Hotel toilet-paper folding
Encyclopedia
Hotel toilet paper folding is a common practice performed by hotel
s worldwide as a way of assuring guests that the bathroom has been cleaned. Elaborate folding is sometimes used, to impress or delight guests with the management's creativity and attention to detail.
The common fold normally involves creating a triangle or "V" shape out of the first sheet or square on a toilet paper
roll. Commonly, the two corners of the final sheet are tucked behind the paper symmetrically, forming a point at the end of the roll. More elaborate folding results in shapes like fans, sailboats, and even flowers.
Toilet paper folding (also known as "toilet paper origami
") has attracted the attention of observers within the hotel industry and beyond it, involving both sober discussion of the practice as a marketing move as well as wry commentary with various degrees of seriousness. The practice has been considered an emblematic example of a meme
copied across the world from a hotel to another until the point that most of them now do it.
Dr. Susan Blackmore
, who uses the example of hotel toilet paper folding to illustrate the use of "memes", pointed out in the 2006 Darwin Day
Lecture before the British Humanist Association
that even a remote guesthouse she visited in rural Assam
in India folded the first sheet on its rolls of toilet paper.
Hotel toilet paper folding is such an institution that in the horror movie 1408
it is used as one of the eerie happenings noticed by the main character—after using the toilet paper, he finds it mysteriously has been freshly folded over.
, in his "Imponderables
" syndicated newspaper column. Feldman reported that he had contacted "most of the largest chains of innkeepers in the country", asked why the toilet paper was folded, "and received the same answer from all". He quoted James P. McCauley, executive director of the International Association of Holiday Inn
s:
Gill believes the practice is meant to please or impress customers: "But the neatly made bed, the folded toilet paper—all these things symbolise attention and love. Perhaps such finishing touches are also an attempt to suggest flawlessness or excellence, and so distract you from whatever failings the room may have. They create a moment of stillness."
Additionally, including the folding action in the standardized work increases the likelihood that the cleaning staff has looked at the roll and replaced it with a new roll if necessary. Finally, the folded paper is also used for hotel management to trace and verify that their staff is working according to standards.
Gill found differences in the style and care of folding between hotels. One example from Tokyo, "with its tiny pleats, really stands out", according to the photographer. "Only in Japan did I find such minute attention to detail. [...] The New York City [example], on the other hand, is very poor quality, asymmetrical on rough, thin paper. And the Romania [example] is a great slab with a small, right-hand fold."
According to one hotel industry website, "Housekeepers at luxe lairs around the world are neatly folding the loose end of a partially used roll of toilet paper into a neat little bow or fan." Some hotels provide more elaborate flourishes: some apply a sticker attaching the folded end to the roll; others wrap spare rolls with a ribbon; Thompson Hotels imprint their logo on the first square. The Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico
, also imprints its name and logo on the ends of its toilet paper — a practice done by supervisors checking the work of the housekeepers.
As part of a $1 billion renovation of the Fontainebleau Hotel
in Miami Beach, Florida
, in 2006, the typical triangular fold practice was stopped as one of a number of changes in order to give customers an impression that the hotel was special. Other changes included setting policy in the way linen cocktail napkins would be folded and the shape of glass tumblers.
"We're not going to do the little pointy thing," rooms division chief Charlotte Rosenau told the Miami Herald. "Every hotel does that." The change in toilet paper policy was made after Rosenau and several housekeepers crowded into a bathroom to experiment with different methods. They settled on "folding the first square in half, then resting the crease midway down the roll", according to the newspaper. "It just looks nice and clean," Rosenau explained.
The Tickle Pink Inn, a motel in Carmel Highlands, California
, folds the ends of its toilet paper into fan-like designs, mirroring the folds of its bathroom washcloths. A review in the San Francisco Chronicle
noted the practice as "a fancy touch".
One travel writer noted seeing toilet paper folded into flowers and sailboats at hotels in Costa Rica.
Elaborate wedding dresses have been made from folded toilet paper (also using glue).
British comedian John Cleese
, who played a hotelier in the television series Fawlty Towers
, has commented on the practice in a keynote address: "Why? What is it for? Is it proof that your house-maid has studied origami? ... If you're a Mason
, are you supposed to fold it again into some sort of rhomboid
?"
A reviewer writing about the Walden Country Inn & Stables, a hotel in Aurora, Ohio, noted a "horsey theme" reflected throughout the hotel's decoration, "never overdone (except, perhaps, for the Walden horse-head logo crimped into the end of the toilet paper)".
Author and blogger Merlin Mann
: "Whenever there's paper left on the roll, the hotel folds it into a tidy arrow. Just so you'll know at least two people have touched it now."
