Toilet paper manufacturers often use confusing terms to describe the strength & efficacy of their products.
So 2 hobbyist deal hunters, frustrated by unquantifiable TP marketing, created a calculator to determine which options are actually a good deal. wrctr.co/3dLdpcZ
Descriptors like “jumbo,” “super,” and “mega” are hard to quantify.
Some companies claim that one roll of their toilet paper is now the equivalent of four, or that their toilet paper is stronger or capable of cleaning better than the competition.
Even Kevin Purdy, who spent hours researching & writing our toilet paper guide, can’t make sense of the way toilet paper is marketed.
“I generally don’t trust ‘mega ultra super’ rolls. It seems like we’re being charged more for the same products.” wrctr.co/3qOMUqv
Here's what happened when we reached out to 3 of the largest toilet paper manufacturers on their TP strategy & marketing language:
1. Kimberly-Clark declined to comment 2. Procter & Gamble hasn’t responded to our emails yet
but interestingly...
A Georgia-Pacific VP told us that size descriptors like Double, Triple, [&] Mega are based on the # of sheets, so ply & absorbency aren’t a factor...
while words like “ultra” can point to “a higher level of performance” but other times refer to softness, strength, or absorbency.
Unfortunately, the only way to make any sense of it all is to do the math:
Multiply the # of rolls in a package by the sheets per roll to get the total # of sheets
& then divide THAT number by the price before multiplying by 100 to get a per-sheet result in fractions of a cent
This is where protagonist #1 comes in:
Deal hunter Victor Ly has been tracking household product prices for years.
Realizing that even deals communities had a hard time gauging value when it came to toilet paper, he created a spreadsheet to put all that info into one resource.
^ The spreadsheet created by Ly, who goes by TofuVic online, tracks more than 70 kinds of toilet paper.
“With a price point for reference, you can easily figure out if a sale is actually a good deal, so you can save time while shopping both in-store and online,” Ly says.
Meet protagonist #2:
Albert Wiersch, a Slickdeals member & software developer who goes by TidalWaveOne, reached out to Ly, asking to use his spreadsheet for the basis of a toilet paper calculator
Ly agreed, & Wiersch used Ly’s research to make the Toilet Paper Value Calculator
The Toilet Paper Value Calculator allows you to input the:
🧻# of rolls per package
🧻# of sheets per roll
🧻& the price
to return a rating that tells you exactly how good (or awful) a discount is, taking the guesswork out of scoring maximum savings
It's an older guide, but our toilet paper pick after surveying 500+ people, testing 40 options over 4 months, & having 10 panelists use & rate our 9 finalists to find the one that could best satisfy the needs of most people:
(🧻 mini-thread) So, what makes a good deal on toilet paper?
According to the co-creator of the Toilet Paper Value Calculator: “After looking at hundreds of data points, I came to the conclusion that the deal price for quality toilet paper is:
(THREAD) As COVID-19’s spread has prompted an expansion of work-from-home policies across various industries, the use of more-pervasive monitoring software, also known as “tattleware” or “bossware,” has increased.
Employers can see everything you write in email as well as in Slack, Google Workplace, and Microsoft Teams wrctr.co/3ujaAFw
In several of their plans, Google & Microsoft each offer ways for administrators to track usage and metadata from users.
Such data includes what time you sign on, how many messages you send, how many calls you join, or what devices you use.
The services can also turn the data into measurements & user-activity reports.
In Google Workspace, this feature is called Work Insights, & in Microsoft 365 it’s Workplace Analytics (there’s also a personal version that managers can’t see called MyAnalytics).
A 2018 study involving 6 men in their 20s found that they fell asleep, on average, in 7½ minutes when they wore socks vs ~15 minutes when they didn’t.
The study also suggested that the socks allowed the men to sleep longer & wake up less during the night. wrctr.co/3amNVAl
In a 2007 Dutch paper, eight subjects with no sleep issues who were between the ages of 21 to 39 fell asleep, on average, in about 11 minutes when they wore socks to bed vs 16 minutes without. wrctr.co/2ZpqT5v
Our experts spend hundreds of hours researching, testing, & recommending the best gear to help you get better rest
So this week, we're diving into all things sleep related, from advice on napping to avoiding mattress sales traps
Here you’ll find our best advice, tips, and hacks for sleeping better.
How not to feel dead tired this winter? ✅
Your Ideal Sleep Position? ✅
How to make sleeping together suck less? ✅
Debunking dubious bedding claims? ✅
How to clean bed pillows? ✅