Who invented toilet paper?

The first commercially available toilet paper was invented by Joseph Gayetty in 1857 in the United States. But this toilet paper was made available to people in 1920. The use of similar paper was made in 2^nd century in China but that was used for wrapping and for padding the materials. The most common users of toilet paper in its initial stages were people of royal class. It was named after its inventor Gayetty as Gayetty’s paper. The paper was pre- moistened, medicated and available in flat sheets. The paper had the name of its inventor printed on it. The other inventor of toilet paper was from New York named Seth Wheeler who got the first U. S. patent for the toilet paper and its dispenser in 1883 and it was then commonly used in the country. The production of perfumed, rolled toilet paper is credited to Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company in 1887.

Now the market is full of variety of toilet papers that vary in colors, sizes, shapes, designs and fragrance.

The popularity of toilet paper is ranked third among the non-food products. Some leading brands of toilet paper include Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Georgia Pacific and Fort James. About 6 million tons of toilet paper is produced in the U.S. including face tissues as well as paper napkins. By recycling one ton of paper we save 17 trees, 6953 gallons of water, and 463 gallons of oil and 4077Kilowatts hour of energy.