Finding TP isn’t a problem, but...

[Poopycat]

...why is the selection of paper towels so limited?? I’ve been trying to find my favorite brand (the Viva towels that are really absorbent) and i haven’t seen them in the local grocery store or WalMart. In fact, all WalMart had was their own yucky brand and two other brands I don’t care for. I didn’t have a need to go to another store today so I just sucked it up and got the brand I had heard of.

So odd, the stores have everything else.

 

[W2R]

...why is the selection of paper towels so limited?? I’ve been trying to find my favorite brand (the Viva towels that are really absorbent) and i haven’t seen them in the local grocery store or WalMart. In fact, all WalMart had was their own yucky brand and two other brands I don’t care for. I didn’t have a need to go to another store today so I just sucked it up and got the brand I had heard of.

So odd, the stores have everything else.

This is so annoying! I have enough paper towels from the stash that I started out with when the pandemic first got here. BUT - - I have had the same experiences as you, with other "in demand" items. Why is it, that after 6 months of pandemic, we STILL cannot purchase the brands and sizes of items that we could easily purchase nearly anywhere before the pandemic?

I know, I know, people will tell us lots of seemingly logical reasons but I needed to vent. I am sick of dealing with it and reject all logic at this point.

 

[rk911]

...why is the selection of paper towels so limited?? I’ve been trying to find my favorite brand (the Viva towels that are really absorbent) and i haven’t seen them in the local grocery store or WalMart. In fact, all WalMart had was their own yucky brand and two other brands I don’t care for. I didn’t have a need to go to another store today so I just sucked it up and got the brand I had heard of.

So odd, the stores have everything else.

amazon seems to have them. walmart.com shows out of stock

 

[RobbieB]

Ya always have to go through the paper aisle and just grab what you can. But hey, at least there's something to grab eh?

"ya can't always get what ya want"..."but if you try some time ya might find"

I swear, all the wisdom of the world can be found in rock & roll

 

[audreyh1]

...why is the selection of paper towels so limited?? I’ve been trying to find my favorite brand (the Viva towels that are really absorbent) and i haven’t seen them in the local grocery store or WalMart. In fact, all WalMart had was their own yucky brand and two other brands I don’t care for. I didn’t have a need to go to another store today so I just sucked it up and got the brand I had heard of.

So odd, the stores have everything else.

I was able to order Costco Kirkland brand TP and Paper Towels recently. Limit one per customer. I like their store brand just fine, and now we're good for the rest of the year.

 

[Koolau]

I was able to order Costco Kirkland brand TP and Paper Towels recently. Limit one per customer. I like their store brand just fine, and now we're good for the rest of the year.

DW just informed me that we WILL be going back to Charmin and not buying Kirkland ever again. SHE has spoken. YMMV

 

[JoeWras]

I thought I heard that many of the consumer product companies are cranking the machines as much as possible, so they may focus on a limited number of popular brands in limited sizes. This avoids down time on the machines due to change-over. The result is more product out the door, with less variety.

Of course, this doesn't make sense if the OP is only finding weird brands. You'd think the popular ones would be the varieties they would produce.

 

[W2R]

...why is the selection of paper towels so limited?? I’ve been trying to find my favorite brand (the Viva towels that are really absorbent) and i haven’t seen them in the local grocery store or WalMart. In fact, all WalMart had was their own yucky brand and two other brands I don’t care for. I didn’t have a need to go to another store today so I just sucked it up and got the brand I had heard of.

So odd, the stores have everything else.

Today as we were driving around the neighborhoods on a pleasure drive, I saw a woman unloading dozens of rolls of Viva paper towels from her SUV along with her other groceries. They were in those big packages of 6 or 8 rolls. She was carrying three, so that was at least 18-24 rolls and probably more still in the SUV.

I thought of you.

 

[audreyh1]

DW just informed me that we WILL be going back to Charmin and not buying Kirkland ever again. SHE has spoken. YMMV

Ha ha. I actually found that for me Kirkland TP was just right (Soft enough, strong enough, can use less) and I complain vociferously if DH tries to get something else.

 

[audreyh1]

Today as we were driving around the neighborhoods on a pleasure drive, I saw a woman unloading dozens of rolls of Viva paper towels from her SUV along with her other groceries. They were in those big packages of 6 or 8 rolls. She was carrying three, so that was at least 18-24 rolls and probably more still in the SUV.

I thought of you.

Hey, she’s doing online sales arbitrage and selling them for a big markup on Amazon or EBay!

Something you can do while stuck at home with the kids.

Fortunately for us consumers most places now limit 1 per customer whether in the store or online.

 

[W2R]

Hey, she’s doing online sales arbitrage and selling them for a big markup on Amazon or EBay!

Something you can do while stuck at home with the kids.

Fortunately for us consumers most places now limit 1 per customer whether in the store or online.

Sadly you might be right! This pandemic has turned so many lives topsy-turvy. That might have inspired her to become a scalper on Amazon or somewhere, especially if she is stuck at home and can't go to work. Mortgage payments on that half million dollar home are probably pretty steep, and that luxury (Lexus?) SUV may need monthly payments as well.

I don't know if the average store here is limiting purchases like that any more. The last time I went shopping at a grocery store was in July, and there were no limits like that at our usual store. I think they only had off-brand paper towels at that time, though.

 

[24601NoMore]

I was able to order Costco Kirkland brand TP and Paper Towels recently. Limit one per customer. I like their store brand just fine, and now we're good for the rest of the year.

Reminds me that we need to restock both Costco TP and Paper Towels. Both are just fine, and I'm a bit of a TP "snob" previously ONLY using Charmin Quilted..

