Good article. Thanks.

My pleasure.

Thanks, Dawn. The article addressed some questions I've had, such as the surge in demand affecting supply, or their workers getting sick. Also, what hoarding now will do in the near future with their sales.

The hoarding seems as contagious as the virus. Yesterday they were restocking toilet paper and paper towels when I was at the grocery store. They had a sign that said you could buy one package of EITHER TP OR PT's, not one of each. People were still loading their carts with multiple packages. However, I was glad to see the checkers were really enforcing it, even though people were coming up with all kinds of stories why they needed more.

I'm seeing at least two human 'traits' in force:

One is Denial. (The virus isn't a big deal. I won't get it. I'm old anyway. And other denial behaviors we've seen on the KT and elsewhere.)

One is Need for Control. (I can do *something* that has been useful in *other* crises. I can buy TP.)

As it happened, for several months prior to this, I've had coupons for the Northern 3-Layer Quilted Mega Rolls we like -- and 30%-off coupons from our CPS. I'll be curious to see how long 60 giant rolls will last one man and one woman who are at home 24/7.

I told my daughter if anything ever happens to us and she sees a stockpile of toilet paper in the garage, I wasn't panic shopping. It always looks that way because like chisue, we always buy it when it's on sale regardless if we need it or not. I have not needed to buy any (thank goodness) during this pandemic. :-))))

chi, you've left my trait out. I thought, leave it for those terrified they'll have to do without. Surely, they'll get it out of their system and then we can get some. What I didn't consider was how much they'd leave everyone else so high and un-dry, it wouldn't get replenished quickly. I despise stockpilers all the more. So freaking selfish.

chisue—We have 60 rolls too. I went out to the garage this morning to count it. If we use a roll a day, which seems like a lot, that’s two months. I think we’re OK.

PS We were not involved in recent hoarding. A family member tends to buy it whenever he goes to Costco so we were fortunate to have a generous supply and don’t have to think about that!

I'm not talking about anyone on this board. Just in case anyone was worried. I'm really not.

:)

The interesting thing about it is that humans have survived for many, many years without 2-ply. While it's a "nice to have" it's not essential to survival if things go really badly. I don't understand the focus on TP over food that I see in many areas!

To piggyback on what rob said, I think those who were not hoard buying in the beginning are now starting to freak out over the shortages, so they too, are now starting to hoard. It's like a chain reaction.

Fear is a driver for a lot of people. Freak out, another way to say the same thing.

I live in Manhattan and most of us don't have cars, we shop on foot. We buy only what we can carry home. Now that they have outlawed single use grocery bags, the size of my tote bag also limits what I can buy. Most apartments don't have the kind of storage space one would need for cases of toilet paper. I didn't see anyone walking around carrying toilet paper. The stores here had some a few days ago when I was out, but it didn't occur to me to buy any, because I thought food was more important. I'm now I'm sheltering at home so I don't know what's in the stores. I've done a fair amount of traveling in Mexico and Central America, in towns where the plumbing is very old. The custom is to have a basket next to the toilet because the pipes can't handle flushed toilet paper. In some of the poorer places, there will be some cut up newspapers to use for wiping. It's not great, but it works. I'm thinking when our four rolls run out, I may just cut up an old sheet and put a basket next to the toilet. No big deal.

seniorgal, how did you dispose of the used pages? Were they dropped in the pit?

I keep wondering what the return lines at Costco and other retailers will be like if this ends sooner than anticipated. Cases of water, bulk TP and other paper products, hand sanitizer, etc. that will be seen as unnecessary clutter.

I think that people must be buying toilet paper when they see it even if they have a stockpile. Some neighbors said that this morning the shelves at BJs were fully stocked with toilet paper; other neighbors said it was gone by the afternoon.

Jupidupi, that’s what they do in Costa Rica as well. DH wasn’t on board with it though.

Hi ju3.1416du3.1416,

When you feel the need for a somewhat increased supply of TP (just in case) ... you could get 2 large, heavy plastic bags, garbage type but thicker.

Put a number of the extras into one bag, drop the other over it (to keep the rain out), tie a length of heavy twine around the middle ... and hang 'em out the window.

What's that you say - your windows are unmoveable?

Oh, darn - so much for that idea!

I came up with this idea when someone said her daughter? at univ. could get a new roll of paper at the dorm when they turned in an empty roll, so her daughter took a number of empties from home but, the rooms being small, was finding storage a problem. _____

Yeah, senior gal - those shiny pages where they featured the fancy stuff weren't popular, were they?

We had a seat on a vented metal tub in one of the six bedrooms upstairs and a couple of holes in a wooden board in a small room off of the back porch in summer, with a large pail with a handle in each, which Dad carried out occasionally to drop into a hole thst he'd dug in the pile of manure outside of the stable where we kept our four draft horses, used for field work.

The paper didn't complain about associating with the other material - or if it did, it wasn't when we were near. _____

Whatsayyou18, suppose the customer service desk were to offer 60% of purchase price in the first month of substantial returns, to increase to 70% next month, then 80%, etc. to slow down the flow to current needs?

ole joyful

I've been to Costa Rica. Nice country, nice people. There was plenty of TP in the rooms at the two places we stayed.

We have enough for now but not a stash. I'll go looking after the crazies calm down and get their garages full of the stuff.

Use something else? I'm happy if others want to do that, don't look for me to follow suit.

As a teenager I stayed with a friend at her grandmothers cottage and she just had an out house. When I was headed out to it, they said to take a paper plate with me if I was going to go #2. You drop the plate into the pit, so it didn’t splash up at you! It was getting full!

Fun memory!

I have water and a washing machine, we can use wash cloth's if needed. Also make a squeeze bottle into a " prewash" before hand. Last thing I think about is TP. More worried about safety and good health.