Isn't it funny how toilet roll has changed over the years?

When I was about 7, I was with my mother in a hotel lounge in London, rather bored. I asked my mother if I could get the tracings I had been doing, and she said no. This seemed unreasonable, so I persisted. Eventually she whispered in my ear “They’re on Bronco”. I got the message at once - loo paper shouldn’t be paraded in public - and I shut up.

At my first school the toilets were outside but the toilet paper was kept in the classroom and we had to ask to be able to take some with us when we needed to “go”……….seemingly dignity wasn’t top of the list concerning primary school pupils back then. Neither was comfort as I recall the loo paper was single folded sheets in a little box - probably Izal brand - and we were encouraged to take no more than three pieces!

I recall the printed words of “now wash your hands please” on the Izal loo paper. Izal was good for polishing your bottom, but not good at cleaning it. We now also have moist toilet tissue as well as the usual dry sort. That’s very effective but I’m never sure whether it blocks the pipes so rarely buy it.

Magenta8

In days of old
When knights were bold
And paper wasn't invented
They wiped their a**e
On a piece of grass
And walked away contented

Oh Magenta my Dad always used to quote this 'poem'. Never heard anyone else use it. Dad died just before his 85th birthday back in 1991.

I can remember walking through the supermarket aisles which were like the colours of the rainbow with all the different colours loo roll. Nowadays we seem to have the choice of white or white.

As I have, for the past 36 years, had an ileostomy, I do not wipe my arse......but do use loo roll to clean end of my bag.

I do think it is about time that more toilet suites included bidents, or even just some sort of spray cleaning device as part of the loo.

some lovely memories similar to mine. outside loos were certainly a place spiders, snails, slugs and other wildlife certainly made them a home!
the girls loos at the infant and junior we were outside but with a roof, boys did not have a roof awful if anything was falling. yes to the printed Izal and a very strong smelling pink liquid soap that was in hospitals too. some sort of antiseptic i guess. added to classrooms being sprayed with liquid often we must have been a healthy lot!
i have heard a lot of this bamboo paper and are considering it I wonder if it is soft and as economical?
as a side note i did get told once coloured paper is not good for ladies can cause irritation of nether regions. i doubt that is the reason for the white paper maybe its cheaper or more eco not to dye it

What a good idea. Thank you for sharing

I don’t ever remember using newspaper for toilet paper but I do wonder now how our plumbing system ever coped with the disposal of newspaper, hardly dissolvable! I can remember sheets in some sort of flat holder. My boarding school had rolls of Bronco and every sheet was printed with the name of the school, goodness knows why.

i think a lot of folk who used newspaper they were using them with earth closets or outside loos where it did not matter so much

Outside for our family.

It wasn't until I went to secondary school that I realised it was possible to get real tracing paper, Izal rather limited the size of map you could trace for geography homework.

We had Izal at homethen later some variety of soft paper in pink. At school it was an even lougher version of tracing paper type - even less absorbent than Izal.

I currently use the bamboo version of 'Who Gives a Crap' but they also do a recycled paper version which I think is slightly cheaper. My DS and his family use an unbleached brand which is a beige colour - not sure of the brand but probably even more eco-friendly!

I remember a public loo in Venice where you paid at a turnstile and were given a single sheet of Izal style paper! I usually have tissues in my bag in case of such incidents!

I buy a spray called Wype which you spray on to the loo paper and use to wipe your back end. It has the advantage of flushing with no trouble.

I just came along to say only on Gransnet would you find an active thread with a title like this!

AuntieE

Believe me, it is still best to clean your bum with paper before using a bidet¡
.

Reading this reminded me of 2 comments that made me smile years ago.
The first was when I asked a little girl if she enjoyed her first day at school, No she said , we have to use plastic toilet paper!

The other funny moment was when I was visiting my mum in hospital. There was a nurse at an old ladies bedside, when the old lady asked why the toilet paper wasn't white. The nurse said it's because it's recycled. Then the old lady said I'm not going to use toilet paper that someone else has already used!

My mum's grandmother had an outside loo with 2 holes in the seat, a larger hole for adults and a small one for children. Potties were apparently unheard of and any adult heading out for the loo simply scooped up the youngest child and took them too. My mum had 'happy' memories of being very young and sitting beside her grandmother on the loo. Imagine that now!

At my boarding school and at my Nanna's house there was a fabric square hanging on the back of the door for ladies to wipe their drips with. Yes, communal!
The thought makes me shudder now!
I got this toilet paper in Germany - it was in aid of breast cancer.

Remember a brownie outing to Chigwell and you had to sit on loos which were full to bursting with pee and poo!

We had Izal or could be bronco inside and cut up newspaper outside
I can’t remember when we changed to decent loo rolls they haven’t really changed that much apart from being softer and more pliable

I remember torn up sheets of newspaper on string in the very basic lavatories on farms when I was a child.
We had soft tissue paper at home and coloured paper was considered bad for you so we had white !

The main difference I have noticed about toilet paper in the last few years is that I now have to use 3 or 4 sheets at a time instead of two. The width of the rolls has shrunk enormously!

I remember the reluctance shown by the MOD (and probably other Government departments) over changing from the Izal type to something soft, that actually worked. They were convinced we would all nick the rolls and threatened, when they did change, that if a whole roll disappeared complete with inner tube, they would not replace it!