The toilet paper making process starts by creating the paper, usually from recycled materials. The recyclable paper products are dumped into a large bin, chopped up and heated with warm water to create a pulp. Ink is removed by injecting air bubbles into the water, which rise to the top carrying any color and are skimmed off the top. A harmless bleach is then added to the pulp to make it white. The pulp is then squeezed through a pair of rollers to remove all moisture and laid on a large, flat surface to dry. The surface is 65 inches wide, which is the same length of the giant rolls of toilet paper that will be created.
The giant, thin sheet of paper is fed onto a roller, but not before the paper is stamped with the little embossing found on some toilet paper rolls. The embossing adds strength as well as aesthetics. Two of the large rolls of paper meet up and transfer the paper into another roller that is outfitted with a long, cardboard tube to create a roll of two-ply paper. The paper is cut when the roll meets the standard thickness and then glued at the ends by a mechanical arm to prevent unraveling.
Once the 65-inch long rolls of two-ply paper are glued and ready, they are fed into a chamber and cut by a circular saw. The 65-inch roll is cut down into 4-inch rolls and then fed to another unit for packaging. Commercial toilet paper and those slated for individual sales will be individually wrapped in paper, while others are stacked and wrapped in clear plastic that contain anywhere from 4 to 30 rolls.
- Photo by Ryn Gargulinski