Rolls / Person / Week
March 19, 2020 8:30 PM Subscribe
So, just how many rolls of Toilet Paper do you use in a week? How do we quantify regular rolls vs. super-rolls to assess this accurately?
Inspired by comments in this thread. > zinful: "9 rolls a week? We went through 10-12 a week at the last high volume cafe I worked at. What even."
Inspired by comments in this thread. > zinful: "9 rolls a week? We went through 10-12 a week at the last high volume cafe I worked at. What even."
Best answer: It varies depending what kind of TP... there's the cheapy single-ply kind that comes in biggish rolls, and there's the cushy multi-ply kind that comes in smallish rolls. I've been in households where one of those cushy small rolls was used up in a day.
With the cheapy single-ply kind, our household probably uses 1 roll/person/week (or maybe a little less).
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:41 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
With the cheapy single-ply kind, our household probably uses 1 roll/person/week (or maybe a little less).
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:41 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The average Australian uses 2 rolls a week. (Someone is clearly using way more than me.)
posted by freethefeet at 8:51 PM on March 19, 2020
posted by freethefeet at 8:51 PM on March 19, 2020
Best answer: 2 rolls/week!?! I have a stockpile of a dozen rolls (not packs), and I expect that will last me six months. Probably longer ...
posted by GeeEmm at 9:02 PM on March 19, 2020
posted by GeeEmm at 9:02 PM on March 19, 2020
Best answer: 1-1.5 rolls per week. If I buy the thicker rolls though they last a lot longer, obvs. Also I work outside the house, go to a gym etc which reduces use by half or more I'd imagine.
posted by fshgrl at 9:15 PM on March 19, 2020
posted by fshgrl at 9:15 PM on March 19, 2020
Best answer: Women obviously use more than men. I use ~2 rolls per week while my boyfriend uses about half of that.
posted by irisclara at 9:24 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by irisclara at 9:24 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: also, this is not to shame anybody. People have all sorts of reasons and needs and shouldn't have to justify.
posted by theora55 at 9:26 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 9:26 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I'm in the boonies and have a septic system. Single-ply is getting harder to find in general, not just now. Septic repair is unpleasantly expensive, but *needing* septic repair is really not something you want to experience. 1 - 2 rolls a week.
posted by theora55 at 9:46 PM on March 19, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 9:46 PM on March 19, 2020 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I usually buy this 48 roll package. My order history shows that I buy it about every two months. I'm a single woman living alone.
On refresh - once you're involving a septic tank all bets are off, though this brand seems to be in the top 10 for septic tanks.
posted by bendy at 9:50 PM on March 19, 2020 [4 favorites]
On refresh - once you're involving a septic tank all bets are off, though this brand seems to be in the top 10 for septic tanks.
posted by bendy at 9:50 PM on March 19, 2020 [4 favorites]
Best answer: TMI.
2800 sheets per roll. 9 squares total per use 3 sets of 3 squares (folded over into a square), one for the bulk, one for the remainder, one to polish. Let's just say 2x per day for the occasional nose blowing.
155 days per roll. And that's the good stuff.
Long time bidet user.... it's 2 squares for a bit of blot dry and ~700 days per roll.
I clearly don't get how people can use so much toilet paper. Oh, guy for reference.
posted by zengargoyle at 10:06 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
2800 sheets per roll. 9 squares total per use 3 sets of 3 squares (folded over into a square), one for the bulk, one for the remainder, one to polish. Let's just say 2x per day for the occasional nose blowing.
155 days per roll. And that's the good stuff.
Long time bidet user.... it's 2 squares for a bit of blot dry and ~700 days per roll.
I clearly don't get how people can use so much toilet paper. Oh, guy for reference.
posted by zengargoyle at 10:06 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I use about 3.5 packages of Kirkland toilet paper per year. I know because my mom buys me a year's supply for Christmas every year.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:11 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:11 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
If only I had a penguin..., would that be "Kirkland Signature Bath Tissue, 2-Ply, 425 sheets, 30 rolls," "Kirkland Signature Ultra Soft Bath Tissue, 36 Rolls 2-Ply Wide Sheet Size - 4.5" x 4.0" / 231 Sheets per Roll / 36 rolls per case", or something else on offer at Costco?
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:24 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:24 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
My girlfriend will just use... so... much.......
Like the amount that would last me a month in a weekend.
Baffling, but I’ve had to make my peace with it. Also my special sodium lauryl sulfate free toothpaste I see just huge globes and oh god no one could possibly need that much shampoo?!???!!?
But yeah, I’d buy a thing that’s like 27 or 32 equivalent rolls in 9 and then not think about it for seriously 4-6 months previously. Now it’s is she staying over and am I prepared.
