Toilet paper orientation

Toilet paper has two possible

Toilet Paper Orientation
orientations when the roll is parallel to
both the wall and the floor: The toilet
paper may hang over (in front of) or
under (behind) the roll.

Some people hold strong opinions about

which is better. Advice columnist Ann
Landers said that the subject was the
most controversial issue in her column's
history and, at 15,000 letters in 1986,
provoked the highest number of The over orientation The under orientation
responses. Defenders of either position
cite advantages ranging from aesthetics,
hospitality, and cleanliness to paper conservation, ease of detaching sheets, and compatibility with pets. Some
writers have proposed connections to age, sex, or political philosophy, and survey evidence has shown a
correlation with socioeconomic status.[1]

Solutions where the views of household members differ include using separate dispensers or separate
bathrooms and ignoring the issue. One man advocates a plan under which his country will standardize on a
single forced orientation, and at least one inventor hopes to popularize a new kind of toilet roll holder which
swivels from one orientation to the other.[2]

Contents
Context and relevance
Arguments
Preferences
Survey results
Noted preferences
Social consequences
Solutions
Mechanical
Behavioral
Notes and references
Notes
References
Further reading

Context and relevance

In the article "Bathroom Politics: Introducing Students to Sociological Thinking from the Bottom Up",[3]
Eastern Institute of Technology sociology professor Edgar Alan Burns describes some reasons toilet paper
politics is worthy of examination. On the first day of Burns' introductory course in sociology, he asks his
students, "Which way do you think a roll of toilet paper should hang?"[4] In the following fifty minutes, the
students examine why they picked their answers, exploring the social construction of "rules and practices
which they have never consciously thought about before".[5]

Burns' activity has been adopted by a social psychology course at the University of Notre Dame, where it is
used to illustrate the principles of Berger and Luckmann's 1966 classic The Social Construction of Reality.[6]

Christopher Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, classifies the choice of toilet
paper orientation under "tastes, preferences, and interests" as opposed to either values or "attitudes, traits,
norms, and needs". Other personal interests include one's favorite cola or baseball team. Interests are an
important part of identity; one expects and prefers that different people have different interests, which serves
one's "sense of uniqueness". Differences in interests usually lead at most to teasing and gentle chiding. For
most people, interests do not cause the serious divisions caused by conflicts of values; a possible exception is
what Peterson calls "the 'get a life' folks among us" who elevate interests into moral issues.[7]

Morton Ann Gernsbacher, a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, compares the
orientation of toilet paper to the orientation of cutlery in a dishwasher, the choice of which drawer in a chest of
drawers to place one's socks, and the order of shampooing one's hair and lathering one's body in the shower.
In each choice, there is a prototypical solution chosen by the majority, and it is tempting to offer simplistic
explanations of how the minority must be different. She warns that neuroimaging experiments—which as of
2007 were beginning to probe behaviors from mental rotation and facial expressions to grocery shopping and
tickling—must strive to avoid such cultural bias and stereotypes.[8]

In his book Conversational Capital, Bertrand Cesvet gives toilet paper placement as an example of ritualized
behavior—one of the ways designers and marketers can create a memorable experience around a product that
leads to word-of-mouth momentum. Cesvet's other examples include shaking a box of Tic Tacs and dissecting
Oreo cookies.[9]

Broadcaster Jim Bohannon has said that such issues are good for talk radio: "It is an interactive medium, a
certain kind of clash, it doesn't have to be a violent clash, but at least a disagreement would certainly be at the
top of the list. It has to be something that's of general interest."[10]

Arguments
The main reasons given by people to explain why they hang their
toilet paper a given way are ease of grabbing and habit.[11] Some
particular advantages cited for each orientation include:

Over reduces the risk of accidentally brushing the wall or

cabinet with one's knuckles, potentially transferring grime
and germs.[12]
Over makes it easier to visually locate and to grasp the
loose end.[13] Folded and sealed toilet paper with
cover, Hotel Monasterio 2009
Over gives hotels, cruise ships, office buildings, public
places and homeowners with guest bathrooms the option
to fold over the last sheet to show that the room has been
cleaned.[14]
 Over is generally the intended direction of viewing for the
manufacturer's branding, so patterned toilet paper looks
better this way.[15]
Under provides a tidier appearance, in that the loose end
can be more hidden from view.[16][17]
Under reduces the risk of a toddler or a house pet such as
a cat unrolling the toilet paper when batting at the roll.[18]
Under in a recreational vehicle may reduce unrolling
during driving.[19]

Partisans have claimed that each method makes it easier to tear the
toilet paper on a perforated sheet boundary.[20] (A traveller from the
U.S. to China in 1991 noted a different setup: non-perforated paper Paper mounted under with upside-
down images and text
with a metal cutter above the roll, which obliges the over
direction.)[21]

