only "TP" on her grocery list. There was an episode in which she sent her son Richie to the store for "TP" and was chided for her modesty. The 1990s animated series Beavis and Butt-Head frequently referred to toilet paper as "TP" ("I need TP for my bunghole"), and the terminology subsequently caught on among the general public. Toilet paper is also often used, due to its availability and absorbent properties, by school children to form wet missiles to throw at people, windows, walls or the ceiling (where it sticks, dries and sets, to the dismay of the janitors). Some practitioners refer to these missiles as "spidey tracers," in a nod to the webs slung by the comic book character Spider-Man (who ironically formulates his webbing to dissolve in an hour, so as to not leave a mess everywhere). In the late 1960s and 1970s, British football supporters would frequently respond to moments of excitement or frustration by hurling large numbers of toilet rolls from the stands on to the pitch. The resulting streamers often required clearing away to the sidelines before the game could proceed.
Novelty toilet paper, printed with text or images the user finds offensive, has been and is being marketed the world over to disparage various politicians, ideologies, nations or religions (for examples, see Manfred van H. and the timeline above).
Installation
There are two common methods of installing toilet paper rolls on a toilet roll holder. Often a matter of stern debate, and a contentious problem in households with opposing viewpoints (second only to the "toilet seat up/down" debate), the variances are mainly that of personal preference.
The first method of installation has the edge of the roll facing away from the wall and commonly facing the toilet (that is, overhand). This method allows the defecator easy access to grab the toilet paper and pull off the desired amount of paper, as the roll spins toward the user. This, in fact, is the protocol advocated by the toilet paper industry itself, including at Scott Paper's factory (the inventors of toilet paper in 1907). Since the industry designs toilet paper to be used overhand, designs that are patterned, quilted or printed upon toilet paper are found on the outside of the roll; i.e. so that it is displayed. In institutions where there is a defined protocol (e.g. Marriott, Holiday Inn/InterContinental Hotels, United Airlines, the U.S. Army), the "overhand" method is specified.
The second method of installation has the edge of the roll facing the wall and commonly facing away from the toilet (underhand). This method makes it a bit more difficult for the defecator to grab the toilet paper: as the roll spins, it spins away from the user. However, there is an advantage to this method in a household with toddlers, as is makes it less likely that toilet paper will spin off the roll. This is because a toddler is most likely to spin the roll toward himself (or herself). In the case of this installation, as the roll spins toward the toddler, the paper remains wound on the roll. Yet another advantage of this method is that when the toilet paper is folded directly from the roll, it allows the embossed or printed side of the paper to face out. Many modern toilet papers are advertised as being "quilted" or "embossed", so this method would let the user take full advantage of the un-printed or un-quilted side of the product (if that is what one prefers).
A third (but far less common) toilet paper installation method is to dispense without any roller mechanism at all, or use a vertical toilet roll holder.
A fourth method involves a portable roll dispenser that encloses the roll entirely. The roll is oriented vertically, and there is an opening on the top of the container. Before installing the roll into the portable roll dispenser, the cardboard core is removed. The paper is then extracted from the center rather than the edge.
Another method of dispensing the paper does not use a roll at all. Cut sheets are stacked in a dispenser, folded in such a way that removing a sheet causes the next sheet to protrude from the dispenser. This method has the advantage that it can be refilled at any time without waiting for the supply to run out completely (as would be the case with a roll) and is therefore popular in public buildings. It is also commonly used on rail transports where the motion of the train would cause a roll to rotate and cause a mess.
