Can You Believe This Industry Isn’t Regulated?

I like to consider myself frugal. I try to be mindful when it comes to spending money so that I make sure I’m getting the most out of the money I spend. Some people will call that cheap, I say frugal. We can agree to disagree. 

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There are a few things however I refuse to go cheap on; trash bags are on that list, and so is toilet paper.  

There’s doing the bare minimum with a product and then there’s the toilet paper that is available to the public in most stores and restaurants. This was very evident to me recently when I went into the restroom of a restaurant to blow my nose.  

I chose toilet paper because I felt it would be a softer option than the paper towels that were there. I’m not sure I could have been more wrong. 

I thought to myself that I must have grabbed a piece of sandpaper by mistake. My nose was red and irritated for the rest of the day. Then the thought crossed my mind, if that’s how my nose felt, I sure don’t want to use that toilet paper in the place it was intended to be used, if you know what I mean. 

This traumatic incident caused me to do a little research about toilet paper. I was shocked that there are no federal guidelines about quality or softness. 

I’m not a guy who is for having the government involved in every aspect of our lives, but this seems to be like a no-brainer.  

TV Station WAVY in Norfolk Virginia put together a piece on this very topic last November.  They reported that manufacturers of toilet paper have a wide-open range on how they make their product and how they try to make it appealing to us in the stores.  

Packaging will contain words like bigger or jumbo so that we think we’re getting more than we actually are. Something I never thought I’d write is you should read the packaging on the toilet paper to make sure you are getting what you think you are getting. 

When it comes to softness, the more the “layers” there are, the softer it will be. Makes sense, I guess. 

With all the money that has supposedly been spent on frivolous things from our government, surely some cash can be found to create a meter that can make sure the toilet paper we’re being exposed to meets some standard of decency.  

And sandpaper quality, ain’t it.