It is unclear if one orientation is more economical than the other. The Centralian Advocate attributes a claim
that over saves on paper usage to Planet Green.[22]

In the academic field of evaluation, Michael Scriven writes that the question of the correct way to insert toilet
paper is a "one-item aptitude test" for measuring one's evaluation skills. These skills include the evaluative
attitude, practical logical analysis, empathy, teaching, and being a quick study. To prove one's competence, one
may either derive the "one right answer" or prove that the test is or is not culturally biased.[23]

In surveys of American consumers and of bath and kitchen specialists, 60-70% of respondents prefer over.[24]

Preferences

Survey results

The question "Do you prefer that your toilet tissue unwinds over or
under the spool?" is featured on the cover of Barry Sinrod and Mel
Poretz's 1989 book The First Really Important Survey of American
Habits. The overall result: 68 percent chose over.[25]

In Bernice Kanner's 1995 book Are You Normal?, 53 percent of

survey respondents prefer over, while "a fourth" prefer under and 8 Multi-orientable toilet paper holder
percent do not know or care.[26]

Sitting Pretty: The History of the Toilet, a travelling exhibition that tours Canadian museums, asks visitors to
register their preferred roll direction. When the exhibition reached Huntsville, Ontario, in June 2001, 13,000
visitors had taken the survey, with 67 percent preferring over.[27] At the Saint Boniface Museum in Winnipeg
in February 2005, a voting machine registered 5,831 over versus 5,679 under, or 51 percent over. Saint
Boniface's director noted, "I think there's been some cheating, though."[28]

Georgia-Pacific commissioned a survey of Americans' bathroom habits in 1993 to launch its new Quilted
Northern brand, and more surveys followed:[29]

1993 Practices and Preferences of Toilet Paper Users: 73 percent over out of 1,200
respondents. The press release claims, "A first-of-its-kind survey has settled, once and for all,
the great toilet paper debate."[30]
 1994 Toilet Paper Report: 59 percent over,[31] out of 1,000
respondents; conducted by KRC Research and
Consulting[32]
1995 Bathroom Tissue Report: 59 percent over versus 29
percent under,[33] out of 1,000 respondents; conducted by
KRC Research and Consulting[31]
2001 Bathroom Confidential: 63 percent over out of 1,001
respondents; conducted by Impulse Research[34]
2004 Bathroom Confidential: 72 percent over[35]

In 1993, American Standard Brands conducted a poll of "designers,

contractors, dealers, distributors and other bath and kitchen reps"[36]
at the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference in Atlanta. The
question: "What is the correct and only way to hang the toilet paper –
under or over?"[37] Over won 59 percent of the vote, 1,826 to 1,256
respondents.[36] American Standard spokeswoman Nora Monroe
observed, "The bathroom is a territorial place. You'd be surprised how
many people have definite opinions on this issue."[38] In 2008, Another solution: two paper holders,
American Standard commissioned the 2008 Bathroom Habits Survey, even with different toilet paper.
a more traditional format conducted by Opinion Research Corporation
with 1,001 respondents. This time, "three-quarters" answered
over.[39]

In 1995, a survey by Scott Paper Company's "Cottonelle College of Freshness Knowledge" had "most
Americans over 50" preferring over.[40] In another Cottonelle survey in 1999, 68 percent of respondents
preferred over to 25 percent under.[41]

In a survey of 1,000 Americans, Cottonelle found that "overs" are more likely than "unders" to notice a roll's
direction (74 percent), to be annoyed when the direction is incorrect (24 percent), and to have flipped the
direction at a friend's home (27 percent).[42]

According to W. C. Privy's Original Bathroom Companion, Number 2, "By more than 4 to 1, older folks
prefer to have their toilet paper dispense over the front."[43] The same claim is made by James Buckley's The
Bathroom Companion for people older than 50.[44]

In one local election in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, new voting machines were given a trial run by asking the
question, "Are you in favor of toilet paper in all public washrooms being installed with the loose end coming
up and over the front of the roll?" The answer was yes: 768 to 196, or 80 percent over. It was thought to be a
question "which carried no political association".[45] Yet one teenager's science project at the Southern
Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair, and a favorite of the fair's coordinator, was a survey concluding
that liberals roll over while conservatives roll under.[46]