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s worldwide as a way of assuring guests that the bathroom has been cleaned. Elaborate folding is sometimes used, to impress or delight guests with the management's creativity and attention to detail.
The common fold normally involves creating a triangle or "V" shape out of the first sheet or square on a toilet paper
Toilet paper
Toilet paper is a soft paper product used to maintain personal hygiene after human defecation or urination. However, it can also be used for other purposes such as blowing one's nose when one has a cold or absorbing common spills around the house, although paper towels are more used for the latter...
roll. Commonly, the two corners of the final sheet are tucked behind the paper symmetrically, forming a point at the end of the roll. More elaborate folding results in shapes like fans, sailboats, and even flowers.
Toilet paper folding (also known as "toilet paper origami
Origami
is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century AD at the latest and was popularized outside Japan in the mid-1900s. It has since then evolved into a modern art form...
") has attracted the attention of observers within the hotel industry and beyond it, involving both sober discussion of the practice as a marketing move as well as wry commentary with various degrees of seriousness. The practice has been considered an emblematic example of a meme
Meme
A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
copied across the world from a hotel to another until the point that most of them now do it.
Extent
The practice is followed by hotels "the world over", according to Stephen Gill, a British photographer who published a book of pictures of folded hotel toilet paper from various nations.Dr. Susan Blackmore
Susan Blackmore
Susan Jane Blackmore is an English freelance writer, lecturer, and broadcaster on psychology and the paranormal, perhaps best known for her book The Meme Machine.-Career:...
, who uses the example of hotel toilet paper folding to illustrate the use of "memes", pointed out in the 2006 Darwin Day
Darwin Day
Darwin Day is a recently instituted celebration intended to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin on February 12, 1809. The day is used to highlight Darwin's contribution to science and to promote science in general.-History:...
Lecture before the British Humanist Association
British Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
that even a remote guesthouse she visited in rural Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
in India folded the first sheet on its rolls of toilet paper.
Hotel toilet paper folding is such an institution that in the horror movie 1408
1408 (film)
1408 is a 2007 American psychological horror film based on the Stephen King short story of the same name directed by Swedish director Mikael Håfström, who earlier had directed the horror film Drowning Ghost. The cast includes John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mary McCormack. The film was released...
it is used as one of the eerie happenings noticed by the main character—after using the toilet paper, he finds it mysteriously has been freshly folded over.
Reasons
The practice is meant to assure customers that their hotel room has been cleaned, according to David FeldmanDavid Feldman (author)
David Feldman is the author of the Imponderables series of books.He holds a bachelor's degree in literature from Grinnell College, as well as a master's degree in popular culture from Bowling Green State University.-External links:*...
, in his "Imponderables
Imponderables
Imponderables may refer to;* Imponderables * The Imponderables - Canadian sketch comedy troupe* Imponderable fluid...
" syndicated newspaper column. Feldman reported that he had contacted "most of the largest chains of innkeepers in the country", asked why the toilet paper was folded, "and received the same answer from all". He quoted James P. McCauley, executive director of the International Association of Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
s:
Hotels want to give their guests the confidence that the bathroom has been cleaned since the last guest has used the room. To accomplish this, the maid will fold over the last piece of toilet paper to assure that no one has used the toilet paper since the room was cleaned. It is subtle but effective.
Gill believes the practice is meant to please or impress customers: "But the neatly made bed, the folded toilet paper—all these things symbolise attention and love. Perhaps such finishing touches are also an attempt to suggest flawlessness or excellence, and so distract you from whatever failings the room may have. They create a moment of stillness."
Additionally, including the folding action in the standardized work increases the likelihood that the cleaning staff has looked at the roll and replaced it with a new roll if necessary. Finally, the folded paper is also used for hotel management to trace and verify that their staff is working according to standards.
Variations
"Toilet paper origami" (also called "toilegami") is a variation that involves folding toilet paper in elaborate shapes.Gill found differences in the style and care of folding between hotels. One example from Tokyo, "with its tiny pleats, really stands out", according to the photographer. "Only in Japan did I find such minute attention to detail. [...] The New York City [example], on the other hand, is very poor quality, asymmetrical on rough, thin paper. And the Romania [example] is a great slab with a small, right-hand fold."
According to one hotel industry website, "Housekeepers at luxe lairs around the world are neatly folding the loose end of a partially used roll of toilet paper into a neat little bow or fan." Some hotels provide more elaborate flourishes: some apply a sticker attaching the folded end to the roll; others wrap spare rolls with a ribbon; Thompson Hotels imprint their logo on the first square. The Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, also imprints its name and logo on the ends of its toilet paper — a practice done by supervisors checking the work of the housekeepers.
