What To Do When You Run Out Of Toilet Paper

The irony of life is that this has been on my list for a good year now. What to do when you run out of toilet paper has been on my list to go with What do you do when you run out of diapers, formula, and food. I went grocery shopping today and two stores had completely empty toilet paper isles. I figure more of you will be seeking the answer to this over the next few days.

This is a particularly unpleasant situation. Hopefully, it did not happen while you were on the toilet and in desperate need of toilet tissue to clean up. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do when you run out of toilet paper and can not get more.

Look for alternatives

While everyone jokes about using leaves we all know it is not exactly a feasible solution.

The quickest and easiest option particularly if you are already in the bathroom is to grab a washcloth and some good ol’ soap and water. This will get you cleaner than toilet paper ever will which is always a good thing, right?

Grab a facial tissue or paper napkins. Facial tissues are better on your septic and sewer systems but thin napkins will do the trick without too much issue. AVOID using wet wipes, baby wipes, or paper towels.

Build your stockpile with free toilet paper

Work on earning free gift cards.

One way that can help keep you from running out of toilet paper to build a stockpile (before a disaster like we have been witnessing.) An easy way to do that without going broke is to sign up for a Swagbucks account to earn free Amazon gift cards. Use your free gift cards to “buy” free toilet paper for your stockpile or redeem for Walmart or drug store coupons so you can buy toilet paper instore.

When doing your everyday shopping use Ibotta to get rebates on everyday items from milk to your favorite brands. These can be redeemed for digital gift cards to Walmart or paid out to PayPal within minutes to give you a backup toilet paper budget.

Insta gift card is one more easy one you can earn points just doing clicks to pages on your phone while you’re holding a sleeping baby to earn gift cards you can stash for an emergency.

Borrow, trade, or barter for toilet paper.

When things get bad if you cannot find toilet paper in the stores it makes a great bartering trade. Look around and see what you have that others may need, be it an item or a skill. Put out on your social media that you are willing to trade for some TP. Many people are having great luck with this.

How to avoid issues from running out of toilet paper

The good news is you can avoid any issues by having a backup option on hand. Your two main alternatives to toilet paper are Family Cloth or a bidet.

Many families use family cloth which is essentially wash clothes that they use to clean themselves and then toss into a pail to be washed similar to cloth diapers, For cloth diapering families this is a great option.

My favorite alternative is a handheld bidet sprayer. I love having one when I am cloth diapering to spray poo off the diapers to make them easier to clean. I personally choose to avoid this in the winter when the water is icy cold but you can get heated bidet off Amazon.