Nearholmer Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 If you are going for ‘alternative’ loo roll, buy a single roll, and test it’s ‘dissolvability’ against ordinary, environmentally unfriendly stuff, before committing to it as regular stuff. Why? We switched to something slightly greener, and then had ‘drain problems’ that cost a bob or two (in fact a lot of bobs!) to clear, as a result, I think, of a very slight difference in ‘dissolvability’. Its all down to the combination of how the stuff behaves, the fall on your drains, and the power of your flush. If you do get blocked, get the drain clearers to clean not only ‘downstream’ from your house outwards (which will probably get the system going) but inwards, towards your house, using a special thing called a ‘warthog’ - it’s surprising how internal pipes accumulate muck that restricts flow (fats from hair conditioner if you’ve got glossy-haired young women in the family is really trouble-making). 1 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hal Nail Posted March 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 16, 2020 (edited) 52 minutes ago, Nearholmer said: If you are going for ‘alternative’ loo roll, buy a single roll, and test it’s ‘dissolvability’ against ordinary, environmentally unfriendly stuff, before committing to it as regular stuff. Why? We switched to something slightly greener, and then had ‘drain problems’ that cost a bob or two (in fact a lot of bobs!) to clear, as a result, I think, of a very slight difference in ‘dissolvability’. Its all down to the combination of how the stuff behaves, the fall on your drains, and the power of your flush. If you do get blocked, get the drain clearers to clean not only ‘downstream’ from your house outwards (which will probably get the system going) but inwards, towards your house, using a special thing called a ‘warthog’ - it’s surprising how internal pipes accumulate muck that restricts flow (fats from hair conditioner if you’ve got glossy-haired young women in the family is really trouble-making). Reminds me if a story which may lighten the mood. Our toilet blocked and to cut a long story short, a man was summoned and sent in with a pump. Seconds later there was a loud "gullump" followed by a strangled cry of "oh %$@/" before a dripping brown man appeared. My dad and i reacted as you would: literally 5 minutes of rolling around the floor in tearful hysterics before dad turned to me and managed to say "I think he forgot to put the lid down". Edited March 16, 2020 by Hal Nail 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philou Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Following @Nearholmer comment regarding blockages up and downstream, not only shampoo but soaps and the like in washing machines can form quite spectacular blockages of what looks like lumps of polystyrene. Even if you don't have a chimney, invest in a set of rods. They usually have a set of drain cleaning tools included comprising a foldable half-circular scraper, a twisted 'trident' and a brush. There are usually enough rods for a run of about 7.5m. It certainly got me out of the need of calling a drain cleansing company on quite few occasions. The other item (and I forget its name) is a flexible wound-wire thingy about 10m long which is very useful for clearing from the house end - bog, basin, bath and kitchen sink. Cheers, Philip 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 (edited) It’s called a ‘snake’ colloquially, although it probably has a posher name too. (it seems to be called a ‘drain auger’) Edited March 16, 2020 by Nearholmer 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 2 hours ago, Oldddudders said: Love the pics from the Netherlands of people queuing to buy weed before the country goes into lockdown. So much more practical than loo rolls..... All very well until the 'Munchies' kick in... 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharris Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 6 hours ago, brian777999 said: Just eat cheese ; then you will not need toilet paper for a long time ! Unless it's brie that's been left in the sun for a few days... then you might need lots of toilet paper! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Reorte Posted March 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 16, 2020 At least Tesco had some this morning. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted March 16, 2020 Moderators Share Posted March 16, 2020 I see one Aus supermarket is limiting access in the first hour of opening to the elderly and disabled - a good idea (in general). 2 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 (edited) Went to Iceland today for loo roll - result - plenty of stock whilst Home Bargains/Supermarkets had sold out by 9am. Lots of sensible people too, they were each only buying a single 24 pack. In fact in Home Bargains - one woman offered us one of her two nine packs, we refused but it's good to see the nicer side of human nature is returning. Maybe the commonsense people are out and about again and the panic brigade are hunkered down in their home rationing the use of everything. Edited March 16, 2020 by woodenhead 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted March 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 16, 2020 2 hours ago, PatB said: Considering the black market/profiteer rate in Oz is now $4-5 a roll, I'd call that a bargain. It's much cheaper to do a handstand in the shower.... 1 hour ago, Philou said: Even if you don't have a chimney, invest in a set of rods. They usually have a set of drain cleaning tools included comprising a foldable half-circular scraper, a twisted 'trident' and a brush. There are usually enough rods for a run of about 7.5m. It certainly got me out of the need of calling a drain cleansing company on quite few occasions. Just remember not to twist them the wrong way when using them. Otherwise you'll unscrew one rod from the other - leaving a length of rod stuck down the drain. Then it gets expensive... 2 3 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philou Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 @polybear Quite right - usually in a clockwise direction when pushing it in AND pulling it back out - errr - so to speak. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 17 minutes ago, woodenhead said: Went to Iceland today for loo roll - result - plenty of stock whilst Home Bargains/Supermarkets had sold out by 9am. Lots of sensible people too, they were each only buying a single 24 pack. In fact in Home Bargains - one woman offered us one of her two nine packs, we refused but it's good to see the nicer side of human nature is returning. Maybe the commonsense people are out and about again and the panic brigade are hunkered down in their home rationing the use of everything. I wonder how long it will take the panic brigade to get sick of tinned tuna and tinned tomato pasta bake for every meal? 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 15 minutes ago, jonny777 said: I wonder how long it will take the panic brigade to get sick of tinned tuna and tinned tomato pasta bake for every meal? There wasn't any uncooked chicken anywhere local yesterday so that must be in the mix somewhere. Monday: Tuna and Pasta Tuesday: Chicken and Rice Wednesday: Tuna and Rice Thursday: Chicken and Pasta Friday: Lets get a Just Eat Saturday: Sod it, lets go down the Indian Sunday: God, I need a full roast and a pint 2 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted March 16, 2020 Moderators Share Posted March 16, 2020 3 minutes ago, woodenhead said: Friday: Lets get a Just Eat what they had left. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 When does simply stocking up with some extra supplies become “panic buying” ? My wife and I have always bought certain items in bulk. We’ve been doing it for more than 30 years. For the last 15 years or so, we’ve been bulk buying certain items from Makro (cash and carry) as we have a trade card. The items we get from there include paper products, toilet rolls, kitchen roll and boxes of tissues; as well as washing power or tablets, fabric softener, dishwasher tablets and cleaning products. Makro run offers every week and when we are getting low on supplies and an offer comes up on Makro Mail, it sometimes triggers Mrs Ron into dragging me over there to stock up. It only happens 3 or 4 times a year. We also ask her parents if they need anything and often buy extra for them. The savings can be considerable, compared to the supermarkets. So, 2 weeks ago, a couple of days before the story broke about panic buying bog rolls, we happened to make a trip to Makro. A well known brand of Bog rolls were on a BOGOF. These are larger packs than commonly found in the supermarkets, either 32 rolls or 48 rolls in a pack. Not untypically we bought 2 packs and got 2 packs free. That’s a lot more than most people, would ever buy at once, but we have adequate dry storage and we do this every so often as a matter of course. We also loaded up with kitchen roll, tissues, washing tablets blah, blah, blah. So I guess some of you might accuse us of hoarding or panic buying, but that was furthest from our minds at the time. We will supply my elderly in-laws from our stash, if they need it. . 7 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted March 16, 2020 Moderators Share Posted March 16, 2020 1 minute ago, Ron Ron Ron said: Makro run offers every week and when we are getting low on supplies and an offer comes up on Makro Mail, it sometimes triggers Mrs Ron into dragging me over there to stock up. It only happens 3 or 4 times a year. We used to do that until our nearest ones went downhill, I hate shopping at the best of times so we used to have a 'larder' area in the garage for such stuff so I could minimise contact with other shoppers because quite a few are knobs. 2 5 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Gilbert Posted March 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 16, 2020 3 minutes ago, AY Mod said: so I could minimise contact with other shoppers because quite a few are knobs. Did they have rucksacks...? 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 The Fail has been using pictures of the Trafford Makro as evidence of the panic, but seeing one person carrying a single 48 pack of rolls is not panic buying if that is actually how they sell them. 1 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted March 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 16, 2020 Over here in Newport, it would appear Asda have got their supply chain working just fine. Some of the shelves are empty, but loo rolls seem to be oK. A brisk sale, but OK. Lidl have a special offer this week, with Taiwanese plastic golf clubs, so we're looking good. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 15 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said: When does simply stocking up with some extra supplies become “panic buying” ? My wife and I have always bought certain items in bulk. We’ve been doing it for more than 30 years. For the last 15 years or so, we’ve been bulk buying certain items from Makro (cash and carry) as we have a trade card. The items we get from there include paper products, toilet rolls, kitchen roll and boxes of tissues; as well as washing power or tablets, fabric softener, dishwasher tablets and cleaning products. Makro run offers every week and when we are getting low on supplies and an offer comes up on Makro Mail, it sometimes triggers Mrs Ron into dragging me over there to stock up. It only happens 3 or 4 times a year. We also ask her parents if they need anything and often buy extra for them. The savings can be considerable, compared to the supermarkets. So, 2 weeks ago, a couple of days before the story broke about panic buying bog rolls, we happened to make a trip to Makro. A well known brand of Bog rolls were on a BOGOF. These are larger packs than commonly found in the supermarkets, either 32 rolls or 48 rolls in a pack. Not untypically we bought 2 packs and got 2 packs free. That’s a lot more than most people, would ever buy at once, but we have adequate dry storage and we do this every so often as a matter of course. We also loaded up with kitchen roll, tissues, washing tablets blah, blah, blah. So I guess some of you might accuse us of hoarding or panic buying, but that was furthest from our minds at the time. We will supply my elderly in-laws from our stash, if they need it. . I don't think that can be described as panic buying, because you have done it for years. My wife's sister does that as well, and a peek inside her garage reveals enough toilet roll, kitchen roll, paper hankies, cat food, etc to last a year. I have thought about trying it myself, but I just can't be bothered TBH. I hate shopping and discovered home delivery around 2014 and was converted. This works in a normal situation because various people adopt various approaches and that is fine. It falls down when almost everyone switches to the bulk buying strategy all at once. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 In America they are panic buying guns and ammo. At least here we will be fighting over toilet rolls and pasta with harsh words. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
friscopete Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 (edited) We had a largish Sainsburys delivery just now .I gave em all a rub down with some ISO just to make sure as we are both high risk .Who knows .Sainsburys substituted a fair bit but it was all there and will keep us going .I bought about 5 litres of iPA before the rush as I realised what was coming .We are both high risk with dodgy lungs so are taking no chances.We self isolated 2 weeks ago . Edited March 16, 2020 by friscopete 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulleidboy100 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 No toilet rolls in Basingstokes Waitrose, Asda or Saisbury's. They did have a few in Morrisons - limited to two packs per customer - fair enough. I visited before 10am. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 12 minutes ago, friscopete said: We had a largish Sainsburys delivery just now ........I bought about 5 litres of iPA before the rush as I realised what was coming ...... That should keep your track clean for a while. Good thinking. . 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted March 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 16, 2020 4 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said: 5 litres of iPA In a pub that might be considered panic buying 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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