In terms of the debate, Kenn Fischburg, the President of www.ToiletPaperWorld.com states, "Many hotels install the toilet paper to pay out from over the top in order to make a nice pointed triangle on the end sheet. This points out to the user that someone cleaned the bathroom and paid attention to the 'finer' details. However, others feel that in a public facility it is best to install to pay out from underneath. In this way, the dispensing and tearing is more controlled and therefore less people will touch the roll of paper, therefore less cross contamination. Also, keeping the paper closer to the wall by dispensing from underneath provides a 'cleaner less intrusive' environment, especially in close quarters. Some dispensers have a top cover that helps the user pull and tear the paper. In this case the roll should be dispensed from the top allowing the user to 'pull up' on the paper and tear it easily. So, it depends on the dispenser, the location and the facility. However, the simple concern about the installation of the roll may have a deeper meaning and may be indicative of a different issue in the personality of the user. "
Limited Mobility
Those with limited mobility, or those with unusually short arms, such as commonly seen on people with achondroplasia, often find it helpful to wrap the toilet paper around a bottom wiper, which is a plastic instrument with a tong-like clasp at one end to accommodate the toilet paper and a long handle at the other to allow the person to reach his bottom. The person wraps the toilet paper several times around the clasp, and after wiping, can easily eject the toilet paper into the toilet without having to touch the paper. Folding bottom wipers are available, and can be easily stored or carried in a purse.
Fold or scrunch?
Another matter of personal preference is how to prepare the toilet paper for usage. The predominating methods are either to "fold" a number of sheets together, or to "scrunch" sheets into a loose ball, with "wrapping" the paper round the hand being somewhat less popular. The intensely private nature of the subject, coupled with the fact that the methodology is instilled at a very young age, means that a majority of the people are unaware that the difference exists (or have even thought about it), and may react with shock upon learning that their partner uses an alternative method.[1]
Anecdotal evidence [2] suggests that scrunching is more common in America, and folding more common in the UK, and that this difference informs the construction of toilet paper sold in the two markets.
Modern alternatives
In France, toilet sanitation was supplemented by the invention of the bidet in the 1710s. With the improvements to plumbing in the Victorian era the bidet moved from the bedroom (where it was kept with the chamber pot) to the bathroom. Modern bidets use a stream of warm water to cleanse the genitals and anus (before modern plumbing, bidets sometimes had a hand-crank to achieve the same effect). The bidet is commonplace in many European countries, especially in France and Italy, and also in Japan where approximately half of all households have a form of bidet. It is also very popular in the Middle East.
The first "paperless" toilet was invented in Japan in 1980. It is a combination toilet, bidet and drier, controlled by an electronic panel next to the toilet seat. This has famously led to tourists accidentally activating the bidet and causing a jet of water to shoot high into the air and spray all over the bathroom floor, usually a result of investigating the unfamiliar fixture's buttons, all labeled in Japanese (the fact that some toilets use a button on the same panel to flush exacerbated the problem). Many modern Japanese bidet toilets, especially in hotels and public areas, are labeled with pictograms to avoid the problem, and some newer models even have a sensor that will refuse to activate the bidet unless it detects someone actually sitting on the toilet.
Another popular alternative resembles a miniature shower and is termed as a "health faucet". It is placed on a holder near the toilet, thus enabling the person using it to have it within an arm's length for easy accessibility.
Other uses
In many South-east Asian nations it is common to see toilet paper used as a general purpose tissue in peoples homes and in restaurants. Higher end restaurants and family homes of the wealthy are more likely to use a western-world idea of tissue paper for blowing the nose or cleaning the hands at a meal, but otherwise the use of toilet paper for these purposes is common. Plastic holders for toilet paper are commonly used for this general purpose use: these usually take the form of an upside-down cup covering the toilet roll and slightly taller than the actual roll, with a hole in the top. There is a base to the holder too, to form a unit enclosing the paper. The loose end of the paper is poked through the hole and people then take their required amount of paper from the holder, tearing it off by hand at the perforations.
Pop Culture
In Beavis and Butthead, Beavis says "I need T.P. for my bunghole" when he's insane.
See also
References
- ^ "Toilet survey - how do you do yours?" Le-Monte, retrieved 9 June, 2006
- ^ "This Week - That's torn it" by Andy Coghlan, New Scientist, 10 June, 2000, retrieved 9 June, 2006
External links
- The World Famous Toilet Survey!
- Scruncher or Folder - Which one are you?
- Toilet paper facts on ToiletPaperWorld.com
- New Jersey's standard for government suppliers -- incl dimensions, ream weight, and Handle-o-Meter
- The virtual toilet paper museum. - Has new and vintage specimens of toilet paper.
- The History of Toilet Paper
- The Toilet Paper Roll Poll