Is it me or is my toilet paper getting smaller?

You’re not going crazy and you’re hands aren’t getting any bigger.  One of closest companions is actually getting smaller.

Toilet paper was originally manufactured 4.5” wide by 4.5” long, which is relative to the average man’s hand size. The square makes it convenient to fold over a few times and still be acceptable for size/ sanitary coverage. Basically, the size was established because it worked – kind of like the 90-foot pitcher’s mound and the 10-foot basketball rim.

However, the size of toilet tissue has been reduced in the last decade as manufacturers try to trim costs by trimming sheet size.

Currently, most TP rolls are still 4.5” wide (or close too it at least), but have may contain much shorter sheets.  Typical sizes of popular brands include:
-    Kleenex Cottonelle; Standard :  4.5 x 4.0
-    Angel Soft; Standard: 4.5 x 4.0
-    Charmin Basic: 4.4 x 4.3
-    Quilted Northern: 4.5 x 4.05

If you’re missing your old friend, have no fear.  Two manufactures still produce 4.5x.4.5″ rolls of toilet paper:
-    Boardwalk Toilet Paper; 2-ply
-    Windsoft Recycled Toilet Paper ; 2-ply

**Product Update: As of November 1, 2009, Private Label brands Boardwalk and Windsoft Toilet Paper no longer produce sheets in 4.5″ x 4.5″ sizes. Both brands have reduced their sheet size to 4.5″ x 4.25″. Thank you to Phil for bringing this to our attention.**

Ann Kagawa Lee of Honolulu, Hawai; Contest Winner

Here at ToiletPaperWorld.com we’re all for being thrifty and finding creative ways to save money.  But this one impressed even us!  When I initially saw this image, I thought to myself  “What an exquisite dress!”  Then when I realized it was made from toilet paper, I was down right stunned.   This dress rivals some couture pieces!

The dress and headpiece were designed by Ann Kagawa Lee of Honolulu, Hawaii and are made only out of Charmin toilet paper, tape, and glue.   Ann was the grand prize winner of Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com‘s 5th Annual Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest and took home $1,000 for her extraordinary efforts.  Her piece is a blend of “Gone with the Wind” and Japanese origami themes.

Congratulations Ann!

Whether you are designing couture toilet paper dresses or stocking up for your home/office, get all of your Charmin toilet paper here.

As wedding season draws closer to its peak, brides are looking for new and creative ways to save on their costs. One of those ways includes making your own wedding gown…out of toilet paper.

For the fifth year in a row, Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com is hosting a Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest where participants submit a dress made only of toilet paper, tape and/or glue.

The event, which will run from April 17, 2009 to June 5, 2009, is based on the classic wedding wedding shower game where contestants create a gown made of toilet paper. The Grand Prize winner will receive $1000, the second place winner will receive $500 and the third place winner will receive $250. Not to mention, Ripley’s Believe it Or Not will be the event’s biggest sponsor.

Roxie Radford, Laura Gawne and Susan Bain operate www.cheap-chic-weddings.com with a passion for saving on special events. With tips and tricks on how to cut your wedding budget, this site is more than just the TP dress contest.

“Each year, we are amazed at the level of talent that our entrants display”, said Laura Gawne of Cheap Chic Weddings. “We are so looking forward to this year’s entries”!

If you’re planning on entering the contest, be sure to get all of the Toilet Paper you need to make a gorgeous gown at ToiletPaperWorld.com!

Though flushable wipes are marketed as a safe alternative to toilet paper, many people are still questioning whether or not these innovative wipes are the best choice for their pipes. To test this question, reporters for News Channel 5 of Cleveland, Ohio, took toilet paper and flushable wipes by a couple of leading paper companies and compared them.

To see how these claims hold up, a recent Consumers Report put three wipes, along with plain old toilet paper, through a disintegration test. It simulates what may happen when flushing and gives consumers a look at how the product could affect their pipes. Toilet paper tends to break down in about eight seconds. In contrast, flushable wipes lasted well beyond 30 minutes.