Perfect woman and I am utterly in love. Huge glutton apparently too. Literally only went and got another 27 roll but debated between 32 last Thursday because I figured she would eliminate waste me out of house and home.
Again, she’s the most perfect woman and I really mean that.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:25 PM on March 19, 2020 [4 favorites]
Like the amount that would last me a month in a weekend.
Baffling, but I’ve had to make my peace with it. Also my special sodium lauryl sulfate free toothpaste I see just huge globes and oh god no one could possibly need that much shampoo?!???!!?
But yeah, I’d buy a thing that’s like 27 or 32 equivalent rolls in 9 and then not think about it for seriously 4-6 months previously. Now it’s is she staying over and am I prepared.
Perfect woman and I am utterly in love. Huge glutton apparently too. Literally only went and got another 27 roll but debated between 32 last Thursday because I figured she would eliminate waste me out of house and home.
Again, she’s the most perfect woman and I really mean that.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:25 PM on March 19, 2020 [4 favorites]
If only I had a penguin..., would that be "Kirkland Signature Bath Tissue, 2-Ply, 425 sheets, 30 rolls,"
I believe this is the one.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 11:17 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
I believe this is the one.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 11:17 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My partner and I buy the 2-ply 'jumbo' rolls, which I believe are equivalent to two 2-ply regular length rolls. We go through less than one a week at home, though of course I sometimes need to use the bathroom during the 40 hours a week I'm not at home as well, so I assume overall I use roughly one regular length 2-ply roll a week.
posted by BeeJiddy at 11:18 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by BeeJiddy at 11:18 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: People who have periods use a LOT extra for about a week a month.
Also (forgive the TMI) but it probably depends on your fibre intake etc, as some people hardly have anything to wipe away when they do a poo, and others have a lot.
posted by lollusc at 3:19 AM on March 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
Also (forgive the TMI) but it probably depends on your fibre intake etc, as some people hardly have anything to wipe away when they do a poo, and others have a lot.
posted by lollusc at 3:19 AM on March 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
Best answer: 1 a week normally, but 2-3 a week if I'm menstruating.
posted by hasna at 4:10 AM on March 20, 2020
posted by hasna at 4:10 AM on March 20, 2020
Best answer: Added new toilet paper roll on spindle Sunday... had IBS episode... included used facial tissue as "padding" with t.p. to conserve supply... lots of hand washing... included Tuck's Medicated Pads for reasons... warm washcloth... repeat as needed....
New roll on spindle early Tuesday morning.
Thank the Good Lord my daughter and her boyfriend came through with a bundle of Member's Mark (45 MegaRolls!) from Sam's Warehouse. Of course, we were down to our last nine-roll packet when things went sideways globally.
So... 2 to 3 rolls in the main bathroom for me, 2-ish for my husband in the master bathroom.
posted by TrishaU at 4:28 AM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
New roll on spindle early Tuesday morning.
Thank the Good Lord my daughter and her boyfriend came through with a bundle of Member's Mark (45 MegaRolls!) from Sam's Warehouse. Of course, we were down to our last nine-roll packet when things went sideways globally.
So... 2 to 3 rolls in the main bathroom for me, 2-ish for my husband in the master bathroom.
posted by TrishaU at 4:28 AM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I have a family of 5 and we go through about a roll a day. My teen boy uses the most. I DO NOT ASK.
posted by warriorqueen at 4:30 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by warriorqueen at 4:30 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
OP, I presume you have seen the threads about septic systems, and the advice that NOTHING should go down the sewer unless it is one of the three Ps - pee, poo, and (toilet) paper. No pads, wipes, condoms - nothing. I have an AWTS, the first stage of which is a traditional septic tank - in 25+ years use it is only about 25% full of toilet paper residue, looks like it will see me out without a pump-out. If you have a large multi-person household, you may have a different experience, but limiting the bulk of the tp used is a good start.
posted by GeeEmm at 4:31 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by GeeEmm at 4:31 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
Best answer: 2800 sheets per roll.
[...]
I clearly don't get how people can use so much toilet paper.
Er - does it help your understanding to know that the toilet rolls currently in my bathroom, perfectly ordinary Andrex toilet roll as (usually!) found in British supermarkets everywhere, have 160 sheets per roll?
I don't know how long it takes me (female) to get through one, but strongly suspect I'm using at least 2-3 a week. I'm a little afraid to know for sure.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 4:33 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
[...]
I clearly don't get how people can use so much toilet paper.
Er - does it help your understanding to know that the toilet rolls currently in my bathroom, perfectly ordinary Andrex toilet roll as (usually!) found in British supermarkets everywhere, have 160 sheets per roll?
