Right!
-
@bodhipaksa @drmikepj I encountered it at my grandparents’ place in England. It was terrifying
@moof@cupoftea.social @bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot @drmikepj@mastodon.social +1. My grandmother had two toilet paper dispensers: Tracing paper on one side because she "preferred it" and a normal one on the other side for everyone else.
I should complete the mental image by explaining that her toilet featured an old-fashioned high-level cistern with a flushing power that terrified small me. Standard Flushing Procedure involved closing the lid, holding the chain with an outstretched arm while standing as far into the doorway as possible, then delivering a swift tug before launching into an emergency high-speed sprint of the kind that was usually reserved for being pursued by school bullies or Scary Dogs. It probably smelled of Ajax. -
@bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot @purplepadma@beige.party @BenCotterill@mastodon.social "Now wash your hands."
-
@bodhipaksa Soft toilet paper was a novelty bought by posh rich people.
@bodhipaksa Actually I think the last time I saw hard toilet paper was as late as the mid 1980s. I won't name and shame the institution because they were, and still are, otherwise a Good Thing.
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa
Wales. We had it right through primary and secondary. I would like you to imagine menstruating and having only sharp, shiny, non-absorbent toilet paper. -
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa my grandparents had it, Izal, as it was medicated, whatever that meant. I thought I'd seen the last of it when they moved to live with us when I was 10, then as a teenager we went camping at a Forestry Commission site in Dumfries and Galloway. Yup, I experienced the delight of it once more, this time with corporate branding.
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa in the 1970s USA, when I was elementary school age, that paper was at school and lots of public bathrooms.
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa @TalktoBeverley My school had it and I avoided having to “go” during school hours.
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa Primary school had it, which I guess is pretty standard. But...
My parents ran the village shop and stocked Izal because there were people who actually wanted to buy it,and use it on their own arses voluntarily
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa Public service toilet paper. Eeee.
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
It was like grease proof paper!
I'm sure it was plausible for sewage farms to retrieve it, clean it and resell it!
Horrible stuff!
-
@bodhipaksa @TalktoBeverley My school had it and I avoided having to “go” during school hours.
Yes, mine too. But for a girl, loo roll is necessary for both functions.
Which reminds me, my first period began on a school trip to the Lake District. The public lavatory had… you’ve guessed it… Izal. So luxuriously absorbent. NOT. Properly traumatised me!
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
I've boosted but I decline my free larger sample of toilet paper thanks!
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa I remember my father and grandparents (in the us) talking about using a “sears & roebuck” catalog … you got to read the thing and then use it
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
I worked for a Canadian company that was so cheap you’d swear that there were wood chips in the toilet paper.
-
Yes, mine too. But for a girl, loo roll is necessary for both functions.
Which reminds me, my first period began on a school trip to the Lake District. The public lavatory had… you’ve guessed it… Izal. So luxuriously absorbent. NOT. Properly traumatised me!
@TalktoBeverley @bodhipaksa Why we never thought to bring a toilet roll to school with us I don’t know. Plenty of room in my school bag - especially on PE days.
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa Oh wow, flash back to primary school. Hideous stuff.
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa iirc I encountered it in France in 1970 and/or 1975.
-
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa
Ireland, 60s, primary school -
Right! Hard toilet paper!
People of a certain age from Britain (and maybe elsewhere) will remember with horror having to use toilet paper that resembled tracing paper. It was hard and crinkly, not at all absorbent, and you could literally use it for tracing.
I'm curious how many people remember the trauma of using this appalling invention.
If you did encounter it, please state the offending country in the comments.
[Boost for larger sample, please!]
@bodhipaksa
IZAL. It was called Izal. But I'm not that bothered: in my Grandma's toilet it was pieces of the Radio Times. But I'm not that bothered: they were FLUSHING TOILETS ffs. In a lot of the world they still don't have flush toilets or any kind of toilet paper -
@bodhipaksa
Spanish here.
In the city I only enjoyed the common soft toilet paper, but the game changed when we went to the country and stayed at my aunt's home (well, my father's aunt's really). She had that hard paper in the WC. She lived just below my grandma, so I tried going to gradmas' WC instead.When I was 30, a drugstore under my home closed, leaving some of these rolls in their backroom.
(Edit: something you have to take into consideration is that common soft toilet paper of the era was 2-foiled or even 1-foiled, so hard paper meet the requirement of not allowing poo to trespass the paper, and not breaking -- but it did it at a big cost).
@microblogc @bodhipaksa
Same here.
I can clearly remerber using it while visiting relatives at the counteyside in Spain.
