I spend a lot of time in grocery stores. They're my leisure activity. I love a good grocery store like a University student loves a good kegger. Let me walk you through what a typical visit to the toilet paper aisle is like with me:
Karen: (subject strolling back and forth in front of toilet paper aisle) Hmm. HMMM. I will buy this toilet paper. It's on sale.
Other customer: Why are you telling me? I'm not concerned with what bathroom tissue you buy.
Karen: Bathroom tissue? Bathroom tissue??!! Aren't you fancy. I wasn't talking to you anyway, I was talking to myself. Basically you were eavesdropping on a private conversation with myself. Which makes you either rude or a spy. Are you a spy? You seem very spy-like.
Other customer: I'd prefer to be rude than suffer from logorrhea.
Karen: Wha ... what? Logorrhea? I'm starting to understand the whole "bathroom tissue" thing.
Other customer: (stares blankly)
Karen: I've decided you're not a spy. You could never fit any cool spy stuff in that ridiculously small spy kit.
Other customer: It's not a spy kit, it's my crayon box.
Karen: Either way, kid ... I'm still buying the toilet paper that's on sale.
Other customer: You're weird.
The End.
A similar scenario is likely to happen in the dairy, meat or cereal aisle.
This scenario is never likely to happen again because as of a few weeks ago I changed my attitude. And my toilet paper brand.
All because of my never ending plumbing problems.
ONE thing you can do to decrease the chance of any plumbing problems is buy the right toilet paper.
And do NOT buy the wrong one.
I wanted to know which was which, so of course ... I did an experiment.
If you have any sort of plumbing issues, the most important thing in toilet paper isn't if it has lotion, isn't if it's thick, isn't if it's soft, isn't if it's on sale ... the MOST important thing is ...
DOES YOUR TOILET PAPER DISSOLVE?
Toilet paper that doesn't dissolve just sits in a clump in your plumbing. And if it gets caught on something like a jagged edge or corner in your pipes it will stay there for a longggg time, allowing more and more paper to get stuck and caught on it, creating, eventually a big mass of undissolved toilet paper blocking your sewer line.
And then one day you'll flush the toilet and instead of the water in the toilet bowl going down, it will start to move UP. Towards you. As you stare in horror, desperately trying to remember what to do (turn the water supply to the toilet off immediately) you'll wonder why, WHYYYYYYYY is this happening to YOU?
Because you're using the wrong toilet paper.
In the olden days this wouldn't have been as large a problem but a lot of today's low flush toilets just don't have enough power to push the super luxurious toilet paper through.
So the experiment.
I went out and bought 3 brands of toilet paper.
I bought the cheapest brand possible at $5 for a whole whack of rolls. It was my store's own cheapo-brand.
I bought Charmin Ultra Soft which looked like a standard premium toilet paper. I bought it because this particular toilet paper had a claim right on the packaging that it's a "no plunger" toilet paper. Meaning it won't clog your pipes. Presumably that means it will dissolve easily.
I bought Cottonelle Gentle Care with Aloe which looked more like a blanket than toilet paper.
I put 2 sheets of each of the brands into a glass jar.
Then I added 2 cups of water to each jar.
Then I let them sit for half an hour.
After half an hour I stirred the toilet paper up a bit to see how it broke down.
The results were amazing.
Both of Premium and Super Premium brands (Charmin on the left and Cottonelle on the right) barely broke down. The cheap stuff broke down very well.
84% of households buy Premium and Super Premium brand toilet paper by the way.
The Charmin Ultra Soft which claimed on its packaging that it wouldn't clog your pipes, did dissolve but not nearly as much as the cheap stuff. After half an hour in water I could still pull out big globs of paper without it breaking.
The cheapest brand, as I suspected, dissolved away to almost nothing after half an hour. All that remained after stirring it a bit were tiny little bits. It almost broke down completely. This toilet paper would not cause your pipes to clog.
The Cottonelle with Aloe and ripples? This toilet paper almost didn't break down at all. And even after soaking it in the water it was still strong and not at all interested in breaking apart.
You might think this is a lot of thought about toilet paper, but the day will come, mark my words when you're staring a toilet bowl full of horrors and you'll wish you'd given toilet paper more thought.
The least of your worries is an overflowing toilet before you can get the plunger to work. The worst of your worries is sewer lines that need to be snaked at a cost of around $400.
Actually, that's not the worst. The worst of your worries is spending thousands of dollars replacing your sewer lines that keep getting clogged when all you needed to do was buy better (worse) toilet paper.
Lee J Ross
Hi.
