They've been doing it for a long time. I noticed it didn't "fill" my old wood spool tp holder side to side.

It's a big pet peeve of mine. I hate seeing stubby little rolls of paper on the long holder.

And the cardboard roller is larger too - it makes it look like it's the same size as the old rolls. Very sneaky.

There's an article in the latest Consumer Reports magazine showing how all the brands (except Costco Kirkland) have shrunk.

Is nothing sacred? ;)

Yeah, this happened when my brand came out with a "new" line. Sigh.

Remember when TP came in 2-packs and the rolls were BIG?

A.A.A. I don't pay attention to fashion, but am so happy to hear that my butt is in fashion!!! :)

Speaking of TP, I got a coupon recently for TP with no tube inside. Looked for it at the store but didn't see it. Has anyone tried it? Sure makes sense.

I've had many bundles of TP without the tube I placed in storage, but be careful how you store them or the rolls will collapse. I store enough for a year - like I do nearly everything we use. They did a test market in our region several years ago, with lots of sales and coupons, and they only recently brought it back again.

I've noticed the difference in the width for many years. First it was 1/8" difference, then it was 1/4", and now it's as much as 3/8-1/2".

Eons ago I tried to determine how to get the most TP for my money, so the end of the long story after buying a LOT of different brands, is that I weighed the rolls, like you do produce, in order to get an accurate amount for the unit pricing. You can't use number of "sheets", because not all sheets are the same length, then there's the single and multi-ply sheets - all too confusing. The ONE variable they all have in common is weight per roll. After that, you can determine just how comfortable you need/want it to be.

-Grainlady

IMO...Scott Basic is still the best bang for the buck. It's single layer and not all puffy and pretty...but for what it's used...I'm not concerned about appearances. :-)

socks - I tried to find it, too, as an easy way to be more "green," but I couldn't find it either. It's Scott, isn't it?

Not only have the rolls gotten narrower, but I notice that they are not winding the paper as tightly as of yore. It is more loosely wound on the roll, and thus you get even less paper.

Trust Grainlady to find the science! I never thought of actually weighing, but I guess I do kind of weigh one against the other in my hands.

The no-tubes are advertised here, but I like the tubes. :)

So...What's with the stretchy stuff?

I'd given up on comparing also. I finally just resorted to using Scott or whatever looks good on sale. You can get free shipping from Target, Wal-Mart and other places with a dollar amount of purchase. I just order as many rolls needed to meet the minimum purchase on-line and have it shipped to my house. I store it in my attic. I always have toilet paper when I need it.

Yes, Ginny, it's Scotts Tube-Free Naturals.

I like the single-ply as well, Anne. Hope this isn't TMI---because of the drought we don't flush every time, and the single ply seems to go down easier than the thicker stuff (no clogs).

Bravo Socks! I don't flush in the evening/late night. Not just for economic reasons but because I live in a town house condo with a single level unit below my two floors. The building is wood framed...and noise travels very easily. I once was standing at the front door of a past neighbor who lived there when my now deceased husband flushed our toilet up stairs. It sounded like Niagara Falls in her living room. Obviously the contractor hadn't insulated the plumbing pipes when the building was built. I was shocked and promptly counted my blessings for having chosen to buy the town house instead of a lower level ranch style. I never forgot that experience and vowed I would never knowingly put any downstairs neighbor through that. Thus...I don't flush at night when he's home. During the day time...he's on his own if he's home. LOL And you're right. Scott's almost dissolves in the water.

I love my Costco Kirkland TP! And it works good with the septic system. Once in a while I will buy Scotts for the RV if I'm desperate, but we don't like it. It seems like we are using 3-4 times more with it. You know it's bad when DH asks me not to buy it anymore! He rarely says anything, so I knew he didn't like it! We don't always flush either, for conservation, and if it's been too wet out, it can be bad too! And almost never at night.

Wow, anne, You are an exceptionally considerate neighbor! They should be bringing you cookies and gift cards every week. :)

LOL Thank you gyr_falcon. It would be nice to be appreciated...and cookies would be nice. :-)

Actually...I'd be overjoyed if this same neighbor were as considerate. LOL He's the neighbor who nearly drove my into the hospital with his overwhelming sweet aromas that kept wafting up here night after night. I finally found a scent neutralizer that worked so I've survived...and he's changed scents. Life certainly is interesting...isn't it. :-)

Checking on the web one will discover that all toilet tissues contain formaldehyde (kleenex also), the cheaper brands containing less. We've tried the Wal-Mart brand because of this and, although it tears very easily, we've found it satisfactory for now. You may want to give it a try.

A good test of toilet paper is it's dissolve-ability in water. If you put some in a jar with water it should immediately break up when you shake it. That's good for sewers and septics. Some brands are much better than others.

The absolute worst thing for plumbing are the 'flushable wipes'. Both baby stuff and adult. They clog the city pipes. This was proven a couple of years ago. On the front page of our paper were city workers lamenting how this crap doesn't dissolve, it just turns into a solid mass. They were literally able to unfold it and you could see the pattern in the wipe. This is a disgrace and should be removed from store shelves. Along with those click and flush things that you clean the toilet bowl with.

The newest sewer clogging thing are the micro-beads that are found in facial cleansers etc. They don't dissolve.