Weekend Post
August 18, 2001
By MICHAEL DOJC

Using a public restroom for more than a quick visit can be nerve-racking for many people, and it's not just the germ-a-phobes who get all paranoid.

The fear of running out of toilet paper and consequently being forced to crawl into a neighbouring stall or, worse yet, having to ask a fellow patron for assistance à la Elaine in the infamous "spare a square" episode of Seinfeld is a real concern.

Kimberly-Clark Corp., the American paper and toiletry giant that has been around long enough to remember the days before indoor plumbing, has found a way to lessen the frequency of such embarrassing bathroom debacles.

They have eliminated the cardboard centre in their commercial Cottonelle and Scott brands, filled the empty space with more tissue, and thereby doubled the sheet count.

The Kleenex Cottonelle Coreless roll boasts 800 squares, while the Scott Coreless packs in a hefty 1,000. The tissue is wound upon itself and is attached to a dispenser using a plastic adapter.

The new coreless brands, which were launched last month, can be found in office buildings, stadiums, schools and other highly trafficked locations.

Of course, for the longest time, having toilet paper at all was a luxury reserved for the wealthy.

In prehistoric times, leaves and sticks did the trick. Mussel shells were popular among coastal dwellers. During the Renaissance, royals were known to swab themselves clean with wool or lace; Colonial Americans favoured corn cobs; and Victorians took to nailing newspapers to outhouse walls.

Toilet paper did not begin to gain acceptance until 1857, when Joseph C. Gayetty's Medicated Paper for the Water Closet was introduced in Britain as a hygienic alternative to bleach-and-ink-ridden paper.

Flush, er, flash forward to 2001, when cobs of corn and newspapers have been replaced with tissues advertised as "cushy" and "cottony soft." What has remained constant over the centuries, however, are the frequent run-outs in communal restrooms -- a problem the manufacturers hope to have solved.

"[The new rolls] are easier to load, you can do it with one hand, and you don't have to mess with a spindle," says Tracy Mark, tissue product manager at Kimberly-Clark.

"A lot of office building property mangers get complaints about run-outs and they spend quite a bit of money making sure they have maintenance staff to refill tissue," she adds.

This is the second toilet paper innovation for Kimberly-Clark in the calendar year. In January, they announced plans for Fresh Rollwipes, a pre-moistened wipe on a roll which they have touted as "the most significant category innovation since toilet paper first appeared in roll form in 1890."

Fresh Roll Wipes, which hit stores earlier this summer, are currently only available in the southeastern United States. According to Kimberly-Clark spokesman Tina Barry, it will be at least a year till they show up in Canada.

Rivals Procter & Gamble and Georgia-Pacific, not to be left out of the bowl, rolled out their own pre-moistened varieties earlier this year with Charmin Fresh Mates and Quilted Northern Fresh & Moist Wipes, respectively.

Georgia-Pacific Corp. has also put out a coreless-type product similar to Clark's with a hole in the middle the diameter of a pencil.

The future of toilet paper looks bright as the big three manufacturers continue to vie for bathroom supremacy.