Using Toilet Paper to clean up around the kitchen as a cheaper alternative to Paper Towel

Peter Enis on 04/01/2018 - 09:26

My wife has picked up this trait from her mum, she'll always have a roll of toilet paper handy in the kitchen for cleaning up small spills, wiping out the cats bowl, that kind of thing. Me, I prefer to stick with paper towel since that is what it was made for. I always get a bit grossed out when I see half a roll of toilet paper on the kitchen bench. Yeah I know, its not used toilet paper, its just the stigma.

Paper towel costs around 10x the price of toilet paper per sheet (based on the actual brands we buy). So even if the wife goes crazy and uses say 8 sheets of t/p she's still coming in cheaper than me using 1 sheet of paper towel for the same job.

What are your thoughts on this practise? A great cost-saving hack or downright disgusting?

Poll Options

  • 9
    Ewwww, gross!
  • 66
    Hand your OzB membership to your wife, she deserves it more than you
  • 8
    I have never heard of this but now that I know about it I might start doing it myself
  • 4
    I have no opinion, my servants do all the cleaning
Home & Garden

Comments

  • lupiter on 04/01/2018 - 09:29
    +18

    I'm not worried about the gross factor, but just that toilet paper breaks up faster when wet so it tends to break more when you're using it like that, or leave little bits of paper around after it.

    Personally I'm a fan of re-usable cloths, although I do draw the line sometimes and use paper towel for cat spew. :)

    • Peter Enis on 04/01/2018 - 09:36
      +1

      True, I'm normally a sponge/cloth guy myself, but some tasks are more suited to paper towel, like wiping oil out of the frying pan.

  • [Deactivated] on 04/01/2018 - 09:33

    You’re missing poll option for those that already do this :-) I picked this up from my missus too

    • Euphemistic on 04/01/2018 - 22:32

      Or ‘I picked it up from my mates missus when she comes to stay’.

  • [Deactivated] on 04/01/2018 - 09:46
    +1

    you can also wipe your butt with paper towel, but it isn't what it is designed for so you will likely have a sub par experience. it might be the same if you buy the cheap poor quality paper towel tho

  • Ryanek on 04/01/2018 - 09:46
    +1

    Toilet paper has many uses. I won't go into detail.

  • bobbified on 04/01/2018 - 09:48
    +6

    Paper towel costs around 10x the price of toilet paper per sheet (based on the actual brands we buy).

    One sheet of paper towel probably has 3 or 4 times the surface area of a sheet of toilet paper and two or three times the thickness - so is it really cheaper?

    If you use a clean roll, then there's nothing disgusting about it.

    But like others have said, the toilet paper breaks down faster than the paper towel and it leaves white bits and pieces everywhere.

    I used to use it to wipe my bathroom mirror after a shower when it's all fogged up and bits and pieces were left everywhere. Now I just use a piece of mircofibre cloth from Daiso.

    • Slippery Fish on 04/01/2018 - 09:53
      +3

      Put metho on your mirror and you won't need to wipe

      • bobbified on 04/01/2018 - 09:57

        Put metho on your mirror and you won't need to wipe

        Thanks for the tip! Think I'll give that a try! :)

        I used to use a thin film of dishwashing liquid before, but it was gone pretty quickly and it got soapy sometimes after a shower.

  • Trishool on 04/01/2018 - 09:50
    +8

    Paper towel costs around 10x the price of toilet paper per sheet (based on the actual brands we buy)

    I feel this is not really accurate, as the size of a toilet paper sheet is probably 1/4 or 1/5 the size of a paper towel sheet, thus affecting overall cost.

    $1.67 per 100 sheets - Select Paper Towel: https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/882149/sel…

    $0.19 per 100 sheets - Select Toilet Roll: https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/329923/woo…

    Hopefully I've gotten the maths right. Coffee is in front of me but I haven't taken a sip yet so please correct me if my calculations are off.

    Assuming that a toilet paper sheet is 1/4 the size of a paper towel sheet, we'd need to multiply the price per sheet by 4, making the cost $0.76 per 100 sheets for toilet paper. That makes the cost difference of paper towel around 2-2.5 times more the price of toilet paper, not 10 times.