Kim Leman of Consumer Reports said of the experiment, “Although they say flushable, our disintegration tests show they don’t break down easily, which could pose problems with your plumbing or septic system.”

A spokesperson for Kimberly-Clark Corporation, which manufactures Scott and Cottonelle, defended the use of flushable wipes and said in a recent statement, “The Consumer Report article does not identify which test method was used to rate the various tissue products, and the story also indicates that further tested needs to be undertaken. There are industry-standard flushability test methods, which have been peer reviewed and accepted by both tissue manufacturers and public works authorities. Kimberly-Clark has performed extensive testing of our flushable wipes products using these methods and all our flushable wipes products pass the relevant tests.”

A Charmin spokesperson also said Charmin Wipes have been tested and are flushable and compatible with functioning household drain lines and sewerage and septic systems.

So what’s your take? Are flushable wipes a better way to do your business, or is classic Toilet Paper a better choice?

When you’re on the road or on the go, shouldn’t it be easier to find a clean public restroom to do your business in? Well to simplify the task, the beloved Charmin Bears are acting as a guide.

There’s a new website called SitOrSquat.com that helps travelers find clean public restrooms. The site, hosted by Charmin’s owner, Procter and Gamble, is an interactive web page and mobile application that depends on public feedback to identify where clean, comfortable restrooms are. Originally based off of a smaller, personal blog, SitOrSquat.com may just change the way that you, well, go.

According to the official About Us page, SitOrSquat.com is a site that is “dedicated to telling you where the closest place to relieve yourself is and whether or not that place is worth even sitting or squatting (or standing) at. We all find ourselves needing a public restroom every once in a while, whether it’s walking down a city block or driving on a highway with a few whining kids in the backseat.”

The site can be personalized for each member based on their needs and preferences in bathroom usage based on several criteria. A member is also able to create a list of their favorite toilets as well as share them with their friends, so that going to the bathroom moves beyond a private matter and now becomes an interesting topic for discussion. As time goes by and more data is recorded, the site will continue to get more accurate in ratings as well as more options in places to go – an essential for the busy traveler or picky public bathroom user.

Do your hiney a favor and add it to your mobile phone or bookmark it as a favorite website. Trust us – it’s worth it.

Up until 1964, the world did not have a man to associate with the softness and convenience of Charmin Toilet Paper. Then came Mr. Whipple.

Known, loved, and loathed for appearing in countless advertisements for over 20 years, Mr. Whipple has since become an American icon, even going so far as being rated the most recognizable face in North America during the late 1970’s.

The character, a supermarket manager, was featured in hundreds of television, radio and print commercials in the United States and Canada from 1964 to 1985. The highlight of each spot: in unvarying repetition, Whipple scolds customers who “squeeze the Charmin,” while hypocritically squeezing it himself.

The very first commercial set the tone of the advertising campaign. Mr. Whipple is seen looking off-camera at a female customer, commenting that first she’s squeezing the grapefruits, then she’s squeezing the melons, and then when she gets to the Charmin, that’s the last straw, and he walks over to her and utters his famous plea “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin!” for the first time. The phrase stuck, blooming into one of the most successful advertising campaigns in toilet paper history.

So who is Mr. Whipple?

Played by character actor Dick Wilson, Mr. Whipple is actually based on the Benton & Bowles advertising agency president (and Charmin campaign developer) Mr. George Whipple. He sold the rights to his name to Procter & Gamble for the campaign and thus a star was born. Thanks to Mr. Whipple, Charmin became the number one toilet paper brand in America – a feat that just can’t be flushed!

If you’re looking to see why Mr. Whipple squeezed the Charmin, you’ll have to try it yourself. ToiletPaperWorld.com offers Charmin Toilet Paper to you at the best price on the net, so you can be sure that your home or business is equipped with squeezable, soft toilet paper.