Switching to Costco paper products can pretty much save you the cost of the annual membership fee..then, all other savings are bonus at that point..we learned for example, that one roll of Costco paper towel lasts us 5 weeks as they're gigantic. That's amazing..and even at only $1 for a roll at Kroger, we're still saving a fortune on TP and paper towel alone..

 

[audreyh1]

I don't know if the average store here is limiting purchases like that any more. The last time I went shopping at a grocery store was in July, and there were no limits like that at our usual store. I think they only had off-brand paper towels at that time, though.

The small Walmart here is still limiting cleaning products and sanitizers/alcohol to 1 per customer. These are items that are still hard to keep in stock. I haven’t checked the paper products aisle in awhile, although I vaguely remember it appearing half empty from a distance. I remember at one point in April it being completely empty and me feeling great relief at nabbing the last bag of cheap paper napkins. There had been no paper products, no napkins, not even paper plates available the week before.

 

[jollystomper]

No PT or TP shortages here, though some stores are limiting a purchase to 1 per customer. Of course, in some stores that does not stop you from buying one, taking it to your car, and them coming back and buying another... but you did not hear it from me.

Based on our TP and PT usage trend, our Costco Kirkland stock should last us through mid-February. We will restock when our trend shows that we have about a 4 month supply left.

 

[ElizabethT]

Between the OP's user name, and the title/topic of this thread?

I just can't.

 

[mountainsoft]

Toilet paper is generally well stocked again around here.

All of the major brands of paper towels are also available, but oddly only in large six packs. Who buys six rolls of paper towels? One roll of towels can easily last us a month or more.

Except for the special Halloween roll my wife just found, I haven't seen a single or double pack of paper towels in a couple months.

 

[Koolau]

Ha ha. I actually found that for me Kirkland TP was just right (Soft enough, strong enough, can use less) and I complain vociferously if DH tries to get something else.

Heh, heh, I'll tell DW that my good friend audreyh1 endorses the Kirkland TP - but I don't think it will make any difference. She was complaining that she has to use three times as much as the Charmin. I won't even get into the discussion with her. I've learned by now to choose my battles, but YMMV.

 

[Tadpole]

I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Shortages. The TP shortage was interesting. At one point all I could get was Scott 1-ply no frills. I rediscovered my childhood when a TP roll lasted forever. I concluded that the 2 or 3 ply that came with my normal brand was really a way to compensate for the increased softness. The one ply did fine without increasing the number of sheets I had been using and the rolls had more sheets. I had not expected that to be so. I'm back to my 3 ply Quilted Northern which seems to have the boom/bust cycle described below. I started ordering paper towels (and sometimes TP) from Amazon. Their Presto brand is fine. I grab Brawny when I can as my husband doesn't like any other brand.

Last week there was a shortage of root beer at the local Fred Meyer. This week there was an offer "four for $11", a savings of about $9. Some shortages are like bust and boom. A couple of weeks ago the Instacart shopper said the Fred Meyer canned green bean section was bare. I can't get stewed tomatoes except in Mexican but I can get diced. I guess the canning industry has a lot of closed facilities.

 

[Poopycat]

Today as we were driving around the neighborhoods on a pleasure drive, I saw a woman unloading dozens of rolls of Viva paper towels from her SUV along with her other groceries. They were in those big packages of 6 or 8 rolls. She was carrying three, so that was at least 18-24 rolls and probably more still in the SUV.

I thought of you.

LOL!!!

Now I know who took all my paper towels

 

[Poopycat]

Between the OP's user name, and the title/topic of this thread?

I just can't.

Sorry about that!

 

[Poopycat]

It is driving me nuts...Viva is more expensive, to be sure, but the Wal Mart and other Cheapo brand is so bad and non-absorbent that I use them twice as many.

No Viva at WalMart this past weekend either. I have to remember to check the regular grocery store next time I go (which isn’t often).

 

[Scrapr]

Heh, heh, I'll tell DW that my good friend audreyh1 endorses the Kirkland TP - but I don't think it will make any difference. She was complaining that she has to use three times as much as the Charmin. I won't even get into the discussion with her. I've learned by now to choose my battles, but YMMV.

You are a wise man. I attempted that hill. It ended in tears & sorrow. Then me saying Whatever you want hon

Here in the PNW furnace filters are the new TP. With the smoke & air quality levels in the basement the filters are getting plugged up. I looked at MIL furnace filter & it was pretty dirty as expected. I only looked at Home Depot tonight & the clerks both laughed at me. I am not expecting anything tomorrow to be better

 

[Poopycat]

My never-ending saga continues. I went to the grocery store today, one that is part of a major grocery store chain in the area. I was sure I’d find Viva. I walk down to where the paper towels are and...

Nothing. Not even a roll of the cheapo brand. Totally out.

I wonder if companies retooled their production lines so they could produce less paper towels and more TP. I can’t figure out any other reason why paper towels are in such short supply here.

 

[target2019]

Take 1% pulp or so, add lots of water, run it through your paper mill where it is pressed and squeezed and dried. Make incredibly large rolls, then move it to smaller machines were it is unrolled and glued to cardboard rolls. Wrap it box it, deliver to stores. Watch the hoarding increase to unheard of levels. Try to deal with surge orders as wealthy consumers stockpile years worth of paper towels. Smart consumers cut back their use of paper products and use whatever is available.

 

[ransil]

Picked up a pack at Aldis this week stock on the shelf looked normal. Not sure if they were limiting how much you can buy i only needed 1, kleenex us limited i tried to buy 2 last week and they flagged it st the register, so i just bought another one this week.