I don't know how long it takes me (female) to get through one, but strongly suspect I'm using at least 2-3 a week. I'm a little afraid to know for sure.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 4:33 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
My girlfriend will just use... so... much.......
Like the amount that would last me a month in a weekend.
Baffling, but I’ve had to make my peace with it.
Both my wife and our daughter (when she lived with us) were notorious for regularly plugging the toilet with so. much. tp. It was unfathomable to me how one could use so much in one sitting.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:59 AM on March 20, 2020
Like the amount that would last me a month in a weekend.
Baffling, but I’ve had to make my peace with it.
Both my wife and our daughter (when she lived with us) were notorious for regularly plugging the toilet with so. much. tp. It was unfathomable to me how one could use so much in one sitting.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:59 AM on March 20, 2020
Best answer: The amount of toilet paper we have in our house would last single me six months to a year, I'm guessing. We're two blocks from a Walgreen's drug store and 2 miles from an Amazon warehouse, so I've never fretted much about access to TP. Until now, I guess.
My wife, for obvious reasons, has more frequent need for toilet paper, but part of the reason we go through so much toilet paper is that she refuses to use the roll that's hanging on the dispenser on the wall for reasons I have never understood. So she'll reach for an additional roll when there's a perfectly good one inches away on her right. I've given up on quietly putting away the extra roll every time I see it, so we just always have two rolls going.
Between the 1.5 bathrooms in our home, we have about 30 rolls.
posted by emelenjr at 5:05 AM on March 20, 2020
My wife, for obvious reasons, has more frequent need for toilet paper, but part of the reason we go through so much toilet paper is that she refuses to use the roll that's hanging on the dispenser on the wall for reasons I have never understood. So she'll reach for an additional roll when there's a perfectly good one inches away on her right. I've given up on quietly putting away the extra roll every time I see it, so we just always have two rolls going.
Between the 1.5 bathrooms in our home, we have about 30 rolls.
posted by emelenjr at 5:05 AM on March 20, 2020
Best answer: Both my wife and our daughter (when she lived with us) were notorious for regularly plugging the toilet with so. much. tp. It was unfathomable to me how one could use so much in one sitting.
posted by Thorzdad
The last time I had a really bad IBS episode I was at a Wal-Mart Supercenter for three hours. Hot and cold running water, toilets that flush, stalls that lock, multiple stalls. The option to get out of the bathroom and walk around until things sorted themselves out. No one knocking on the door after 15 minutes asking, "Are you alright?"
The alternatives were --
A) The job site on the lake, in a winterized trailer, using 10-gallon buckets of water to flush an unreliable toilet, with my husband down the hall. I can go through a 10-gallon bucket in an hour during a normal IBS episode (30 minutes to an hour).
B) The trailer park clubhouse, which is open all night and has two bathrooms that stay functional all year. Hence going to the Supercenter for more privacy, since the lights are not normally on at midnight.
C) The trailer park bathhouses, which are closed from late autumn to early spring. They are supposedly open now, but my husband found no toilet paper in the stalls this week.
posted by TrishaU at 5:17 AM on March 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad
The last time I had a really bad IBS episode I was at a Wal-Mart Supercenter for three hours. Hot and cold running water, toilets that flush, stalls that lock, multiple stalls. The option to get out of the bathroom and walk around until things sorted themselves out. No one knocking on the door after 15 minutes asking, "Are you alright?"
The alternatives were --
A) The job site on the lake, in a winterized trailer, using 10-gallon buckets of water to flush an unreliable toilet, with my husband down the hall. I can go through a 10-gallon bucket in an hour during a normal IBS episode (30 minutes to an hour).
B) The trailer park clubhouse, which is open all night and has two bathrooms that stay functional all year. Hence going to the Supercenter for more privacy, since the lights are not normally on at midnight.
C) The trailer park bathhouses, which are closed from late autumn to early spring. They are supposedly open now, but my husband found no toilet paper in the stalls this week.
posted by TrishaU at 5:17 AM on March 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
Best answer: My ordering history tells me I get a new 96 pack about every ten months, so the math works out to about 2.25 rolls weekly for our two person (one man and woman) household.
posted by obfuscation at 5:38 AM on March 20, 2020
posted by obfuscation at 5:38 AM on March 20, 2020
Best answer: 1-2 rolls a week here in a household of two, using 2 play recycled paper toilet paper. People wondering how women use so much toilet paper, we have to clean the whole damn area & it's full of nooks & crannies. Then cleaning up after periods uses a lot of toilet paper. Combine Periods with period poops and you have a level of blood & poop mixed chaos that can often require a LOT of paper.