Noted preferences

Advice columnist Ann Landers (Eppie Lederer) was once asked which way toilet paper should hang. She
answered under, prompting thousands of letters in protest; she then recommended over, prompting thousands
more.[47] She reflected that the 15,000 letters made toilet paper the most controversial issue in her column's 31-
year history,[48] wondering, "With so many problems in the world, why were thousands of people making an
issue of tissue?"[47]
In November 1986, Landers told the Canadian Commercial Travellers Association that "Fine-quality toilet
paper has designs that are right side up" in the over position.[48] In 1996, she explained the issue on The
Oprah Winfrey Show, where 68 percent of the studio audience favored over; Oprah suggested that under uses
more paper.[49] In 1998, she wrote that the issue "seems destined to go on forever", insisting, "In spite of the
fact that an overwhelming number of people prefer the roll hung so that the paper comes over the top, I still
prefer to have the paper hanging close to the wall."[45] On the day of her last column in 2002, Landers wrote,
"P.S. The toilet paper hangs over the top."[50] Her published commentary on the issue has even continued after
her death. 2005 saw the premiere of a one-woman play written by David Rambo: a character study of Ann
Landers titled The Lady with All the Answers. Toilet paper comes up once again, and the actress surveys the
audience for their opinions.[51]

In his article in Teaching Sociology, Burns writes that the toilet paper hanging exercise is valuable in part
because "[the] subject matter is familiar to everybody; everyone is an expert, and everyone has an
opinion."[52] Many entertainers, celebrities and businesspeople have publicized their opinion on the topic.

Social consequences
Toilet paper orientation is sometimes mentioned as a hurdle for
married couples.[54] The issue may also arise in businesses and public
places.[55]

Even at the Amundsen–Scott Research Station at the South Pole,

complaints have been raised over which way to install toilet paper.
During the six-month-long polar night, a few dozen residents are
stuck living together, and while many of the headaches of modern life
are far away, food and hygiene are not. Despite the challenges posed
by the hostile Antarctic climate, "It is in the more mundane trials of
everyday life that personality clashes are revealed."[56]

Solutions
Some of the proposed solutions to this problem involve more or better Seth Wheeler's original (c. 1891)
technology, while others concentrate on human behavior. U.S. Patent illustration.[53]

Mechanical

The Tilt-A-Roll is a swiveling toilet paper dispenser invented by Curtis Batts in 1996, a Dallas-native
industrial engineer.[57] His patents on the invention, summarize its design as "An adjustable angle coupling
secures the yoke to the mounting assembly and permits rotation of the yoke about an axis directed
orthogonally through the spindle such that the paper roll can be oriented to unroll paper either from over or
from under the roll as desired."[58] An inventor named Rocky Hutson demonstrated a similar device he called
the T.P. Swivel to the producers of the television program PitchMen in late 2009. [59]

Another solution is to install two toilet paper dispensers. A reader of the Annie's Mailbox column recommends
using a holder large enough to fit two rolls, noting that the roll mounted over is more popular. Another reader
sidesteps the issue by foregoing the holder, instead piling five or six rolls in a big wicker basket.[60] Even
using separate bathrooms can help.[61] Other solutions include vertical holders.

Behavioral
Toilet paper orientation has been used rhetorically as the ultimate issue that government has no business
dictating, in letters to the editor protesting the regulation of noise pollution[62] and stricter requirements to get a
divorce.[63] In 2006, protesting New Hampshire's ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, representative
Ralph Boehm (R–Litchfield) asked "Will we soon be told which direction the toilet paper must hang from the
roll?"[64]

David O'Connor's 2005 book Henderson's House Rules: The Official Guide to Replacing the Toilet Paper
and Other Domestic Topics of Great Dispute aims to solve disagreements with a minimum of debate or
compromise by offering authoritative, reasonable rules.[65] The "House Rule" for toilet paper is over and out,
and a full page is dedicated to a diagram of this orientation. But O'Connor writes that "if a female household
member has a strong preference for the toilet paper to hang over and in, against the wall, that preference
prevails. It is admittedly an odd preference, but women use toilet paper far more often than men—hence the
rule."[66]

