Toilet Paper is definitely one of those items that all people need to buy. People like myself who coupon-shop especially like to grab this item when it reaches stockpile prices. Not all toilet paper is created equal; you have double rolls, triple rolls, and even something called the Mega roll..oh my! The choices for toilet paper seem endless and it can be really hard to know which toilet paper stretches your dollar the furthest.
I’ve been wanting to get down to the “bottom” of what are the best deals on toilet paper and what prices bargain shoppers should be paying. I admit it’s sort of a strange research project but then again couponers do some strange things. 🙂 I did some research at 5 large stores to compare every brand of toilet paper available. The stores I went to are Costco, Walmart, Target, Cash n Carry, and Winco. My research was to determine the answer to this question, “Which Toilet Paper is the best value?”
I created a spreadsheet you can view that shows regular price, square footage, thickness (or ply), the price per sq foot, and price per roll. Feel free to print this out and add it to your coupon binder or coupon box as a reference guide. Note – when you open this spreadsheet there are two tabs at the bottom – one that lists just the top 5 from each ply of toilet paper, and also the top prices from each brand.
You have two options to view this list:
- View in Google Docs version
- For printable version from Google Docs: Click File, Download As, choose PDF and export to your computer
- There are two tabs at the bottom, make sure and check each tab as there is useful information there as well.
What I found out was that to determine the best price on Toilet paper we needed to figure out the Price per Square foot per package. Forget about the price per roll…it’s all about the square footage. Here is how you determine the square footage of the package –
Find the Total Square Feet number on the package. Then divide it into the price that the package costs. So if this package costs $9.24 you would divide that into 1257.6 = $0.007 per sq. foot. This is the formula you can always use when your are out shopping to determine the price you are paying. I had heard that you should stick to under $0.01 per square foot for stocking up, but the results I found were quite a bit lower than even that $0.01 per sq. foot pricing.
Want to hear the results of my research? Drum roll please…..
The #1 Winner for best price per square foot was for Simply Value brand toilet paper at Cash n Carry. The Simply Value brand 20 Rolls package runs $13.47 and has 2055 total square feet of toilet paper. So that is only .007 per square foot.
The next runner up in best value was Scott 1000 Toilet paper. At Walmart and Target the price per square foot were also .007 per square foot, just slightly on the higher side of it.
You wanna see my bar graph? Oh yeah…I am totally nerding out here with my data… it’s just so fun to see in graph form!
While these Simply Value and Scott 1000 toilet paper prices are the best per sq. foot in price, the toilet paper is only 1 ply thickness. This means the toilet paper is pretty thin and not very soft. They weren’t horribly rough or anything, they were fine, just not as soft as the others. The rolls are also larger, which means less changing them out – I love that! My Simply Value toilet paper rolls seem to last FOREVER! While I love soft toilet paper, I love a great value even more so I will be sticking with these two choices in the future, unless I can beat that price per sq. foot using coupons + sales.
Does Softness Matter to you? There is definitely a difference when it comes to softness in toilet paper, so if you like it soft I figured out the best prices on the 2-Ply and 3-Ply types. Each ply means how many sheets are put together to make the toilet paper sheets. You can see 2-Ply very clearly here –
Here are the best value prices graphs in 2-Ply and 3-Ply toilet paper brands (this is for people who really value the softness in toilet paper, a little more than lowest prices. )
For 2 Ply Toilet Paper, the best deals are at Costco and Walmart:
Costco’s Marathon Ultra 48 Big Rolls is priced at $0.008 per sq. foot
Costco’s Kirkland Embossed 36 rolls is priced at $0.009 per sq. foot
Walmart’s “New” brand 12 double rolls is priced at $0.01 per sq. foot.
All of these prices are still under the $0.01 per sq. foot pricing, so these are great prices.
But when we get into the 3-ply the price per sq. foot is a bit higher.
Quilted Northern Ultra 30 rolls $0.019 (almost $0.02 per sq. foot)
Walmart’s White Cloud Ultra 12 Double Roll is priced at $0.021 per sq. foot.
More on Softness – I tested each one of these toilet paper brands shown below to determine the softness. My testing techniques shall remain private and confidential. (hee hee) 😉 The number one top pick for softness was Quilted Northern. Being 3-ply thickness it was the Cadillac of toilet papers for sure. My next vote for softness was the Costco’s Kirkland brand, followed by Charmin, and then Angel Soft. Next was Cottonelle, then Western Family, Simply Value and then Scott 1000.
So the bottom line is this – softness comes with a price and only you can determine what you willing to pay.
I’m not ashamed to say I’m a 1 ply and proud. I just love the best value price so much, and how long each roll lasts. I hope my research and spreadsheet help you out!
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Dee says
Is the data of the tp and kt list updated? What if you put them online and allow everybody to change the data, so it would be automatically updated by crowdsourcing? 😉
Rejean G says
Thank you for the info.
I`m just curious to know if you accounted for the 2 ply sheets as opposed to the single sheets when calculating the sq footage. Should you not double the sq ft of the doubles as you get two sheets instead of one?
That would cut the price in half on the double ply?
Troy says
would be great to have this updated… been a lot of years and we all know the prices have dramatically changed.
