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Toilet paper is a subject wound in controversy:
Toilet paper orientation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Toilet paper orientation
The over orientation
The under orientation
Toilet paper when used with a toilet roll holder with a horizontal axle parallel to the floor and also parallel to the wall has two possible orientations: the toilet paper may hang over (in front of) or under (behind) the roll; if perpendicular to the wall, the two orientations are right-left or near-away. The choice is largely a matter of personal preference, dictated by habit. In surveys of US consumers and of bath and kitchen specialists, 60–70 percent of respondents prefer over.
While many people consider this topic unimportant, some 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, the ease of detaching individual squares, and compatibility with a recreational vehicle or a cat. Some writers have proposed connections to age, sex, or political philosophy, and survey evidence has shown a correlation with socioeconomic status. A generic answer is that it should hang the way the person doing the roll changing prefers.
Solutions range from compromise, to using separate dispensers or separate bathrooms entirely, or simply ignoring the issue altogether. 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.
I got this idea from Makena Gadient at the recent CoCA 24 hour Art Marathon. This is an excellent design study. Take a stack of cards. Using a big sewing needle, poke random holes into the stack of cards so they all have the same pattern of holes. Then, using the same holes, create a …
One year ago in March, to protect our students and teachers from a new coronavirus, the Seattle Artist League moved our classes online. The virus was declared a national emergency, and we went into quarantine. We have now been in quarantine for thirteen months. Through this year, we have met each other online to draw, …
Brushstrokes I’ve heard from several students that Brushstrokes is one of the best classes they’ve ever taken. I offer it once a year, and there’s a class starting next week. There are still a few spots if you’d like to jump in on Thursdays 6-10pm. Not a night person? No problem. I …
I met Keith Pfeiffer when he took my recent Thursday class “Drawing and Painting the Effects of Light.” I love the paintings he made with the ideas presented in class. I spotted this painting on his Instagram page during the class. I asked him what his strategies were. This is a teacherly way of saying …
Gerhard Richter: Toilet Paper
Change the attention.
Toilet paper is a subject wound in controversy:
Toilet paper orientation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Toilet paper orientation
The over orientation
The under orientation
Toilet paper when used with a toilet roll holder with a horizontal axle parallel to the floor and also parallel to the wall has two possible orientations: the toilet paper may hang over (in front of) or under (behind) the roll; if perpendicular to the wall, the two orientations are right-left or near-away. The choice is largely a matter of personal preference, dictated by habit. In surveys of US consumers and of bath and kitchen specialists, 60–70 percent of respondents prefer over.
While many people consider this topic unimportant, some 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, the ease of detaching individual squares, and compatibility with a recreational vehicle or a cat. Some writers have proposed connections to age, sex, or political philosophy, and survey evidence has shown a correlation with socioeconomic status. A generic answer is that it should hang the way the person doing the roll changing prefers.
Solutions range from compromise, to using separate dispensers or separate bathrooms entirely, or simply ignoring the issue altogether. 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.
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