One of the worst feelings is having to rush to the bathroom after making a poor dietary decision, then realizing the only thing waiting for you in the stall is a rough cardboard tube. Toilet paper is a necessity we can’t live without, so it may surprise you to know that it’s a relatively new invention.
Sanitary paper wipes that we recognize as toilet paper were invented in 1857 by Joseph Gayetty. These were paper squares soaked in aloe vera and packaged for sale as a luxury item. Apparently, the squares felt right to consumers, because toilet paper rolls were patented not long after. In 1871, perforated wrapping paper was patented by Seth Wheeler.
I know what you’re thinking: Why are people rubbing random papers on their butts and calling it sanitary paper? I wish I could tell you, but it’s going to be one of those great unsolved mysteries of our world.
Regardless of the intentions, this perforated paper led to the development of proper toilet paper through the 1870s and into the 1890s, when it really took off. The Scott Paper Company began selling toilet paper to hotels and general stores through the 1890s. It was acquired by Kimberly-Clark in 1995 and contributed to the company’s $4.16 billion earnings in the first quarter of 2026. That’s a lot of paper from paper.
You’ve probably wondered at some point how your toilet paper is made. How many trees had to die just to be flushed down the toilet?
Courtesy photo
Most toilet paper isn’t actually made from fresh tree pulp. Hold onto your seat, because it might shock you to know that most toilet paper is manufactured from recycled paper. Manufacturers aren’t incredibly picky when sourcing recycled paper. While they largely won’t source from household recycled paper, they will often pull from office buildings, schools and grocery stores. The types of paper don’t really matter, as corrugated cardboard and standard office paper will likely end up as part of the final product.
It begins with literal tons of baled paper being shipped to a factory. These bales are retrieved by a forklift and loaded into a processing line, which mechanically sorts out anything you don’t want touching your sensitive bits, like plastic, chunks of metal and staples.
Once free of debris, the paper is loaded into a huge vat called a pulper. The pulper mixes the paper with water and applies a churning mechanical motion to beat the paper back into loose cellulose fibers. During this stage, the pulp is subjected to centrifugal force and pushed through filters to remove anything plastic or metal missed during previous filtration steps.
Paper with a lot of ink has to be de-inked. Chemical agents are added to the pulp to cause the ink to separate and rise to the top of the mixture where it can be filtered away. The paper is also likely to be bleached to both kill any unwanted microorganisms and give it a pristine, alabaster appearance.
The pulp is fed through a refiner, which rolls the pulp, pressing the cellulose fibers and making them bond together better. More water is added to the pulp during this stage, increasing the water amount to more than 95% of the pulp’s total composition.
A paper machine further refines the pulp into paper, pressing it between rollers and over a wire mesh that allows excess water to drain from the cellulose fibers. This is where it becomes a huge continuous sheet of paper. The sheet is fed into a vacuum chamber that helps gently remove water and further strengthen the bond of the fibers. Huge, heavy machines press the wet, pulpy sheet and squeeze the water out of it. It’s a lot like trying to juice an orange at this stage, but instead of orange juice you get toilet paper water.
Removing the last of the water occurs through thermal drying. Big metal cylinders called Yankee dryers use a combination of heat generated by internal steam and external pressure evaporate the water. As much as 90% of the water used during toilet paper production is reused, though much of it likely escapes as evaporation during this phase.
The nearly finished product is spun around rollers to form a huge rolled sheet that can be up to 50 miles long and weigh more than three tons. These are called parent rolls, and it’s pretty funny watching them get carried through the factory on massive cranes. Parent rolls are fed into a rewinding machine that unrolls and rerolls the paper so that it can be cut down to size for consumer use. Despite the rising popularity of the giant rolls of toilet paper we’ve been seeing in stores, three tons is a bit too much for the average household.
The paper is embossed during this stage, creating the texture pattern you recognize on every sheet. This serves two main purposes: first, it helps multi-ply sheets to bond together; second, it helps wipe away persistent waste while performing its assigned duties by creating an uneven and textured surface.
The cardboard core is manufactured in the same facility, and the embossed paper is wound onto the tube. It is tightly controlled to maintain uniformity and comfortability before being sent off to another area to be cut down into smaller hand-sized rolls by high-speed saws. At this point, it is sent off to be packaged and sent to distribution centers and store aisles near you.
Stay curious, 7B.
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