🔗 Toilet Paper Orientation

🔗 Sociology

Toilet paper when used with a toilet roll holder with a horizontal axle parallel to both the wall and the floor has two possible orientations: the toilet paper may hang over (in front of) or under (behind) the roll.

Some people hold strong opinions on the matter; advice columnist Ann Landers said that the subject was the most responded to (15,000 letters in 1986) and controversial issue in her column's history. Defenders of either position cite advantages ranging from aesthetics, hospitality, and cleanliness to paper conservation, ease of detaching sheets, and compatibility with pets. Some writers have proposed connections to age, sex, or political philosophy, and survey evidence has shown a correlation with socioeconomic status.

Solutions where the views of household members differ include using separate dispensers or separate bathrooms and ignoring the issue. One man advocates a plan under which his country will standardize on a single forced orientation, and at least one inventor hopes to popularize a new kind of toilet roll holder which swivels from one orientation to the other.