Toilet paper is an everyday essential that most people take for granted. I never thought about how much toilet paper was on each roll, but with supply chain issues lurking in our not-so-distant past, knowing exactly how much toilet paper we have on hand could be vital to our comfort.
In this article, we’ll discuss the size of the average toilet paper roll and how long it’s supposed to last. We’ll also tell you if toilet paper rolls have shrunk over time.
What’s The Average Length of Toilet Paper?
Toilet paper length will vary from one brand to another, but the average sheet of toilet paper is about 4 inches long. Most brands have approximately 150 sheets in an average roll of 1-ply toilet paper, which means the length of the roll is roughly 50 feet.
To give you a comparison, that’s about the same length as the world-famous Hollywood Sign in California or the trailer of a semi-truck.
How Wide Is A Roll of Toilet Paper On Average?
The average width of a standard 1-ply toilet paper roll is roughly 4 inches, with the cardboard tube making up slightly less than 2 inches of that diameter.
Since each ply doubles the width of the toilet paper, it will also increase the width of the toilet paper roll. If a 1-ply roll is 4 inches, a 2-ply roll will be about 6 inches, and a 3-ply roll will come in at a whopping 8 inches wide.
Keep in mind that these are the measurements for the standard-sized roll in each ply. Most manufacturers offer double rolls, which are twice the size of a standard roll, and mega rolls, which can be as large as 3 or 4 standard-sized rolls put together.
How Tall Is A Roll of Toilet Paper?
The average roll of toilet paper is about 4 inches high. Of course, commercial toilet paper rolls are often much taller, looking more like paper towel rolls than the toilet paper rolls we keep in our bathrooms at home.
How Much Does A Roll of Toilet Paper Weigh?
The average roll of 1-ply toilet paper weighs about half a pound. Much like the width of the roll, the weight of a roll of toilet paper increases with each ply.
Many other factors can affect the weight of a toilet paper roll, including what the paper is made of, the type of bonding used to hold the plies together in the case of multi-ply paper, and the manufacturing process.
Have Toilet Paper Sizes Shrunk Over The Years?
Unfortunately, like most other products on the shelf today, toilet paper roll sizes have decreased over the years, despite the rising cost.
According to reports at Consumer World, Charmin has reduced its roll size by about 90% since the 1960s. Once upon a time, their average toilet paper roll boasted 650 sheets compared to the 150 sheets it contains today.
The company has also removed 30 sheets from their super mega rolls, going from 396 to 366. The mega roll was once 264 sheets, but today it’s only 244. The company chalks its shrunken rolls up to the cost of innovation.
Another well-known brand, Scott, has recently begun to shrink its rolls as well. Although the package still says 1,000 sheets, the sheet size has shrunk from 4 inches high to 3.7 inches tall. They also reduced the width of the sheet from 4.5 inches to 4 inches, making today’s roll 25% smaller than the original roll.
How Long Is A Roll of Toilet Paper Supposed To Last?
According to the toilet paper experts at Cottonelle, the average person uses the toilet roughly five times per day and uses about 7 sheets of paper per wipe. Based on this estimate, each person uses about 35 sheets of toilet paper every day, meaning a roll of toilet paper with 150 sheets will last you about 4 days.
Of course, you’ll go through more toilet paper if you have a big family. The average family of four can go through a roll in about a day. That means they’ll use 7 rolls a week or 28 rolls a month.
That number can increase if there are small children in the home who use more paper than necessary when they go or if a family member is sick and visits the bathroom more frequently than usual.
Conclusion
We all use toilet paper every day but seldom think about it unless we run out. It’s interesting to realize that one average-sized toilet paper roll is as long as the trailer on a semi-truck.
By doing some simple math, we can get a good idea of how much toilet paper we should have on hand to avoid running out unexpectedly. The average person uses about one roll of toilet paper every 4 days, which means an average 4-pack of toilet paper will last you about 2 weeks.
If you have a family, you’ll need to account for every family member, plus add a little extra if you have small kids that don’t know how to use the right amount of paper. Toilet paper lasts a while, though, so it doesn’t hurt to stock up.
Hi, my name is Shauna Stone and I love improving my home to make it perfect. Researching new cleaning techniques is one of my favorite things to do - have you ever fallen into the rabbit hole that is cleaning TikToks?
I think my love of cleaning and home pride came from my time at college. I know that college kids are meant to be messy - but some of my roommates were on another level altogether. I don’t even want to recount the images I saw throughout college… *shudder*
A tidy house is a tidy mind, after all, and I cannot get anything done if my house is a mess. I like to think of it as my safe haven, and I don’t want my safe haven to be anything less than perfect!
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