I have never posted to a blog before, so if I offend anyone, I'm sorry and plead ignorance and old age as the causes. Anyway, IMO, I feel the best answer to the toilet paper debate as to which is better a cheap toilet paper of a mid-grade, but one that somewhat breakdowns, isn't a real important argument. What is important is whether your plumbing is going to cause you to have an expensive repair bill. Plumbing bills can get very expensive and very disruptive to the household in general; meaning not just to the bathroom, but also to the kitchen and so forth. Cheap toilet paper breaks down too soon and the better brands don't breakdown soon enough. So, what's the best answer? Install a Bidet toilet seat. You can now improve your personal hygiene, do your plumbing a big favor (and your septic system as well), and, walla, nothing gets on your hands for those among us that don't bother to wash their hands afterwards. A Bidet costs around $500 to $1,000, nearly eliminates the use of toilet paper, helps to reduce damage to the anal ring and the vulva & labia female parts; not to mention, is a whole lot more sanitary. No poop getting smeared in the pores of your skin and no more paper cutting microscopic incisions in your skin covering sensitive body parts. Once you learn how to use a Bidet properly, you will never go back to using toilet paper; except when there is no other choice. For those who have tried a Bidet once or twice and say you don’t like them, let me remind you, it takes several times to learn how to use one properly (unless you know someone who can tell you how). I will say, you will enjoy the warm water wash and warm drying air in the winter or cool drying air in the summer months.
Michael P Durkin
I do not find this the least bit surprising. The cheapo stuff dissolves before you get a chance to even use it, often as you are removing it from the roll. So, to compensate, you have to use much more of it. The trade-off to me (price and 'disolveability' to comfort and quality), does not favor the cheapo toilet paper. The Charmin will dissolve fairly quickly and will not be clogging toilets in general. If it does, it's most assuredly user error. You are using too much toilet paper, you put something else down the drain that you should not have or you have a plumbing problem that needs to be fixed anyway.
Karen
That's actually not true Michael. I appreciate you chiming in but it simply isn't the case. I've done several side by side tests in water and Charmin (and other thick, luxurious toilet papers) does not disintegrate. It clumps. This gets stuck on rough spots and pipes and is what eventually clogs toilets. Recycled toilet paper is made of much shorter fibres which is what makes it dissolve completely. I have absolutely no reason to make any of this up. I'm speaking from experience that began with thousands of dollars worth of sewer line repairs, that could have been avoided by simply changing to a better flushing toilet and changing toilet paper brands. If you wish to continue to use thick toilet paper, obviously I encourage that you do that. But for anyone seriously concerned about their pipes, avoid thick, luxury type toilet papers. ~ karen!
Carl Benson
I'm a guy, so maybe not as particular about toilet paper. But I bought a 4-pack of Scott brand 1000 sheets per roll paper and it's easily the worst I've ever bought. The saying, 'thin as rice paper' would be generous with this stuff. You can't tear off a sheet or two - it just falls apart. And to use it requires folding 2 or 3 layers. Horrible
Michael P Durkin
Exactly. Agree whole heartedly with you.
Kiara
Thank you for this intelligent question and test on toilet paper.
My personal experience was thus;
For years, I used to buy the same brand of toilet paper...you know...the one with the kitten.
One day I had the bright idea (because it was on sale) to buy Charmin. As it turns out...NOT SO BRIGHT IDEA.
Within 4 months of using said toilet paper, I had to call a plumber to unclog the pipes. The toilet did the exact same thing as described in the article.
It cost me $80. plus the cleaning up and disinfecting the mess the plumber guys did with their unclogging equipment, going up and down the stairs in the winter time. Get the picture?
Needless to say I am now buying my toilet paper at Costco...their brand.
Haven't had a problem in 5 years. That feels good...especially when I think of the mess Charmin created.
Carol
I had a sewer blockage and the plumber said always use 1-ply TP.
1-ply is hard to find. Our sewer lines were the old clay tile and the tree roots from our 2 Pin Oak Trees had grown into the seams.
s
Of course if one washed instead of wiped clogging would not be an issue.
Addie
My Uncle is a plumber and he says, " Yes, I love Charmin...wouldn't use it at my home but it keeps me in business!!" Then years later when Cottonell came out he remarked, "WOW!!! this Cottonell is the greatest!!! I am on my way to early retirement!!! "
Uncle Phil says, "ALWAYS use a 1 ply tissue...even if you need a little more, it dissolves quicker....and then you don't need me!!!"
I've used 1 ply Scott and it is perfect!!!
Justin
I'd rather pay $400 for a plumber to unclog my toilet than use thin and scratchy toilet paper. It seems 84% of American's agree with me. Yes, it's cheaper to type a letter with a typewriter than having to buy a computer, but it's impractical nowadays. Americans won't accept sore butts from thin and scratchy toilet paper anymore. It's time for the pipes to adapt. There's no going back.
