I saw this article earlier today. The problem I see is that the “shortage” started well before the stay-at-Home orders went into effect. People who prepared by buying extra (hoarders?) may be more comfortable then those who didn’t. I know that when all this is over with I will always have a spare Costco size pack in our linen closet. (TP is still hard to find in the Tampa area.)

Exactly. Speaking for myself, I do at least half of my "daily business" in the workplace ladies room, and being at home for these past few weeks has indeed made our rolls go a little bit quicker than normal. That said, I'm consciously using less than I usually would, as I see a real need to conserve wherever possible. I can absolutely see how so many people staying at home is having an exponential impact.

As for local supplies, it seems to vary, but we have not personally been without... yet.

I always like to have a few large packs from Costco when I’m up north. Here is Florida I don’t yet have the storage space. But luckily I got my usual large pack from a Costco before all this started.

i always check the aisles and was able to get some on two occasions. Once they allowed two packs of four the next time one.

inalso grab a tissue box as well for a back up if it should come to that.

We have limited stock here, but it is normally in stock of the huge packages. 1 per customer.

My husband was able to buy a package of toilet paper with 12 rolls when he did our 10 day shopping last week. However paper towels there is none about. TP is not abundant, but it is available. My husband went in the middle of the day so not even at opening time.

Edit to add we were down to 2 rolls so really needed to get toilet paper. We still have 4 rolls of paper towels. We are probably going to use our fancy cloth napkins going forward so paper towels can be used for other things.

We had about a half a large Costco pack when this whole thing started and we have used more than usual, obviously, but have not made a real dent in our stock and I haven't gone to buy or look for more. I may be naive, but somehow I believe that I will find it when I need it. I think that going forward TP will become more, not less available once the supply chain issues get straightened out. There is so much to worry about now that I can't let TP be one of those things.

I dont think I've seen PT or TP at my store since this started. We are fine on the latter. Yesterday I ordered PT from Staples (and Staples stuff like paper, printer cartridges etc ...hello home school) and it is due here tomorrow, w free shipping.

I see it iin the grocery store not that I’m in there very often. Last time there were some packs of store brand. It’s just a matter of time until the manufacturers can replace what people are hoarding. I’d recently bought a Costco pack before this started so I am good for a long time.

DH uses paper towels for everything and it's been bugging me for years. And now, when I don't see them at the store, it bugs me even more.

Well, we just saw an episode of America's Test Kitchen where they reviewed paper towels. Our brand won, but at a price of 7 cents a sheet! (Full price, but who pays full price for paper towels?) Anyway, THAT got his attention. He now uses the towel that is changed at least daily, and the dishcloth which is changed every meal. Using the paper towels for the nasty cleanups.

bpath - same in our house - but I think my kid is the worst offender. We had a talk to her about it and she immediately went on to prove she didn't hear a word we said so then we had to go through it again and what to do instead of each single one she had used and how she could have avoided it.

I bought antibacterial sponges (we will see) because I tend to use them most for wiping the kitchen counters.

I grew up in a household where you practically needed a court order to use a paper towel, and I raised my kid the same way. We have 4 rolls in stock and that will last us until at least the end of the year, we only use them for the ickiest of jobs (dog puke, for example), everything else gets cleaned with rags or newspaper. TP we are good on for awhile as well, tho as septic system veterans of many years, we are always parsimonious is our usage. Not much of either in stock in our stores here, shelves aren't bare, but they are not burgeoning either.

LOL, Lake, I am that way about Ziploc bags. My Mom would only ever buy the foldy-over kind so I think of ziploc bags as akin to tupperware. Hate throwing them out!

Yep, baggies too, we wash and reuse ours, just *both* our mothers did. Guess you do really look for a mate like your parents, haha.

This morning when I was at the grocery store (Target) there was plenty of paper towel and a decent stock of TP. Last couple times I've been shopping there was also some of each. I usually buy one of those Costco packages about once a year and stock all the bathrooms in both houses. I did manage to buy another package when I went there the first day of senior hour - before everyone knew about that. Still there were people trying to buy two of those giant packages when the sign clearly said limit of one.

We are ok on the TP as we typically buy the gigunda package at Costco, and had done so just before this all started. However, I am getting a little antsy because whenever I was in any store, over the past few weeks, there was NO toilet paper. I have been hearing via a local FB page that Targets seem to have it being restocked pretty regularly. Not heading there yet...

