Leo Hill figures that every single roll of toilet paper he’s bought since 2006 has shorted him at least one “sitting,” says the Denver Post.

Mr. Hill has been counting the sheets included in his rolls of toilet paper since his wife noticed something odd. The rolls in the 4-pack lasted longer than the ones in the 12-pack.

“She complained that a roll in the 12-pack would last just three days and the same size in the four-roll pack lasted four,” Hill explained. “I wanted to find out.”

Hill figured he had the time, since there wasn’t much else to do but read or stare at the shower curtain. So he counted every sheet of toilet paper as he used it.

It wasn’t for any other reason, he said, than to know if the number of sheets noted on the package matched what was on the roll.

Jotting his totals on a flattened inner tube from an expended roll, Hill said he kept meticulous track. Each day he’d count the number of sheets he needed — he limited the experiment to his Lakewood home’s basement bathroom because his wife won’t go there — then added it to his previous day’s tally.
By his count, the first roll was short by 15 sheets.

“You couldn’t prove anything from one roll,” Hill admits, “so I counted them all.”

At the end of the month, Hill said his nine-roll average was 156.75 sheets for the rolls of Angel Soft that promised 198 on the package.

Hill didn’t want to make a stink about it, but thought someone should know.

“I called them up,” Hill said about Georgia-Pacific Corp., the tissue’s makers.

Leo was offered a coupon for more toilet paper. Concerned that other consumers might be getting the “short sheet”, Mr. Hill filed an official complaint Denver Better Business Bureau, which was then forwarded to the toilet paper company.

Intrigued, The Denver Post tried to replicate Mr. Hill’s findings, but none of the rolls they counted had fewer sheets than advertised. This news pleased Mr. Hill:

“Maybe they started getting the counters right,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m sure glad you got a good roll.”

It’s good to know Leo’s out there, keeping them honest.

In the paper chase, he’s coming up short [Denver Post] (Thanks, Stephanie!)
(Photo:Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

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