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AT Europe: In Paris, the Toilet Paper is Pink

pink-tp.jpgI was a little worried the first time I visited the powder room at a French man's house and found that his taste in toilet paper ran to pink.

 
 

Was this a sign of something I'd been missing, like a pink-toilet-paper-buying secret girlfriend, or a tendency to play for the other team? Or as innocent as a pink dress shirt?

Turns out it often not a matter of preference but lack of choice that drives a Parisian to pick pink toilet paper from the shelf, if this photo of the offerings at my local supermarket is any indication. It's not that white toilet paper doesn't exist (as well as flowered, purple, scented and a few other abberations), but it's always in the minority, with pink the best-selling and default option for the home (you won't find the pink stuff in restaurants or public buildings). Doesn't seem to me that pink toilet paper is very green. I have no idea who decided that pink should be the shade of the national toilet paper (or the national drivers license, which is also shrouded pink), and informal surveys of friends and fruitless Google searches have yielded no satisfying conclusions. Any toilet paper scholars out there?


- Kristin Hohenadel blogging from rue Vieille du Temple, Paris, France. If you know why French toilet paper is pink, please write kristinh @ apartmenttherapy . com

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Comments (38)

hahaha!

However, in our part of France, pink toilet paper does not rule -- it is just a Paris thing Kristin!

Here, we seem to have a preponderance of pastels colours embossed and scented on white -- I would give the edge to lavender -- coloured and scented.

This is why we always buy our toilet paper in Switzerland, where you can find white Charmin... (along with yellow, blue, and pink, which do not exist back home).

Hey! But when we were in Paris a couple of weeks ago, we found the most amazing 8 ply white paper, which we can't get here... I think it was at Champion.

posted by mschatelaine on April 22nd 2008 at 4:09am
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what's with the homophobia and promoting of stereotypes in that blog? And why's a quote from it on AT?

posted by *heather leaf* on April 22nd 2008 at 4:12am
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I've come across pastel green tp, not sure if that was in France or in Germany though!

posted by f.in.eur on April 22nd 2008 at 4:14am
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give me a break, it's not homophobic.

posted by A bomb on April 22nd 2008 at 4:28am
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This has got to be my least favorite post on AT yet.

Who cares what color it is. It all does the same function and all ends up in the same place.

posted by Melissa82 on April 22nd 2008 at 4:28am
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Pink toilet paper means gay? You're right, not homophobic. Just ignorant.

posted by Donald in Pigtown on April 22nd 2008 at 4:34am
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When I was a student in France (in the Loire valley), my host family's house had a separate room for the sink and shower and another one for the toilet. The actual toilet room had no windows and a red chinese globe shade over the lightbulb, so EVERYTHING looked somewhat pinkish. It wasn't until I grabbed some TP and took it into my room to blow my nose that I realized it was all pink!

posted by JulesDC on April 22nd 2008 at 4:42am
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Nice thread for Earth Day!

posted by Mid-C Frank on April 22nd 2008 at 4:43am
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There's no homophobia or ignorance here!

"... a pink-toilet-paper-buying secret girlfriend, or a tendency to play for the other team? Or as innocent as a pink dress shirt?"

If she's being homophobic, then she's also being sexist (the girlfriend must have bought it) and elitist (pink dress shirts are not blue collar!).

Melissa82: "Who cares what color it is. It all does the same function and all ends up in the same place."

Some people find it interesting to see what homes in other parts of the world look like - and yes, that includes toilet paper.

posted by f.in.eur on April 22nd 2008 at 4:47am
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It's all pink in the middle.

posted by hejiranyc on April 22nd 2008 at 4:47am
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I think the point of the post was more about this line

"Doesn't seem to me that pink toilet paper is very green."

With the fact that is it Earth Day and why do they have to take the extra effort, time, money, chemicals, and whatever else to dye the TP pink. Seem like white would be a fine color and doesn't require all the extra things. Although it seems like off white TP, although not as appealing, might be more green since then they don't have to bleach it to the white color.

posted by jmorey on April 22nd 2008 at 5:24am
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In East Africa, the toilet paper is turquoise. Now you know.

posted by lizk on April 22nd 2008 at 5:30am
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I have seen TP in the same pattern as carpet padding, (greenish with colored bits,) in Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. This TP also had a strange elasticity...

posted by waiter on April 22nd 2008 at 5:41am
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Like party streamers?

posted by K T G on April 22nd 2008 at 5:57am
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My favorite tp was the kind I used to find in certain public restrooms in Britain. It was shiny and stiff and printed on each sheet was something like 'Property of Her Majesties' Government'. In addition to this, it didn't flush very well. being rather bouyant.

