Hi there. My roommate and I are both girls in our 20s- she just moved in a month ago replacing someone who moved out. We are mostly sheltering in place (but she spends 2-4 days a week at her boyfriend’s). Despite her only being home <5 days a week, she uses a lot of toilet paper. We have gone through at least 15 rolls (240 sheets/ plush) in the last 3 weeks. In the last 24 hours, she’s gone through almost 3!
I don’t want to be petty at all, and want to handle this situation with sensitivity. I have an issue with paying for toilet paper that I truly barely used. More importantly, I’m finding the toilet bowl filled with toilet paper so I’m really worried about her damaging the plumbing.
Please give me advice on how to handle this. I’m not a confrontational person.
“Hey [Name]? You use a lot of toilet paper. You’ve gone through 3 rolls of toilet paper in the past day, and sometimes I find the bowl full of toilet paper for no apparent reason, so from now on I’m gonna buy and use my own, kay?”
Then buy your own and take it in and out with you. Whatever her deal is I’m sure you don’t even want to know.
This is crucial- learned the hard way. Buy your own and bring it into the bathroom when you need it and take it back to your room when you’re done.
Problem: Solved.
Might be wildly off-base, but is there a chance she has a eating disorder like bulimia? When you force yourself to throw up undigested food, it is usually easily recognisable, and floats, so doesn’t flush easily. Perhaps she’s hiding evidence of purges by swamping the bowl with toilet paper?
I had a roommate like this. Turns out she had OCD. She’d use it to protect her hands when she was touching stuff and just throw it into the open toilet.
I would bet it’s that or another medical issue that’s more gross.
Either way I doubt you’ll be able to get her to stop. Your best option is to only buy your own TP and keep it in your room. Let her know you’re doing that and mention you’re worried about the plumbing. Maybe put a trash can in the bathroom too if the toilet paper isn’t contaminated.
Guy here.
I had a girlfriend who went through suspiciously copious amounts of toilet paper as well.
I’m talking 4 rolls per week sometimes.
When I finally got to the bottom of it, it turned out she hated tampons and pads and simply used toilet paper as a substitute.
I never figured out the mechanics of it, but that’s what she told me.
Maybe your roommate had a similar hang-up?
People can be odd. Tread lightly, but probe for reasons being aware that you might find out something weird.