Notes and references

Notes
1. For pros and cons, including RVs and cats, 17. "Toilet Paper Orientation Re: Brandweek
see Arguments; for celebrities and experts, 2009" (http://plumbersshrewsbury.co.uk/toile
including Ann Landers, see Noted t-paper-orientation-brandweek-2009/).
preferences; for theories, see Themes. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
2. The enthusiast, Bill Jarrett, and the inventor, 18. Darbo 2007; Garton 2005; O'Connor 2005,
Curtis Batts, are described in Solutions. p. 63.
3. Burns 2003. 19. Nerbas 2009.
4. Burns 2003, p. 111. 20. Ode 2010; Weingarten 2008; Keeran 1993.
5. Burns 2003, p. 113. 21. Downey & Harrison 1993.
6. Collett 2008. 22. McNatt 2010.
7. Peterson 2006, pp. 173–175. 23. Scriven 1991, "Evaluation Thesaurus", pp.
8. Gernsbacher 2007. 151–153, especially p. 153 for the
9. Cesvet, Babinski & Alper 2008, p. 68. quotations.
24. Yenisey, Zeynep (5 April 2016). "What the
10. Voice of America 2004.
Direction Your Toilet Paper Hangs Says
11. Progressive Grocer 2010. About You According to Science: Under or
12. Ode 2010: "The Kimberly-Clark company over?" (https://www.maxim.com/news/toilet-
cites three advantages for rolling over: paper-direction-2016-4). Maxim. Retrieved
perforation control, viewing advantage and 2 April 2020.
wall avoidance."; Garton 2005; Jarski & 25. Rubin 1989.
Jarski 2007.
26. Kanner 1995, pp. 56, 120.
13. Ode 2010; Elliott 2006
27. Ladan 2001.
14. Lind 1992; "The Grand Princess cruise ship
28. Nestruck 2005.
replaces its toilet paper with the leading
edge over the front, so that it can be folded 29. The 1996 report, which may not have
as is done in five-star hotels. (Yes, someone contained this question, was the fourth
really did ask this question.)" (Carpenter annual report: (McCarthey 1996)
1999); Rosencrans 1998; Garton 2005. 30. PR Newswire 1993.
15. Grant 1991b; Garton 2005; Mitchell & Sugar 31. Ortega 1995.
2005a; Jarski & Jarski 2007. 32. Ciancio 1994.
16. Jarski & Jarski 2007 33. Ciancio 1995.
34. Dickson 2001.
35. Ebenkamp 2004; Pierson 2004. 53. Jenny Che (17–19 March 2015). "This 124-
36. Toronto Star staff and news services 1993. Year-Old Patent Reveals The Right Way To
37. Stark 1993. Use Toilet Paper" (http://www.huffingtonpost.
com/2015/03/17/toilet-paper-actually-goes-o
38. Clark 1993. ver_n_6887724.html). HuffPost. Retrieved
39. American Standard Press 2008. 2 May 2015.
40. Harden 1995. 54. Wolf 1999, pp. 74–75; Hogan & Hogan
41. Henry 1999. 2000, p. 200.
42. PR Newswire 2010. 55. Lui 2009; Grant 1991a.
43. Barrett & Mingo 2003, p. 400. 56. Daily Express 1999, p. 39.
44. Buckley 2005, p. 106. 57. Floyd 1999.
45. Landers 1998. 58. US 5588615 (https://worldwide.espacenet.c
46. Keim 1997. om/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US558861
5) and US 5690302 (https://worldwide.espac
47. Marelius 1987. enet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US5
48. Toronto Star 1986. 690302)
49. The Oprah Winfrey Show 1996. 59. Zayas 2009.
50. Landers 2002. 60. Mitchell & Sugar 2005b.
51. Welsh 2005; Rawson 2008. 61. Arkins 1994; Jarski & Jarski 2007.
52. Burns 2003, p. 116. 62. Ratzlaff 2009.
63. Wuthrich 2006.
64. Saunders 2006.
65. O'Connor 2005, pp. 2–3.
66. O'Connor 2005, pp. 63–64; Davis 2006.

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Further reading
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Factiva rnob000020011101dpa400p2p

References "a Reader's Digest poll". Primary source unclear.

Brody, Ed (2002), Spinning Tales, Weaving Hope: Stories, Storytelling, and Activities for
Peace, Justice and the Environment, New Society Publishers, p. 158
Cameron, W. Bruce (2004), How to Remodel a Man: Tips and Techniques on Accomplishing
Something You Know Is Impossible But Want to Try Anyway, Macmillan, p. 185
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Factiva bstngb0020010825dv3s00asy
Freeman, Kim (8 February 1986), "Vox Jox", Billboard, p. 16

References a poll by Ric Hanson featured in USA Today.

Grossvogel, David I. (1987), Dear Ann Landers: our intimate and changing dialogue with
America's best-loved confidante, Contemporary Books, p. 257
Kelly, William Jude (1988), Models in process: a rhetoric and reader, Macmillan, p. 154
Kogan, Rick (2004), America's Mom: The Life, Lessons, and Legacy of Ann Landers, Thorndike
Press, p. 224
Praeger, Dave (2007), Poop Culture: How America Is Shaped by Its Grossest National Product,
Feral House, p. 72
Selby, David (1995), Earthkind: a teachers' handbook on humane education, Trentham Books,
p. 367
Singular, Stephen (1987), Talked to death: the life and murder of Alan Berg, p. 305

Mentions Bob Palmer of Denver's KCNC-TV doing a show on this topic.

Society of Automotive Engineers (2004), Reliability and robust design in automotive

engineering, p. 412

Presents a statistical test to determine gender differences in toilet paper orientation.

Trachtenberg, Robert (2005), When I Knew, HarperCollins, p. 69

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