Mum's Reusable Toilet Paper, Washed Once a Week, Divides the Internet

Toilet paper and panic buying seem to go hand in hand. Anytime we get a whiff of a potential lockdown, our shelves mysteriously run out of toilet paper.

But for one mum, this isn’t even remotely a concern. Why? Because she has decided to hell with one-time-use toilet paper. Instead, she makes her own.

Reusable toilet paper saves hundreds

Kelsey Leverton started making her own reusable toilet wipes three years ago to help with the excessive amounts of toilet paper her family was using. She estimated they were using around 300 roles a year. You’re probably looking at around 50 cents per roll which equates to about $150 a year in toilet paper.

My family of five probably go through a whole heck of a lot more than this, to be honest! But I have a partner who likes to use ALL the toilet paper every time he takes a #2 and a toddler who likes to unroll the TP and watch it unravel down the hallway. In any case, a quick calculation and I reckon we go through at least 10 roles a week. So around $260 a year.

Make your own TP

For Kelsey, it seemed like she was throwing money down the shitter. Literally. So she decided to do something about it.

She explains,

I heard someone on the radio talking about reusable toilet wipes. It was a real eye opener. I thought, ‘I can do this, it’s easy’.

I thought about how my mum used terry towelling when we were babies as washable nappies and thought it would be the ideal material.”

Kelsey bought a meter square of towelling and cut it up into 50 strips. That’s 50 pieces of reusable toilet paper, which she still uses today. Yep. Three years later. Same 50 pieces of toilet paper.

As Kelsey explains, the wipes sit in a basket next to the toilet. When used, they are dumped in a small waste paper bin that contains essential oils.

I use fresh scents like orange, lemon, peppermint or frankincense. I just put a few drops in the bottom of the bins and they don’t get smelly at all.”

Of course, if you’re not crafty you can also buy reusable toilet paper through plenty of shops on Etsy.

Washed once a week

The wipes are washed once a week, with Kelsey saying it’s “just like having a few extra pairs of socks to sort out.” She hangs them on the washing line or clothes hanger before returning them to their trusty basket every week.

While the system works for Kelsey and her daughters, guests are often horrified at the thought and thus they do still have some toilet paper in the house. They also tend to use regular toilet paper for number twos. But number ones are fair game!