My inlaws go through 4 or 5 but they use that 15 ply, old growth forest long fibre having so soft it dissolves when wet so you need handfuls & there is only 10 feet of it on a roll type paper.
posted by wwax at 6:47 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
My inlaws go through 4 or 5 but they use that 15 ply, old growth forest long fibre having so soft it dissolves when wet so you need handfuls & there is only 10 feet of it on a roll type paper.
posted by wwax at 6:47 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
Best answer: i've used four rolls of the charmin ultra soft mega rolls (the one luxury i would die to keep) in the last 4.5 months, as a person who menstruates and has terrible poops pretty often. speak for urselves, cis women
posted by gaybobbie at 7:02 AM on March 20, 2020
posted by gaybobbie at 7:02 AM on March 20, 2020
I am suspecting toilet roll usage will also vary depending on how much you poop at work.
posted by wwax at 7:40 AM on March 20, 2020
posted by wwax at 7:40 AM on March 20, 2020
Best answer: Household of 3. We have bidet's in both bathrooms, but I'm unsure if the kid uses it. We use TP for drying. We use approximately 2 of the costco kirkland brand rolls per week.
posted by nobeagle at 7:53 AM on March 20, 2020
posted by nobeagle at 7:53 AM on March 20, 2020
Best answer: I use about half a roll a week because I also use a personal hygiene bottle to clean myself with after I've pooped.
I am almost evangelical about these things. Although it involves an initial purchase of plastic, it saves so much on toilet paper. It cleans so thoroughly that you only need a couple of squares of paper to dry yourself with.
I promise you, once you've used a hygiene bottle for a while, you will NEVER go back to using just toilet paper by itself. Try it, you'll be amazed at how hygienic it is compared with paper alone.
posted by essexjan at 9:41 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
I am almost evangelical about these things. Although it involves an initial purchase of plastic, it saves so much on toilet paper. It cleans so thoroughly that you only need a couple of squares of paper to dry yourself with.
I promise you, once you've used a hygiene bottle for a while, you will NEVER go back to using just toilet paper by itself. Try it, you'll be amazed at how hygienic it is compared with paper alone.
posted by essexjan at 9:41 AM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Period having female living alone, with a tendency to move my bowels at home. On average I start a new roll every 1.5 weeks.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:32 AM on March 20, 2020
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:32 AM on March 20, 2020
Best answer: Household of two, one of us menstruates infrequently (IUD). We've gone through one Charmin Ultra Strong Super roll in the 7 days we've both been home full-time.
My longest backpacking trip was 6 days long, and I took 1/2 roll of single ply and used about 1/3 of that. Two of those days involved a lot more TP usage than the other four (that was the trip that made me swear off spicy food at high elevation...) But I was also using a pee rag.
posted by kiripin at 1:50 PM on March 20, 2020
My longest backpacking trip was 6 days long, and I took 1/2 roll of single ply and used about 1/3 of that. Two of those days involved a lot more TP usage than the other four (that was the trip that made me swear off spicy food at high elevation...) But I was also using a pee rag.
posted by kiripin at 1:50 PM on March 20, 2020
Best answer: I use about a standard Canadian roll (whatever that is) a month. I was 23 before I knew what toilet paper cost because for 5 years I was either living in a share house where TP was supplied by the landlord or I was moving every four months and the handful of rolls the last resident left would last me the duration. I discovered how much toilet paper cost at 23 when during monthly bill splitting my new roommate wanted money for a 24 pack two months in a row1. So when I see a person obviously shopping for a household with 2,3,4 24s of toilet paper I don't jump to the thought that they are hoarding, it may just be a regular couple week supply.
[1] We didn't split TP expenses after the second month.
posted by Mitheral at 6:42 PM on March 20, 2020
[1] We didn't split TP expenses after the second month.
posted by Mitheral at 6:42 PM on March 20, 2020
Best answer: Household of 5 adults, three women, two who menstruate. When they're both on their period, it's more than a roll a day - some for wrapping pads, and extra for wiping.
...I don't keep track of how much less than that we go through the rest of the time. A roll every 3-4 days, maybe? Standard-size rolls, not the double-size ones.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:44 PM on March 27, 2020
...I don't keep track of how much less than that we go through the rest of the time. A roll every 3-4 days, maybe? Standard-size rolls, not the double-size ones.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:44 PM on March 27, 2020
Aside from various health issues, the amount of hair that one has around the anus can influence toilet paper use.
posted by jb at 4:17 PM on March 29, 2020
posted by jb at 4:17 PM on March 29, 2020
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