This Toilet Paper Holder Is So Good I Just Bought Another (It’s So Worth It!)

To the uninitiated, a toilet paper holder may seem to like a straightforward household purchase, where economy reigns and the first option will be Just Fine. But in my experience, finding a good toilet paper holder that’s pretty, durable, and pleasant to use is, well, a total crapshoot. 

So when I finally bought and installed a toilet paper holder that, after a full year of use in my home, proved to be so good that I bought another for our powder room, it felt like a victory that I should share. You deserve to know. 

I’ve bought many toilet paper holders over the years, from affordable IKEA wall-mount options to more trendy versions. A good wall-mounted toilet paper holder has just three jobs: 

1. Stay on the wall. 
2. Dispense toilet paper, rapidly if need be. 
3. Reload easily. 

As a parent of two young children, I would also add a child-focused fourth: Make it a little challenging to pull the roll off on a whim. 

These seem like simple requirements but in my experience, finding a solid, dependable option has been weirdly elusive. There was the IKEA holder that wobbled and finally fell off the wall entirely. There were the complicated holders that made putting a new roll on like springing a mouse trap. And then there was the very trendy one that wouldn’t hold a full jumbo roll of toilet paper, which made tearing every sheet off a tedious chore.

During a bathroom remodel two years ago, I was looking for a cute toilet paper holder for my kids’ bathroom. I had a few criteria after dealing with so many bad TP holders: It needed to be sturdy and affixed to the wall by two points, not just one, like the cantilevered IKEA holders that let toilet paper spiral down slowly and then finally fell off the wall with a thud. (I had these in three bathrooms and two fell off in the same week; there must have been some timed obsolescence situation there.) I also needed it to hold a full jumbo roll of toilet paper. Last but not least, it needed to be sleek, modern, and come in a brass or gold finish.

I took a chance on the Moen Align Pivoting Double Post Toilet Paper Holder. (Yes, that’s a mouthful.) At about $45 at regular price, this was splurgy for a toilet paper holder, but I was intrigued by the good reviews and the way that a roll of TP slipped onto the pivoting holder. 

There’s no complicated mechanism or spring in the holder. Instead, you just flip the arm up and down as needed to refill the TP. It’s really neat and elegant — but also solid. This mechanism was also subtle enough that my kids couldn’t easily grab the roll and toss it around as they did with the single-post TP holders.

Still, my expectations were modest. We installed the paper holder (at the standard height of 26 inches) and voila! Two years later, it’s still solidly in place, with smooth pivoting action and no rolling rolls of TP to be seen. It holds even the most jumbo rolls with plenty of room between the roll and the wall. 

The Moen Align achieves a simple yet important task. So well, in fact, that when the IKEA toilet paper holder in the powder room met its inevitable end last year, my husband begged me just to buy the same Moen model. I bought it in brushed nickel to match that bathroom’s faucet finishes, and it’s equally handsome. 

Now, I’m just waiting for the trendy TP holder in our primary bathroom to “fall” down, as I think know a third Moen TP holder will be in our future. 

Do you have a TP holder you love? One that has lasted the test of time and … all that? I’d love to know! 

Buy: Moen Align Pivoting Double Post Toilet Paper Holder, $44.45