What Women Want
... from tissue. Three women from developed countries offer their views on luxury, price, design and the environment


LOUISE FITZGERALD
Tell me it’s recycled
Louise FitzGerald is an Australian working as school director in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, who is the mother of two young adopted children.

Since having children I use a lot more tissues, kitchen paper and wet ones/wipes – for cleaning up and mopping up in general. I don’t use paper handkerchiefs myself; I use a hanky. I only use them for the kids.

The quality in Asia is much lower but this is not a problem; I’m not into highly defined, expensive stuff. This paper thing is a huge waste which annoys me. If they can tell me, prove to me, that it is recycled and biodegradable and not going to stay in the land for years, if I know it is from plantation wood and is recyclable I am much happier. I look for recycled paper when I am shopping and will choose it and even pay a bit more for it when I am in Australia or the UK. It’s hard in Cambodia, though, you don’t find it.

I don’t go for luxury tissue products and don’t buy them and I am not interested in them at all. Also I don’t go for colours because I believe this is not good for the environment.

For me the most important thing is the recycled/recyclable issue. Half the time, in Cambodia particularly, they don’t give you the information on the pack. What I would really like is information on the pack. Also I would prefer it not be be packaged in plastic – why don’t they package it in paper? White or off-white would be fine.


KITTY SHIH
Comfort and appearance
Kitty Shih is a 32-year-old Singaporean office worker who is willing to spend what it takes to ensure she gets good-quality tissue products. For comfort – three-ply softness and absorbency – she will pay double, she says, with perhaps another 10% available for good design, including colour and/or pattern.

Living in Singapore means coping with air-conditioning. Nearly every public building has it, as does most local transport, public and private. That’s a problem for Kitty, whose sinuses run as soon as the cold air hits her. It means hankies have to be gentle to stop the sensitive nose skin suffering inflammation and peeling. She prefers Kleenex, Scott or Beauty brands, she says. She is also attracted by good pack design, specially in pocket packs: something that can be resealed and that looks attractive.

Toilet tissue, too, has to be soft. When you’re young, she says, you go for the cheapest products, but later you see it’s a false economy. I used to buy on price but now it has to be three-ply: Pretty brand for preference, but Kleenex or Scott in second place.

In the kitchen, she will use towel for a first wipe after cooking, before finishing off with a cloth. She prefers to use thick towel but, following the meeting with Tissue World, says she is going to look out for airlaid quality, something she had not heard of before.

Kitty thinks she is pretty representative of modern Singapore. She’s by no means rich, but she’s prepared to pay a little extra for comfort. “Not because you’re fussy but because you love yourself,” she says.

JANET DURBIN
Is it environmentally friendly?
Janet Durbin is a teacher living and working near London, UK, the mother of two grown-up children.

Recently I’ve been wondering whether white toilet paper is better for the environment, whether the bleaching does more harm. I never ever buy coloured toilet paper or kitchen towels and no patterning or anything. Just white.

There used to be a range of toilet rolls and kitchen paper that claimed that they were not bleached but I can’t find it anymore. I like white but not dazzling white. I do wonder about the French patterned stuff (it’s white but not white white white, it’s got a faint picture) – is this to perk up the fact that it is environmentally friendly? You want paper that is not grungily coloured because it looks dirty but you don’t need dazzling white. I’ve found it in France but not in England.

For toilet paper I like stuff that is not too thin. I buy the thicker stuff – but not quilted. Why bother? It’s not necessary. I like something that doesn’t scream ‘bleach’ at you but is not dowdy.

For kitchen towel I like it slightly bobbly because it absorbs better. I don’t buy the cheapest of either but I don’t buy ‘designs’- puppy dogs and stuff. And I would never buy bright colours. I once bought Christmas toilet paper – just to annoy my husband. I had stars and things on it. It wasn’t expensive and was still white! The most important is that it doesn’t disintegrate.

Serviettes? I don’t buy them very often. Red ones for Christmas and occasionally for parties or special events – silver wedding or 18th birthdays.

I don’t use tissues for facial cleansing. I use cotton pads for makeup removal; it absorbs the tonic or whatever better. Ocassionally we use wet-ones in the car for traveling.

The main thing I’d like to know is if it is bleached or not, environmentally friendly or not. If it is startlingly white and they said it was environmentally friendly, I’d be surprised. TW