The ‘correct’ way to hang your loo roll has been confirmed – have you been doing it the right?
IT’S a huge debate online, but the bathroom battle over which way to hand your toilet roll might just have been ended once and for all.
Etiquette expert Jackie Vernon-Thompson has offered her opinion on the matter, putting an end to the age old argument.
Some people like to have the loose end closer to the wall, so they can pull the roll down and towards them that way.
But others swear the loose end should be on the edge closest to you for ease of access.
Jackie, who is the founder of From The Inside-Out School of Etiquette, told the Daily Mail: “Research after research reveals that the proper and most hygienic way to hang your toilet paper is over and not under.
“Might I add, that goes for paper towels too, if hanging from the wall. Not only is it hygienic, it lends to maintaining proper hygiene, which is proper etiquette.”
Not only that, but the etiquette expert noted that it has always been designed to be used that way.
Inventor of the toilet roll holder Seth Wheeler even noted the correct way to hang toilet roll in a diagram for the patent way back in 1891.
There’s even a helpful sketch included in this document, showing the toilet roll with the loose end on the side closet to the person using the toilet – not the wall.
As far as Jackie is concerned, it’s not just because of this that it’s the right way to do it though.
It’s almost way more hygienic, she noted.
“If the paper is over, when you reach for the paper, your fingers will touch only the piece that you plan to use and flush.
“However, when it is under, more than likely you are forced to feel for it and touch other parts of the roll and even the wall, which is likely to spread bacteria and germs.
“Consider going into a restroom in a public place… if the roll is hung under, [the person before you] would have had to search for the beginning of the paper just like you will.
“They would have spread their germs and bacteria while searching for the end.”
Jackie added that this means when you go after them you’ll come into contact with their germs and bacteria, which is less than ideal.
And although you can never really know what the person in the loo before you was up to, at least in public restrooms, you can do you business with a bit more peace of mind if the loo roll is left over, not under.