    The thing that is not factored into this calculation is that paper towel tends to be a lot stronger than toilet paper, and better at holding liquid, meaning that if you end up using twice as much toilet paper to clean up a liquid spill, you're effectively negating the cost benefit, and getting all torn pieces of toilet paper on your hands and everywhere. So better to just use paper towel to "do it once, do it right" and with less mess me thinks.

    • steff on 04/01/2018 - 10:00
      +3

      or use TP for smaller stuff like crumbs and paper towels for bigger messes with more liquids. winning

  • BargainKen on 04/01/2018 - 10:15

    how about using a newspaper? :D

    • Trishool on 04/01/2018 - 11:09

      Not ideal. Liquid will make the ink run.

  • JIMB0 on 04/01/2018 - 11:14

    Toilet paper is also cheaper than tissues.

  • purplelady on 04/01/2018 - 11:33
    +1

    I don't think it's gross. They are really just tissues. The only different is, the company named them toilet paper. It's not that they already have pee/poo on them!

  • try2bhelpful on 04/01/2018 - 11:40
    +1

    For the kitchen and bathroom benches I use washable cloths mostly. I use paper towels for floor spills and then a mop to finish the clean up. I have two grades of toilet paper for the bathroom; we buy the really low grade ones to use for cleaning around the toilet and dusty areas. Just flush it down the toilet when finished.

  • Nugs on 04/01/2018 - 12:46
    +1

    I use either paper towel or a tissue dependent on spill type & qty

  • Big Dog on 05/01/2018 - 08:57

    I prefer to hose down the kitchen.

  • whooah1979 on 05/01/2018 - 09:12

    Ewwww, gross!

    why would someone consider this gross? toilet tissue is either sourced from sustainable pulp or made from recycled paper.

  • Deridas on 05/01/2018 - 10:28
    +1

    My family used to use toilet paper for such applications too, but back in Asian countries in previous generations there were no cheap paper towels or facial tissues, just toilet paper.

    • bobbified on 05/01/2018 - 10:36
      +2

      In some asian countries, they still use it on restaurant tables as tissues!

      Doesn't really bother me except I need pull quite a few squares to use it properly.

  • Sensiekatie on 05/01/2018 - 11:36
    +1

    It isn’t gross at all.

    I use it to wipe animal poo, vomit etc. mostly because I have mobility issues, so if toilet paper is closer, that is what i use. I find it is fine as long as you grab heaps of it for the job.

    Paper towels should not be flushed but loo paper can be. Thus, it is perfect for that job anyway.

    Reason, because loo paper is designed to degrade in the sewerage system. Paper towels are not. We had blocked toilets regularly in the workplace because of our doors using towels in the toilet.

    The other place I use T paper is around the toilet to wipe up messes or clean and when doing my weekly maintenance of my Roomba. It is a dry job, so works fine.

    I use paper towels for kitchen floor spills or will get a new reusable cloth if it’s a bad one.

  • myusername on 05/01/2018 - 13:40
    +1

    ok so this will prob get me in trouble……..

    people who are saying using toilet paper to clean say it's gross.

    i bet some of you are in a relationship and have been well um performing coitus and i bet at some stage you have had to clean yourself or your partner, and i bet you use toilet paper lol

    sorry mods if this is bad if you must censor or delete this comment please do

  • TransportPosters on 05/01/2018 - 15:07

    Toilet paper is great to have in every room of the house, easy to replace, long-lasting supply of quick wipes for mouth, hands, etc.

    A few years ago I installed stick-on toilet-style rollers on the wall next to the lounge sofa, dining table and over the centre of the bed in my main bedroom. People laugh when they see it but they all think it's a great idea.

  • skillet on 05/01/2018 - 19:03

    Stack two rolls of toilet paper on a kitchen paper towel holder and pretend it's paper towels.

    Toilet rolls are full of lint. Expensive paper towels are less lint.

  • [Deactivated] on 02/01/2019 - 12:55

    Old thread and a miscorrelated comment but -

    Instead of measuring and comparing TP by number of sheets and ply.

    We may be able to circumvent the consumers' confusion by simply weighing the roll to accurately compare paper content.

    Somebody do that, and TP manufacturers cons may be permanently disabled.

    Now onto toothpaste with the same purpose.

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