The last time anyone from Casa Ney-Grimm set foot in a grocery store was sometime during the second week of March. It’s been delivery or curbside contact-free pick-up ever since.

Food supplies have been good. TP? Not so much. In fact, not at all.

At first I wasn’t too worried. But as we watched our stash of toilet paper go down and down and down over the weeks, I wondered where the end of it would be.

Would we have to venture into the store to get any? I really didn’t want to do that, given that my husband occupies three of the high risk categories.

I searched on Amazon and discovered a bale of 12 rolls that would arrive sometime between April 23 and May 15.

The reviews were poor. The rolls were scant and the paper itself thin, harsh, and prone to ripping.

But I figured it would be better than nothing at all, so I ordered it.

Then I watched our existing stock of TP go down some more. Even if the Amazon order arrived on April 23, it was going to be close. If it arrived in mid-May…we weren’t going to make it.

So I decided to search for the commercial rolls that are massive in size and don’t fit on home dispensers. We might have to prop a drum on the side of the tub, but at least we’d have something!

I found a bale of the commercial TP that was reasonably priced, had good reviews, and possessed a delivery date range of April 23 to May 1.

My husband eventually broke out the 3 rolls of camping TP stashed in a backpack. And we made it! Just barely. (One roll of camping TP left.)

I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the commercial TP. It’s soft, cushiony, and strong—much better than everything I’ve encountered in public restrooms.

As you can see in the photos above, we decided to roll the TP from one gigantic commercial roll onto the multiple cardboard tubes we’d been saving for that purpose. The first attempted transfer (roll on the far right) was…messy! But we got more skillful with practice.

Ironically, a mere 3 days after the colossal bale arrived from Amazon, our grocery store had TP available for delivery. Just one package per order, but still. We ordered it, and it arrived. After coming so close to having none, I’d rather have a little extra now!

For more on how we’re coping during the pandemic, see:
Exercise in the Time of Coronavirus
Conquering Back Pain
Tackling Hip Pain