ElCee
Reading this blog was a good comedy but with a lot of truth and sorrow over plumbing woes. I liked all the info and have almost decided on a brand of TP from reading it, Kirkland, mostly because I make monthly trips there. The one thing that I couldn't find was a comment regarding the annoying lint and debris the brands mentioned leave "behind". Anyone notice how lint free any are, especially, Kirkland. Plumbing issues are #1 concern but lingering lint is number #1.5.
Lynne
You should also ask yourself, is your skin sensitive to formaldehyde? Most toilet paper is whitened using bleach. The bleach itself gets evaporated away in the process, but formaldehyde (normally used to preserve dead bodies) gets left behind. That's why I only use bleach free tp.
Alyssa Gonzalez
I'd like to see this test redone. Scott, angel soft, Charmin essentials, cottonelle.
In each jar, the amount of toilet paper a person would use to wipe. For scott, that would be a lot more. Then 2 or 2.5 cups of water.
Karen
It wouldn't actually make any difference. Toilet paper either dissolves or it doesn't. It makes no difference how much you use. So Scotts (even if you use more) is still going to dissolve while the other ones won't. ~ karen!
Kay
I started buying Walmart’s brand of toilet paper bc of the reviews and that price. I drink a lot of water and when the kids are at school, (don’t judge me:), I don’t flush everytime I pee to conserve water. Well, I’ve been noticing that when I return a half an hour later or so, the paper doesn’t seem to dissolve at all! And it actually turns a light gray. I can’t help but wonder with all of the new ways of recycling, is it possible it’s made of something else or in addition to just paper? I know what the research says, but sometimes you also have to listen to your gut! I’m going to stop buying this brand because it looks like trouble for my septic tank to me. Anyone else finding this?
Annie
So, the toilet paper gets caught up on some imperfection in the pipes and builds up. I'm thinking, if I use the premium brand and don't have a problem then I'm ok. Saying that nobody should use the good stuff because some people have problems with it is overkill. My friend had a back up, the plumber told her there were roots in the pipe. He asked what type of toilet paper she used, she said the good stuff. Of course he blamed the paper but I believe the cheap stuff would have eventually caused the same trouble, it would just take longer.
Karen
Actually, no it wouldn't. It dissolves completely. That's the point. ~ karen!
anna winnster
I've found that in all my many, many years, the only way to protect plumbing is NOT to flush T paper. I use a can lined with a grocery bag (changed daily). That way you can use the thick stuff if you want. I do use Target or Aldi brand.
Josh Meehan
Wow, you ARE weird. I'd go shopping with you anytime. So useful!
Major Michael
Writing from an apartment building in New York City I can attest that both Charmin and Cottonelle clog up our toilets ,I have had to use a snake in our system line to dissolve my sheer brutality that 'premium" paper ,can't imagine someone elderly who is not strong being able to
free a toilet line using a mechanical snake every 2-3 days with Charmin.
I have found drugstore off brands the best with minor snake and plunger corrective issues.
Major Michael
Should have written "by (not my) sheer brutality that premium paper..:-)
Lynn
I just recently heard that the Kirkland brand was not good at breaking down so I returned our unopened bundle to Costco. I went to Superstore and purchased the large bundle of Cashmere. Even though it is the same size sheet, amount on the roll it is quite a bit smaller of a roll then Kirkland's but in reading this I am wondering if you have tried the experiment with the Cashmere brand?
juliette
i'm glad you did all that. I was just about to do that (tests) myself and found your post. great. thanks. i'm the same way. when i see all that "luxurious"TP all I can think about is the potential for clogging...
Karen
Uch, they're awful! Stick to Scotts or Cascades. ~ karen!
Ang
What about regular cottonelle? Could the aloe be acting as a water barrier?
Karen
Hi Ang! I'm afraid regular Cottonelle doesn't break down either. The fibres are too long and solid. Part of the reason that toilet paper made from recycled material breaks down so easily is the fibres are broken and short. :) ~ karen!
Michael
Hi Karen and Ang: I just read your speel on TP and really liked it. So I have started using the single ply Great Value brand from Walmart. Does this brand pass your test well enuff for me to keep using it?
Karen
I haven't tested the Great Value brand Michael. It's easy enough to do your own test. Just rip a few sheets, put it in water for a while and see if it breaks down to nothing but fibres when you swirl it. ~ karen!
emma
Where I live, Cascades is not available in retail stores. So before i spend a lot of money purchasing online, is it possible for you to show a picture just how much it dissolves, so I can see how tiny are the pieces that are left behind? I did the test with angel soft and not much is left. I'm wondering if Cascades is indeed better. Just spent hundreds snaking out sewer line and i don't want to repeat that! Thanks!