What direction is CLC headed - over the top or underneath it all?
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Installation
Most of the discussion below is about household uses of toilet paper. In large buildings, there are many users, so many very competitive industrial methods exist for the use of toilet paper.
There are two common methods of installing toilet paper rolls on a toilet roll holder. Often a matter of stern debate, and a contentious problem in households with opposing viewpoints (second only to the "toilet seat up/down" debate), the variances are mainly that of personal preference.
The first method of installation has the edge of the roll facing away from the wall and commonly facing the toilet (that is, overhand). This method allows the defecator easy access to grab the toilet paper and pull off the desired amount of paper, as the roll spins toward the user. This, in fact, is the protocol advocated by the toilet paper industry itself, including at Scott Paper's factory (the inventors of toilet paper in 1907). Since the industry designs toilet paper to be used overhand, designs that are patterned, quilted or printed upon toilet paper are found on the outside of the roll; i.e. so that it is displayed. In institutions where there is a defined protocol (e.g. Marriott, Holiday Inn/InterContinental Hotels, United Airlines, the U.S. Army), the "overhand" method is specified.
The second method of installation has the edge of the roll facing the wall and commonly facing away from the toilet (underhand). This method makes it a bit more difficult for the defecator to grab the toilet paper: as the roll spins, it spins away from the user. However, there is an advantage to this method in a household with toddlers, as is makes it less likely that toilet paper will spin off the roll. This is because a toddler is most likely to spin the roll toward himself (or herself). In the case of this installation, as the roll spins toward the toddler, the paper remains wound on the roll. Yet another advantage of this method is that when the toilet paper is folded directly from the roll, it allows the embossed or printed side of the paper to face out. Many modern toilet papers are advertised as being "quilted" or "embossed", so this method would let the user take full advantage of the un-printed or un-quilted side of the product (if that is what one prefers).
A third (but far less common) toilet paper installation method is to dispense without any roller mechanism at all, or use a vertical toilet roll holder.
A fourth method involves a portable roll dispenser that encloses the roll entirely. The roll is oriented vertically, and there is an opening on the top of the container. Before installing the roll into the portable roll dispenser, the cardboard core is removed. The paper is then extracted from the center rather than the edge.
Another method of dispensing the paper does not use a roll at all. Cut sheets are stacked in a dispenser, folded in such a way that removing a sheet causes the next sheet to protrude from the dispenser. This method has the advantage that it can be refilled at any time without waiting for the supply to run out completely (as would be the case with a roll) and is therefore popular in public buildings. Cut sheet dispensers force users to help themselves to one sheet at a time, thus preventing wastefulness. They are also commonly used on rail transports where the motion of the train would cause a roll to rotate and cause a mess. This method may also be used alongside toilets that may be used by "Shomer Shabbat" Jews, some of whom do not tear on the Jewish Sabbath.
In terms of the debate, Kenn Fischburg, the President of www.ToiletPaperWorld.com states, "Many hotels install the toilet paper to pay out from over the top in order to make a nice pointed triangle on the end sheet. This points out to the user that someone cleaned the bathroom and paid attention to the 'finer' details. However, others feel that in a public facility it is best to install to pay out from underneath. In this way, the dispensing and tearing is more controlled and therefore less people will touch the roll of paper, therefore less cross contamination. Also, keeping the paper closer to the wall by dispensing from underneath provides a 'cleaner less intrusive' environment, especially in close quarters. Some dispensers have a top cover that helps the user pull and tear the paper. In this case the roll should be dispensed from the top allowing the user to 'pull up' on the paper and tear it easily. So, it depends on the dispenser, the location and the facility. However, the simple concern about the installation of the roll may have a deeper meaning and may be indicative of a different issue in the personality of the user." "
So, CLC, which direction should we take? Underneath or Over-the-top?
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