Everybody's got an opinion on the pros and cons of hanging the roll "over" versus "under", and here's what I found out:
- As far as being fashionable, the "over" position wins. I visited those nicer hotels (the ones that charge at least $24.95 overnight) and saw that they hung their roll with the paper dangling over the top and then they took the end sheet and folded it into this little fancy triangle. I don't rightly know what that triangle-sheet is for - seems like a waste to me, well, unless you tear off that end sheet and use it to clean out from under your fingernails while you finish your bidness or sumthin'.
- If you have toddlers or cats, you should hang it in the "under" position - it doesn't unroll as easily.
- If you have boys, by putting the roll in the "over" position, the paper is just begging to be used. This way, the boys will want to use it and you won't have to soak their drawers as long to get out their skid marks.
- If you choose a print, you must hang it in the "over" position or the print on the paper will be upside down.
- It is easier to grasp if the paper is in the "over" position, of course on the flip side, reaching to the back is just as easy - unless static cling makes the paper stick to the wall.
- Standing men prefer the roll over-the-top. I didn't ask why. They scared me.
- A physics professor in the "under" camp offered this analysis: To get the paper to turn requires a certain torque, which comes from the tension in the paper being withdrawn. The greater the distance between the plane of the paper being pulled and the axle support line, the less force is required and the less chance of tearing the paper before you have enough. Uh, yeah.
- Several womenfolk told me that when they hung the roll in the "under" position, their men often got poop on their hands and then smeared it on the wall when they reached to the back for the edge of the toilet paper.
So the "right" way to hang toilet paper? It depends on what person or critter will be using your toilet and what kind of holder (if any) you got. But, if I just
have to choose, then I'll vote for the "over" position.