Well if folks are going to question using shampoo or soap..why not throw toilet paper into the mix?
<Come on..you know somebody would have started this thread sooner or later>
We were raised to use toilet paper followed by a water wash. However many of the poorer people did not have toilet paper and made do with just a water/water&soap wash.
In the US it seems the most common method is to use toilet paper only...sounds like a bit risky to me...especially if it is single ply.
Based on this guys usage he needs $1800 (@ 3% SWR) to keep his butt clean... definitely not an ERE approach to toilet paper!
(http://joshmadison.com/2007/05/09/toile ... -analysis/)
What's amazing to me is that I'm considered the extreme guy around here (at least according to budget numbers less than a couple spend less than me) yet some of the things you guys do without ...
BTW the thing that brought No Impact Man into fame was apparently some questions about what he used for toilet paper. A hefty price to pay for fame.
LOL!... 12 months of toilet paper usage logs on that Madison's site. I'm not sure if I'm creeped out or impressed.
Maybe we should just list our favorite products and their costs.
Generic TP: 60 rolls yr (high est)= $22/yr (worth it!;)
Salt stick deodorant: .25 stick a year = $1.00/yr
Peelu dental fibers: $15/yr (could go cheaper but I like this stuff)
Norelco wet/dry = $2.8/yr purchased used (I know, I know... but only 1 use) in 2002 for $25. Hasn't cost an additional dime since and although needs new battery, still working very well.
Lotion, lip-balm: coconut oil = maybe $1.5/yr
Total = $92.30/yr.
In many developing countries (especially interior villages etc.) where the concept of toilet paper does not exist, people use their left hand and some water to do the deed (hopefully they wash their hands afterwards).
This is also why in many of those countries, people do not shake hands or eat food with the left hand. I wouldn't either!
Here is some toilet paper humor (usual disclaimer - no offense meant to any race/ethnicity or John Wayne and his fans):
An Indian walks into a trading post and asks for toilet paper. The clerk asks if he would like no name, Charmin, or White Cloud.
"White Cloud sounds like good Indian toilet paper," says the Indian. "How much is it?"
"$1.00 a roll," the clerk replies.
"That seems pretty expensive," responds the Indian. "What about the others?"
"Charmin is $2.00 a roll, and no name is 50 cents a roll."
The Indian doesn't have much money, so he opts for the no name. Within a few hours, he is back at the trading post.
"I have a name for the no name toilet paper," he announces to the clerk. "We shall call it John Wayne."
"Why?" asks the confused clerk.
"Cause it's rough and it's tough and it don't take no shit off an Indian."
Very scary!
One of the comments mentions putting used pieces in a box/hamper to manage the smell (really?) and then washing it with their regular laundry..yikes!
Can just picture a whole row of those being hung out to dry on a clothes line. Gives new meaning to the term "skid row"
I think I am emotionally scarred from this!! ha! ha!
Seriously though...can this be hygenic ?
In Kenya, most "local" (not Westernized) places have just a cup in the bathroom. It's very effective, but it definitely does not fit in with the antiseptic US that has antibacterial sanitizer wipes for the grocery store shopping carts.
I don't understand how cloth wipes wouldn't be hygienic, if you only use them once and run them through a washing machine on high each time. Like cloth diapers. *shrug*
Out of all the options, disposable tp seems the least hygienic. So much risk of tearing and getting some on your hands.
Demolition Man reference - funny. I had to Google that one.
"She sells 3 shells on the sea shore"...twist on an old tongue twister. All in good humor...just as long as no one gets their panties in a bunch!
you don't really need paper...billions get by just fine without it. water and a little dexterity are all you need, and not to forget soap. a squat toilet is great for the purpose- with the added benefit of getting to perform the best compound exercise known to man
and all that health hazard thing is plain bullshit...unless of course, you were literally birthed into an incubator and have been living on a ventilator ever since.
an honest question to paper-users: I guess a lot of you must've heard this thing about how much shite your keyboards and doorknobs harbor...i wonder what you nice folks do about it? use ethanol-based hand sanitizers? wash 'em often? how often? every 15 mins? it better be every 15 mins, as i sure do remember reading something about the effectiveness of the so called sanitizers lasting for only a fraction of the time than they are claimed to. and another thing..do you dab them hand-sanitizers in your nostrils too...cos the air sure harbors a shit-load of germs, don't it? so....?
@anne: i don't see the point of cloth-wipes. the whole point of paper is that its disposable. now if someone is prepared to deal the messy cloth afterward (which 99% of paper-users probably can't even think of without being disgusted)..I don't see why they couldn't do away with the cloth too.
@jacob: this should be part of the 21 day makeover y'know *shrug*
@conpewter: I always wondered how the shells work. Do you happen to have an idea about that? xD
Regarding the TP... it does not look like something I would want to give up.
@rePete: How does the cup thing work? It seems like an interesting approach...
My theory on shells - more like buttons. 1 = soapy water bidet, 2 = rinse bidet, 3 = air blower/dryer
Anyway I like the idea of cutting another cost... but seems like more work and time to wash with a rag or something, then have to do more laundry later.
Yes, it's pretty much the same as cloth diapers. Most of the people I know who use cloth have diaper laundry to do anyway so it's not even more work. And you're right that paper is the least hygienic. If most people got feces on any other body part, they wouldn't wipe it off with paper and consider that clean enough.
@slacker:
"I don't see why they couldn't do away with the cloth too."
Good point.
