New Report Flushes Out Bad News on Czech Toilet-Paper Quality

If you asked an expat living in the Czech Republic to name things about his or her adopted country that have taken some getting used to, Czech toilet paper might rank high on the list.

For the nostalgic among us (or masochistic, depending on your viewpoint) a variation of the gray and scratchy single ply that was common behind the Iron Curtain is still available today though it has largely given way to more bum-pleasing TP.

But according to a recent study on the topic, Czech toilet roll isn’t all that rockin’.

A total of 19 samples of fragrance-free, three-ply toilet paper were analyzed by testers as were two brands from the Austrian market for comparison.  (The magazine says it has determined that white three-ply, bought at a discount, is the preferred toilet paper of the Czech people. Czechs use about 8.5 kilograms of toilet paper per year.)

Store brands from Tesco, Billa, Albert, DM, Kaufland, and Lidl, as well as name brands Linteo, Tento, and Zewa, were among the scrutinized bathroom tissue.

Laboratory tests looked at strength, absorbency, and solubility while volunteer consumers evaluated smoothness, texture, appearance, tear resistance, absorbency, and ease of access to the first snippet.

Rossmann/Alouette Toilettenpapier tested best overall by consumers and in the lab. Volunteers ranked Q-SOFT the worst for its poor tear resistance. Dm/Sanft & Sicher Toilettenpapier Recycling won for absorbency while Linteo Care & Comfort failed solubility tests.

Evidence of dual-quality toilet paper also turned up in the report:  Clever toilet paper from Billa in the Czech Republic was discovered to be considerably worse than its Austrian sibling.

Don’t run out and buy a bidet just yet. Private label Floralys from Czech Lidl outranked its Austrian counterpart by a percentage point.