Bathroom Tissue
Created | Updated May 28, 2007
Bathroom tissue, which is also popularly known as toilet paper or in certain circles, "ass-wipe" is a soft, heavily processed paper with a feel and consistency similar to that of facial tissue. The primary purpose of bathroom tissue is to clean one's backside after defecation.
Prior to the invention of the kind of bathroom tissue we know today, people who did their business had to be somewhat resourceful when it came time to wipe. Historical accounts cite the usage of anything from rocks to pine cones (ouch!), leaves, bark, and linen. Certain cultures in the northern regions would use clumps of moss or, during the winter months, handfuls of snow. People in ancient Rome used a natural sponge immersed in salt water, and people in colonial america were content with used corncobs and pages out of the rather large catalogs handed out by stores such as Sears Roebuck.
The actual invention of modern-style toilet paper is widely disputed, with some accounts of China using a paper substance for the job as early as 589 AD. In 1857 Joseph Gayetty invents the first commercially available toilet paper, packaged in bundles of flat sheets similar to writing paper. The sheets were all coated lightly with an ointment and were marketed as "medicated". In 1877, the Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company did Gayetty one better by perforating the paper and stripping it of any ointments, dies, or chemicals, touting it as "safe" of all "all deleterious substances". In 1879, the Scott Paper Company begins selling the stuff on a roll. Finally, sometime in the late 1890's, someone gets the idea to perforate the paper on the rolls, and the modern roll of toilet paper is born.
Modern toilet paper is manufactured by more than 5,000 companies worldwide and more than 83,000,000 million rolls per day are believed to be used. Once the paper is actually created, through a rigorous pulping and pressing process, it is spooled into large "toilet paper logs" which are then cut with dies to the standard roll size, packaged, and sent to retail.
A variety of toilet paper can be found nowadays, with widely varying grades of quality and other features such as texture and the inclusion of aloe or other additives to make the wiping experience more pleasant. Some of the types of toilet paper include the following.
-Low Grade toilet paper is usually found in correctional institutions or other places where money is tight or quality is of little concern. This tissue tends to be rough and easily breakable, is usually only of one ply, and sometimes is not even perforated.
-Medium Grade toilet paper can be of the one or two ply variety, and is softer than low grade stock. This toilet paper also may have texturing or coloring, and is usually found in homes.
-Premium Grade bathroom tissue is extremely soft, having been made from very finely pulped and processed paper, and is usually infused with soothing substances such as aloe. Perfumes and dyes may also be used to further increase the aesthetic properties of the tissue, and the paper is quite often textured, with between two to four plies of paper in one sheet. Premium grade paper is rather expensive, comparatively, and is usually only found in the hands of people who take a trip to the commode seriously.
The actual method of toilet paper usage has widely been something of a taboo subject, although most people fall into two specific camps, the "wadders" and the "folders". Once used, the toilet paper is then usually disposed of in the toilet, whereupon it is flushed with everything else.
Other uses have been found for toilet paper, chief among them being a substitute for facial tissue, a limited use paper towel, and even an implement for pranks.
Prior to the invention of the kind of bathroom tissue we know today, people who did their business had to be somewhat resourceful when it came time to wipe. Historical accounts cite the usage of anything from rocks to pine cones (ouch!), leaves, bark, and linen. Certain cultures in the northern regions would use clumps of moss or, during the winter months, handfuls of snow. People in ancient Rome used a natural sponge immersed in salt water, and people in colonial america were content with used corncobs and pages out of the rather large catalogs handed out by stores such as Sears Roebuck.
The actual invention of modern-style toilet paper is widely disputed, with some accounts of China using a paper substance for the job as early as 589 AD. In 1857 Joseph Gayetty invents the first commercially available toilet paper, packaged in bundles of flat sheets similar to writing paper. The sheets were all coated lightly with an ointment and were marketed as "medicated". In 1877, the Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company did Gayetty one better by perforating the paper and stripping it of any ointments, dies, or chemicals, touting it as "safe" of all "all deleterious substances". In 1879, the Scott Paper Company begins selling the stuff on a roll. Finally, sometime in the late 1890's, someone gets the idea to perforate the paper on the rolls, and the modern roll of toilet paper is born.
Modern toilet paper is manufactured by more than 5,000 companies worldwide and more than 83,000,000 million rolls per day are believed to be used. Once the paper is actually created, through a rigorous pulping and pressing process, it is spooled into large "toilet paper logs" which are then cut with dies to the standard roll size, packaged, and sent to retail.
A variety of toilet paper can be found nowadays, with widely varying grades of quality and other features such as texture and the inclusion of aloe or other additives to make the wiping experience more pleasant. Some of the types of toilet paper include the following.
-Low Grade toilet paper is usually found in correctional institutions or other places where money is tight or quality is of little concern. This tissue tends to be rough and easily breakable, is usually only of one ply, and sometimes is not even perforated.
-Medium Grade toilet paper can be of the one or two ply variety, and is softer than low grade stock. This toilet paper also may have texturing or coloring, and is usually found in homes.
-Premium Grade bathroom tissue is extremely soft, having been made from very finely pulped and processed paper, and is usually infused with soothing substances such as aloe. Perfumes and dyes may also be used to further increase the aesthetic properties of the tissue, and the paper is quite often textured, with between two to four plies of paper in one sheet. Premium grade paper is rather expensive, comparatively, and is usually only found in the hands of people who take a trip to the commode seriously.
The actual method of toilet paper usage has widely been something of a taboo subject, although most people fall into two specific camps, the "wadders" and the "folders". Once used, the toilet paper is then usually disposed of in the toilet, whereupon it is flushed with everything else.
Other uses have been found for toilet paper, chief among them being a substitute for facial tissue, a limited use paper towel, and even an implement for pranks.
