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?

Welcome to the Toilet Paper World Blog! In the coming months, we’ll have plenty of news, fun facts, and other assorted tidbits to share with you, but first we want to say hello!

There’s no better way to kick off a blog about toilet paper than to talk about the secret origins of toilet paper, is there?

As with many household essentials, so many people under value the history that goes behind each and every convenience. At ToiletPaperWorld.com, we hope to educate you on the interesting and remarkable journeys each of our products has made to become leaders in their industry. To start out with, let’s examine the first commercial toilet paper company in the United States:

Scott Paper Company marketed the first rolls of toilet paper near the turn of the century, as it was founded in 1879 by brothers E. Irvin and Clarence Scott in Philadelphia. Originally, the small company purchased paper and tissue from outside suppliers and cut, rolled and packaged the paper for distribution to customers under private label names. It wasn’t until later, in 1896, a major turning point occurred in the history of Scott Toilet Paper. 1896 was the year when Irvin’s son Arthur joined the company. He convinced his father and uncle to phase out their private label business and concentrate on their own brand names, setting the stage for the company it is today. With this new business plan, Scott purchased the private label name Waldorf in 1902 and began producing this as their first brand name.

As sales grew, it became evident that production changes were necessary to guarantee consistency. In 1910, Scott bought an abandoned soap factory in Chester, 5 miles south of Philadelphia for $85,000 and began making their own parent rolls of tissue. By 1921, Waldorf represented 64% of Scott’s total case sales, leading to Scott’s declaration as the leading toilet paper company in 1925. Today, Scott Toilet Paper is part of Kimberly Clark, but still produces the same top quality products it did since its first roll at the turn of the century.

For more fun facts on the history of toilet paper, remember to visit the ToiletPaperWorld.com Toilet Paper Encyclopedia.

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‘Til next time!