George Eager says
I compare by WEIGHT ($/kg). This helps me justify my preference for Quilted Northern. The idea is to filter out all the statistical ‘noise’ regarding sheets, and ply, and size of roll. See what I mean? 1000 square feet of one is not the same as 1000 sq ft of another, because toilet papers are different.
Kora says
From experience thus far I have found that Scott 1000 goes a very long way for its price and they issue regular coupons for it which I have used diligently, I don’t care about 2 and 3 ply or super softness.
Thank you so much for your effort to do the statistics, I was planning to do the same thing to find the best price – still may do it on a smaller scale to find the best price on toilet paper in my area. Thumbs up for all of the work you put into it!
elias says
is this list updated? can we have a wholesale prices?
thanks for valuable info
lisa nelsen says
Try soap.com if you’re a new customer. I received a $10 off coupon through a partner site wag.com to try at soap.com. then there was a sale, and free shipping ect…I got three 12 packs of double ply and 2 packs of wet wipes delivered free for under $5. Gasp! You’re welcome
Alex says
I also did some calculations, although only with Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand, and it came down to less than a tenth of a cent per square foot… I stopped right there because I’m more than happy with the size and strength!
Alisha says
You are simply amazing.
Dennis says
This is an excellent website. Thank you very much.
Mandy says
My parents always bought the Scott brand toilet paper when I was growing up, so any other type of toilet paper feels weird to me. I don’t like the thick ‘soft’ brands. I worked at CVS one summer during college and found that their tp is pretty much so the same as the Scott brand, so if that was on sale I’d buy it with my employee discount.
Tip: I happened to shop at the slowest, smallest CVS in our county. That is where they put the new, inexperienced, 24-year-old manager to learn the ropes. Their store brand individual rolls of tp would occasionally go on sale for 28 cents each with a purchase limit (six if I recall correctly). Anyway, the new manager ordered A LOT more tp then should could possibly sell during the sale period. The sale was over and she wanted it OUT of her store. As it was a smaller, slower store and she had fewer customers-she knew who I was and my shopping habits. She knew I liked to stock up. She offered me as many rolls as she had for the sale price on the last day of the sale. I took it! 7 CASES of TP. We donated some, but what we kept still lasted us years and years. On top of that, I asked her and she let me use my 10% off purchase coupon AND split up the orders so I could used multiple $5 coupons. It was AWESOME.
Now, when we need tp, I go to quiet drug stores on the last day of sales and ask. They don’t always say yes, but sometimes they do. We stock up! Try it. It can’t hurt to ask.
bethany says
It is interesting that you rank quilted northern and Kirkland as one and two, they are made by the same company.
DeAnn O says
There’s no skimping on the TP at my house! I used to buy what was on sale or had a coupon for…but then I brought home Quilted Northern Ultra Plush Triple Ply. We’d used regular 2-ply QN before, so when I ran out and had a coupon for the QN 2-ply, I bought it instead of the Ultra Plush…as soon as my husband used the regular Quilted Northern, he came out and announced that “there was something wrong with the toilet paper” like it was flawed or something! So it’s Quilted Northern Ultra Plush for us and I’ll keep looking for it on sale and any coupons I can find. Guess I’ll buy generic oranges and apples to make up the difference! 😉
GoodWitchPA says
Thank you for doing the math on this for me. I often stand staring at the TP shelves trying to do the math in my head (which I’m usually pretty good at) and end up crabby and headachey. My DH thank you too!
Kari says
Just wanted to add I did not like the Simply Value brand at Cash ‘n Carry. I must be a 2 ply kind of gal!
stuart collins says
I would just like to add to your research. I dont know if anyone has added this already but the dollar general generic brand is perhaps the best deal. They are 6 rolls of 2 ply for a dollar each. Which itself is probably as good or better than most, however they often have (once or twice a month) coupons in which you buy 25 dollars of anything and get 5 dollars off. This lowers the price of the 6 rolls to .80 before tax. I base my calculations on sheets per amount of money and this is by far the best price per 2-ply sheet. (172 sheets/roll x 6 rolls)
Karrie says
Thank you Stuart, I don’t have a dollar general in my area, but that sounds like an awesome deal!
Phoney Baloney says
Just found this web site, and I like it a lot.
I know that this is an old thread, but you really should do some kind of testing on strength. Remember that this is “bathroom tissue,” not toilet paper. We do other things with it besides wiping our butts.
I find, for example, that if I blow my nose with Angel Soft, there is toilet paper confetti all over my chest and the floor. Ditto for Charmen Basic. My parents used Scott tissue all my life, and they still do, and it seems to me that its economy is defeated if you have to use more of it and fold it over repeatedly to keep it from tearing.
In short, good work, but the mission is not accomplished.
patsy says
I buy ours on Amazon. It cost me $0.014 ~ It is 3 ply and is Quilted Northern Ultra Plus. It comes automatically on one day of the month or every other month. I have been getting 48 rolls for $20.35. I do subscribe to 5 items so that I get the 15% discount.
Brian says
I found this deal at staples $40 for 96 rolls with 500 sheets each
I will try it this week since I have a $20 off $60 breakroom coupon
Brighton Professional Bath Tissue Rolls, 2-Ply, 96 Rolls/Case
Item: 365377
melissa says
OMG I’m not alone. I was so confused about the best price. I’ve been wanting to do the same thing for awhile now. THANK YOU!!!