Dh just bought a 12 pack of Kleenex which we really didn't need, so I am thinking if the TP situation gets ugly maybe we can barter?

I've been on SAH for a month now with store trips as infrequently as possible. I normally buy Costco TP but that's an hour away from me now and I wasn't about to make the trip not knowing if they'd have stock. So I looked online and it said out of stock for shipping at this time. I kept looking every day or couple of days to see if that would change. It took until last week and it was available. So I ordered that, paper towels, paper napkins, and a few grocery items that are staples from Costco for us. So we are now very well stocked for a very long time on paper products for two people. The other items that I like to buy at Costco aren't worth the trip at this time. I can get what I need within a few minutes of home. Costco will still be there when this is over. Whatever 'over' will look like.

We have a few rolls left of both TP and paper towels. With elderly/hospice kitty, we go through a lot of paper towels when he misses the box. I ordered some commercial paper towel large rolls (like you'd see in a workplace restroom or restaurant wall dispenser), and they are good for cleaning, but they are not absorbent for urine. I think MIL has a few extra rolls at her house, but OMG our bidet toilet seat arrives tomorrow.

We don't have a Costco membership and I do not have time with work to run around looking for paper towels and TP.

Here in the middle of NJ we still have paper towel and TP shortages, as well as meat, chicken, eggs and cleaning supply shortages. I still want to know what everyone who bought up all the flour and yeast are doing with them; all I see are local Facebook posts talking about where they are ordering meals from....I swear no one in this town cooks!

Dh has been buying toilet paper at Walgreen's for the past couple years. If you haven't checked there, you might get lucky.

Current weekly ad:

Running, I actually enjoyed reading that article.

Yes I enjoyed that too.

Someone from Nextdoor posted Costco from last weekend.

I haven't been inside a store for two weeks, so I have no idea what our local stores have in stock.

Before the panic buying started I had recently bought the ginormous pack of TP at Costco even though we probably still had quite a few rolls at home. Plus I had also bought an 8 pack of some special Charmin TP with lotion in anticipation on my colonoscopy prep, so we're still sitting pretty as far as TP goes. I also have a couple of rolls in the back of my car. I had also recently bought the Costco pack of paper towels.

When I was out walking about 10 days ago I put a roll of wrapped TP in the Little Free Library in my neighborhood, but as of yesterday no one has taken it! I guess that no one is reading.

Here places like Walmart and some grocery stores have resorted to keeping it behind the customer service counter and giving it out at the preset limit - usually 1-2 packages.

Hard to find any paper products here...........getting difficult to understand why they couldn't turn up the production by now.

It's getting harder and harder to turn up production because of... coronavirus. Workers in factories are getting sick and the ones who are not sick are calling out in droves. That is what is happening in our essential manufacturing business and I would assume it is similar for the paper industry.

I read a similar article on CNN that talked about how some manufacturers could potentially shift their lines to consumer vs. commercial paper products, but some manufacturers are only commercial like the article stated, and this would be much harder plus the distribution networks. But like IdaClaire said, people are home, and they are using more. Same thing with lots of items in the supermarket. Lots of people buy lunch out every day, and now they are home.

The bidet seat arrives today! Don't know when we've been so excited about a purchase.

I buy TP through Amazon subscribe and save, getting an order every two months. I had a good bit left before this started and hubby found some at Dollar General Market (an 8 pack) so we are good for some time. We thought we should pick up a pack, if we found it, just in case the Amazon delivery didn't make it (was scheduled this week). Sure enough, my subscribe and save will NOT deliver in April, has been shifted to May.

I went to the store early yesterday morning. For the first time since this started, I saw some TP (Northern and Cottonelle only) and paper towels. We usually buy paper towels in bulk too, so don't need those either.

Was in my local target today to pick up a scrip, not even a vestige of paper toweling or toilet tissue.

Every time I had been grocery shopping in the past 3-4 weeks, the stores were out. I didn’t need any TP because I had bought a big pack just before this started and managed to buy one more right after. I did need paper towels and found some when Target was restocking one day when I happened to be there. Tissues were hard to find though and I was almost out, and with seasonal allergies, I need them. Found some today at Publix, finally. Publix also had lots of TP and paper towels today and only a few guys were loading up during senior shopping time.

People were panic buying this past weekend because the state went under a shelter in place order as of Saturday afternoon. Plus the weekends are a zoo anyway, especially at the first of the month.

Apparently this is where all the toilet paper is going 😂