Marina Jakubowski

Marina Jakubowski is chemist and she works for Pro Teste, the Brazilian Association for Consumer Defense, in Rio de Janeiro. There, they've accomplished a series of tests to check over the quality of different brands of toilet paper. Now, she knows for sure what is the best option for her!

I always buy two-ply toilet paper. Last year, we tested many different brands of two and one-ply paper at Pro Teste and one thing was very clear: one ply toilet paper is not a good option. Even though they are cheaper, they absorb around 50% less. I made the calculus myself considering the price and yield and I confirmed that they are not worth it. Moreover, one-ply paper, which is still the most used for Brazilian consumers, is not so soft, it has less resistance and a dirt aspect, as many participants of the study argued. Softness is another characteristic we evaluated that I consider very important. There are toilet papers around that seem to be sandpaper. I also buy toilet paper unperfumed - always. In our study, two out of 50 people who tested perfumed toilet paper had allergic reactions. I prefer avoiding this possibility. The colour also needs to be considered, and for me toilet paper has to be bleached. My favorite brand? That's the one which had the best results in the tests we made (not by coincidence!): Dualette, that is a two-ply unperfumed paper, produced by the Chilean company Protisa.

I don't know any brands of recycled toilet paper, but I'd rather buy them if the quality was as good as the brand I use. But I think that if these brands do exist, they are only available in very few places. Sometimes I buy tissue products in small markets, near to home, but I prefer to buy them in big supermarkets, where I can find better prices and more options. I don't have the habit of using pocket tissues. About kitchen towels, I also do not use them very often, only for drying fat from the food when I cook, never for cleaning. Concerning to napkins, I prefer the large and soft ones, even if they are more expensive. I don't like those which do not absorb anything. Again, the price:quality relationship is very important.

Patrícia Marquetti Deitos

Patrícia Marquetti Deitos is a physiotherapist who lives in Cascavel, South Brazil. She loves decorated tissue products, with colours and details that make the difference. For her wedding, she has ordered personalized toilet papers rolls from Seu Cuca to surprise the guests.

I really don't care about paying a little bit more for tissue products with beautiful colours and pictures, as long as it is not too much. When I was searching personalized products for my wedding [she will marry next September], I found the website of the company Seu Cuca, from Franca, São Paulo. They make this personalized toilet paper and I loved the idea. I ordered 42 rolls that I will place in the restrooms of the party and of my mother's and my mother-in-law's houses on my wedding day. I was afraid of buying the toilet paper on-line, but it worked very well and I received the products in less than one week!

Daily, my family uses the two-ply toilet paper Neve, that's very soft. It is more expensive, I know, but its quality and softness compensate for the price. I think that people from lower socio-economic classes end up buying one-ply toilet paper, but when you have better conditions you go for two-ply papers. I prefer toilet paper without perfume to avoid any possibility of allergy. Recycled toilet paper? I've never heard anything about it. I only know the recycled paper we use at work for printing and writing.

My family and I don't use napkins very often, only when we have guests. We prefer to use kitchen towels instead. But for special occasions, like Christmas, I love to buy decorated and colourful napkins. As we don't have many options around and we live near to the frontier with Paraguay, we go there for buying these special tissue products.

I always buy Kleenex pocket tissues, which I leave everywhere - in the car, in my bag, at home. . . The temperature here in our region changes all the time and it is always good to have a tissue around.

Elif Eralp and Terezina Pinelli

Elif (on left) and Terezina are responsible for the purchases and for the hospitality services of Hotel Hilton São Paulo, respectively. For them, the cost:quality relationship is essential when choosing tissue products for the hotel, one of the most traditional in the city, and for their homes.

It is very important for us to have the right product in the right place. For guests, for example, we use the two-ply toilet paper Neve, that is the best available in the market. In the public areas, we use the same paper, but in dispensers, for easier supply. For employees, we buy bigger Scott rolls of 300 metres each.

In March, the guests in the hotel consumed 656 toilet paper rolls and 950 packs of pocket tissue Kleenex [the hotel has 487 rooms and the average occupancy in the period was 74%]. We also have in the hotel toilet seat covers, sanitary disposal bags for tampons and hand towels with more absorbency for the fitness room. All these products are produced by Kimberly-Clark, with whom we have maintained a partnership for six years.

We always prefer white, that is the colour with best acceptance. And we also choose the products unperfumed, to avoid the risk of allergies.

About napkins, we have a peculiar element: except for the ones used by employees, all of them are personalized, following the patterns of the hotel around the world. For the main restaurant and the café we use 24 x 24 cm two-ply napkins produced by Exempla. For breakfast, two-ply 10 cm x 20 cm ones, made by Relevo Guardanapos.

Elif: At home, I end up following the same patterns as in the hotel. I buy white, unperfumed Neve toilet paper and Kleenex pocket tissues. When my daughter was younger, I used to buy toilet paper with pictures, like puppies, to stimulate the use, but it was just for a short period. Besides, I use kitchen towels for everything: in the kitchen, for drying fat from fried food, for cleaning surfaces, glass . . .

Terezina: I also use the same brands at home that we use in the hotel. I often go shopping for my mother and she has her preferences too. For example, kitchen towels have to be Scott, always. I really don't think it would be worth changing brands just for better prices.TW