Comparing 11 Toilet Paper Products... Burst Strength and Softness Varied

Only 4 Products Rated "Excellent" for Burst Strength, and 2 for Lint Generation

All Products Had Excellent Absorbency; Most Also Performed Well in Water Dispersibility

The Korea Consumer Agency evaluated the quality and safety of 11 toilet paper products (eight regular products and three designed for use with bidets) and found differences among products in bursting strength, the amount of dust generated, and softness.

On October 8, the agency released its “Comparative Quality Evaluation of Toilet Paper.” The 11 products tested comprised eight regular toilet papers: Clean Toilet Paper (Kleannara), Surprise 3-Ply Toilet Paper (No Brand), Botanic Forest Soft (Mona Lisa), Pure Natural (JALPULLINEUNJIP), Premium Toilet Paper (Kirkland), Pure (Codi), White Roll Toilet Paper (Comet), and Clean Care (Kleenex); and three toilet papers designed for use with bidets: Green Tea Is Good (Mona Lisa), Bidet & Clean (Codi), and Cozy Powder Toilet Paper (Comet).

Toilet paper. Pixabay

The agency tested and evaluated the products’ quality, including bursting strength, dust generation, absorption, dispersibility in water, and flexibility, as well as their safety with respect to hazardous substances and their labeling. In tests measuring bursting strength, or how well the paper resists tearing, only four of the 11 products received an “Excellent” rating. These were Clean Toilet Paper, Botanic Forest Soft, Pure Natural, and Cozy Powder Toilet Paper. The other seven products were rated “Good.”

For the amount of dust generated when the toilet paper was unrolled, Clean Toilet Paper and Cozy Powder Toilet Paper were rated “Excellent.” Both products also received “Excellent” ratings for bursting strength.

Products also differed in bulk softness, or how soft they feel when crumpled by hand. Premium Toilet Paper and Green Tea Is Good had greater bulk softness and were found to feel relatively softer. By contrast, Surprise 3-Ply Toilet Paper and Clean Care had lower bulk softness.

Prices per 10 meters differed by as much as 1.9 times. Cozy Powder Toilet Paper was the least expensive at 114.8 won, while Clean Care was the most expensive at 226.0 won. The figures were calculated by converting the average prices surveyed at official retailers in June to prices per 10 meters; coupon and card discounts were not applied. The comparison was based on purchases of three packs of Cozy Powder Toilet Paper and two packs of Clean Care.

All 11 products were rated “Excellent” for absorption. Every product absorbed more than four times the 2.0 g/g absorption threshold set by the national standard (KS M 7107).

Dispersibility in water, or how readily the paper breaks apart in water, has also improved. In tests conducted at three intervals—30 seconds, two minutes, and 10 minutes—10 of the 11 products (90.9%) broke down completely within 30 seconds. This was about 14 percentage points higher than the 77% of products that broke down completely within 30 seconds in the agency’s 2022 comparative toilet paper quality test.

All products met the applicable standards for safety and labeling.

Formaldehyde levels in all 11 products were within the applicable limit of 4 mg/L or less. None of the products contained any of three persistent perfluoroalkyl substances that are difficult to break down and may affect aquatic ecosystems when discharged into wastewater: PFOA, PFOS, and PFHxS. Tests of the heavy metal content of the two colored products, Green Tea Is Good and Bidet & Clean, found no lead, cadmium, or mercury.

The agency advised consumers to “check quality factors such as bursting strength and the amount of dust generated, and compare prices per 10 meters before choosing toilet paper.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.