Fontainebleau Hotel
The Fontainebleau Miami Beach or the Fontainebleau Hotel is one of the most historically and architecturally significant hotels on Miami Beach. Opened in 1954 and designed by Morris Lapidus, it was considered the most luxurious hotel on Miami Beach, and is thought to be the most significant...
in Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
, in 2006, the typical triangular fold practice was stopped as one of a number of changes in order to give customers an impression that the hotel was special. Other changes included setting policy in the way linen cocktail napkins would be folded and the shape of glass tumblers.
"We're not going to do the little pointy thing," rooms division chief Charlotte Rosenau told the Miami Herald. "Every hotel does that." The change in toilet paper policy was made after Rosenau and several housekeepers crowded into a bathroom to experiment with different methods. They settled on "folding the first square in half, then resting the crease midway down the roll", according to the newspaper. "It just looks nice and clean," Rosenau explained.
The Tickle Pink Inn, a motel in Carmel Highlands, California
Carmel Highlands, California
Carmel Highlands is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. It is located south of Carmel-by-the-Sea , at an elevation of 318 feet . Carmel Highlands is located between Carmel to the north, and Big Sur to the south, and is close to Point Lobos State Reserve...
, folds the ends of its toilet paper into fan-like designs, mirroring the folds of its bathroom washcloths. A review in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
noted the practice as "a fancy touch".
One travel writer noted seeing toilet paper folded into flowers and sailboats at hotels in Costa Rica.
Beyond hotels
An automated toilet paper folding machine called Meruboa was invented in Japan. With the push of a lever the device folds the first sheet of toilet paper into a triangle.Elaborate wedding dresses have been made from folded toilet paper (also using glue).
Humor and opinions
In a humorous opinion article at the Hotel Online website, Larry Mundy wrote in his "Room With a View" column, perhaps partly with seriousness: "In my experience, there are two basic types of hotels: those that have the housekeeper fold a cute little triangle into the unused end of the toilet paper, and those that don’t. Call it silly, call it pointless, I call it a sure indicator of the service levels I can anticipate at the property." Mundy continued: "That tiny detail of carefully triangulated tissue tells me that someone cared, that another member of my own species was here, in this very room, within the past few hours and spared no effort to make the end of the roll both presentable and easier to grip in my time of need. I don’t need to engage in frustrating roll-rotation exercises just to find the loose end. I don’t need to contemplate the jagged tear-line from the last user’s haste — in fact, it doesn’t occur to me there was a 'last user' at all, because the roll looks neat and new."British comedian John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
, who played a hotelier in the television series Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
, has commented on the practice in a keynote address: "Why? What is it for? Is it proof that your house-maid has studied origami? ... If you're a Mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, are you supposed to fold it again into some sort of rhomboid
Rhomboid
Traditionally, in two-dimensional geometry, a rhomboid is a parallelogram in which adjacent sides are of unequal lengths and angles are oblique.A parallelogram with sides of equal length is a rhombus but not a rhomboid....
?"
A reviewer writing about the Walden Country Inn & Stables, a hotel in Aurora, Ohio, noted a "horsey theme" reflected throughout the hotel's decoration, "never overdone (except, perhaps, for the Walden horse-head logo crimped into the end of the toilet paper)".
Author and blogger Merlin Mann
Merlin Mann
Merlin Dean Mann III writes the blog . He received a B.A. from New College of Florida, and he currently resides in San Francisco, California with his wife, Madeline Mann, and their daughter, .-Writing:...
: "Whenever there's paper left on the roll, the hotel folds it into a tidy arrow. Just so you'll know at least two people have touched it now."
Further reading
- Wright, Linda, Toilet Paper Origami: Delight Your Guests with Fancy Folds and Simple Surface Embellishments, or Easy Origami for Hotels, Bed and Breakfasts, Cruise Ships, Creative Housekeepers, and Crafters, U.S.: Lindaloo Enterprises, September 2008, ISBN 978-0-9800923-1-8 (pbk., ill., 96 p.): "Illustrated with more than 300 photographs, step-by-step instructions teach 29 easy yet eye-catching folds and embellishments for styling the end of a toilet paper roll."
- Wright, Linda, Toilet Paper Crafts for Holidays and Special Occasions: 60 Papercraft, Sewing, Origami and Kanzashi Projects, U.S.: Lindaloo Enterprises, May 2010, ISBN 978-0-9800923-2-5 (pbk., ill., 144 p.)
- Gill, Stephen, Anonymous Origami, Archive of Modern Conflict (London, UK) & Nobody Press (Stephen Gill), September 2007, ISBN 978-0-9549405-8-4 (pbk., ill., 104 p.): "Features photographs of folded toilet paper sourced between 2004 and 2007 from hotels and B&B's from around the world."
External links
- dorullbrett, a Norwegian blog with examples of toilet paper folds from around the world