You don't see it anymore, but I'll bet it was greener than the soft stuff you see nowadays.

posted by Dulcibella on April 22nd 2008 at 6:23am
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The US had pastel and patterned toilet paper not that long ago - until the public finally demanded plain white back in the Eco-Conscious 70's

posted by bepsf on April 22nd 2008 at 6:26am
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In Paris you are worried about pink toilet paper?
There toilet paper has a perfume scent that is worse than the color pink.
Remember Paris is the perfume capital of the world.

posted by cityofparis on April 22nd 2008 at 6:34am
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lizk, i lived in Uganda, East Africa, and our toilet paper wasn't turquoise! (It was usually unbleached-ish white-ish.) I did see turquoise now and again, but it was very rare.

posted by Deeliscious on April 22nd 2008 at 6:40am
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Oh gee...some people are surely lacking a sense of humor.

This post was hysterical.

posted by I Love Upstate on April 22nd 2008 at 6:41am
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"This post was hysterical"...


I bet everyone that found it funny also loves racist jokes. Laugh it up now, laugh it up.

posted by Djluckyonline on April 22nd 2008 at 6:50am
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Super-white toilet paper isn't very green either--it's usually been bleached, if it's manufactured by the big companies, and this is horrible for the environment. If you have a choice, look for unbleached. But if you have no choice, well, pink is pretty. Reminds me of my grandmother's gigantic pink-and-black tiled bathroom.

posted by bettyt on April 22nd 2008 at 6:58am
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You can get any kind you want online.
http://www.justtoiletpaper.com/

posted by K T G on April 22nd 2008 at 7:07am
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You can even advertise your business.
http://www.justtoiletpaper.com/advertise.shtml

posted by K T G on April 22nd 2008 at 7:08am
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One word: bidet.

posted by Mid-C Frank on April 22nd 2008 at 7:12am
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I'm guessing that was a long time ago Dulcibella! I haven't seen it for a few decades now - but I do remember from when I was about four that IZAL toilet paper made great tracing paper but was not so good at doing the business...

posted by Lesley - London on April 22nd 2008 at 7:14am
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i don't think it's a paris thing. i always assumed the reason it was pink was that it was cheaper than making the toilet paper bright white (as the french are generally very cheap!).

you can buy whitish toilet paper at monoprix though (under their "green" brand).

posted by clemoni on April 22nd 2008 at 7:30am
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The newstand has several pink papers from abroad. Same reason?

posted by K T G on April 22nd 2008 at 7:36am
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White toilet paper aren't necessary more green than pink ones. They are heavily bleached, which requires more water to manufacture and cause more pollution. Pink ones could be more green, as they are less bleached. The added pink bye is used for covering up the remaining gray/brown and the pulps.

posted by Evil Tofu on April 22nd 2008 at 8:18am
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Heehee. I just went for a little walk with a colleague to stretch our legs and she popped into the supermarket to pick up some things for dinner. I hadn't mentioned this post, but quite independently she got all delighted when she managed to find white!! As she said, it's always a real coup when you find tp (or "pq" seeing as we're in France) that's not pink or flowery or perfumed.

posted by Laurita on April 22nd 2008 at 8:27am
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So, America is (evidently) NOT the only country whose obsession with style/fad/fashion has a complete disregard for where the stuff comes from, how it's made, and where it goes when we're through with it. Not to mention our own exposure to the product and how it affects US.

This is certainly entertaining, but it seems most are missing the point.

Happy Earth Day:)

posted by lilithslair on April 22nd 2008 at 8:29am
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i live in the uk, and TP is all shades of pastels, also the other day i was in a shop that stocked damask TP and I have also seen black TP....how fab is that?!

posted by hails on April 22nd 2008 at 8:41am
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Deeliscious, I did see a little turquoise in Uganda, but you're right...it wasn't exactly everywhere. Kenya on the other hand, it was everywhere!

posted by lizk on April 22nd 2008 at 8:52am
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Whether it was intended to be funny or not, the post is definitely preoccupied with the "meaning" or a man and pink. Lame.

posted by AKirstin on April 22nd 2008 at 8:54am
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Come on, everyone knows that pink is for girls, blue is for boys. Mattel decided it, and that settles it.

posted by jen_g on April 22nd 2008 at 9:11am
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lizk and Deeliscious-

I lived in Kenya for a year (mostly Nairobi) and the only time I ever saw non-turquoise toilet paper was at the Hilton and in the American Ambassador's poolhouse.

posted by millipede on April 22nd 2008 at 10:14am
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One of the dumbest posts ever on AT. Yes it is sexist and homophobic and promotes the idea of Americans as idiots. As for white toilet paper being green it depends on what is used to give it a bring white colour. I fail to see how using a non toxic plant dye like the one in most coloured toilet paper in France is not green. Learn to use a bidet.

posted by TheoJ on April 22nd 2008 at 1:51pm
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How timely this post is. I was just thinking the other day that we all used to have a choice of colors when it came to toilet tissue. Now it's just white which is the way it should be. But I remember my mother buying pink for our pink bathroom.

posted by anne on April 22nd 2008 at 2:49pm
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To Theoj.
Humour is not dumb.
It is funny.

posted by cityofparis on April 22nd 2008 at 6:34pm
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