Random question - tissues?

[hippiemamato3]

A friend of mine commented the other day that they only use 2-3 boxes of tissues a year at her house. We go through 2-3 boxes a week (and occasionally rolls of toilet paper also used for noses). Do you use a lot of tissues? 

[Carrie12345]

We’re nowhere near either of those ends of the spectrum, lol. We will go through 2-3 when someone’s sick, but no one has been all that sick since... April? I think.  For non-sick use, I’d guesstimate 10-15 boxes/year, plus 1-2 for each illness.

[Garga]

I go through a TON of tissues in the winter especially. My nose gets soooo cold and as it gets cold and then thaws throughout the day, my nose runs.  Like, don’t most people, when they come in from a very cold outside, need to clear their nose a little bit when they warm up?  This happens to me constantly throughout the day, because my nose is always being cold, then being warm, then cold....

The rest of the family doesn’t use them as much. And I don’t use them as much in the summer, though I still use about 10 a day in the summer.  In the winter, it’s much more.

[Beth S]

We use TP instead!

 

[YaelAldrich]

One box in the school/living/dining room a week easy.  One box per bedroom (3 BR) every couple of weeks.

[Familia]

Let’s see, we use TP most often, in general, for non-ill issues.  DH using handkerchiefs.  I keep a small pop-up box on the back of the loo for company/fam needs.  Then there are usually two large boxes of super-soft premium ones in the linen closet for potential illnesses.  

So, I would say, when we were raising our family, the equivalent of 2-3 large boxes per year.

Now, only 1-2.

Edited November 17, 2020 by Familia

[almondbutterandjelly]

We buy kleenex from Sam's Club, if that gives any indication.  We use them a lot.  We all have allergies, though, year-round.

[hippiemamato3]

1 minute ago, perky said:

We buy kleenex from Sam's Club, if that gives any indication.  We use them a lot.  We all have allergies, though, year-round.

That's our situation too. But it seems excessive. I've gone through 2 boxes of 190 tissues already since Friday. 

[slackermom]

We use about a box per person every 1-2 weeks. We usually wake up congested. I just bought air purifiers with HEPA filters for each bedroom, and hope that helps.

[Junie]

We rarely use tissues.  Maybe one box a year?  I generally don't even buy them.  If someone needs a tissue, they will use toilet paper.  It really doesn't happen often.

[wendyroo]

We have 10 boxes of tissues actively being used throughout the house plus 1 in each car.

On average, one of the boxes needs to be replaced about every other week.  Though, obviously, some of the frequently used boxes come up in the rotation much more often than the lesser used ones.

So, I estimate we use about 26ish boxes a year. Which feels right since we always buy the 12 packs from Sams, and 6ish months seems like a reasonable estimate for how often we buy one.

[Katy]

We use a lot too, but most of is have allergies and/or runny noses triggered from temperature changes. 

[Laura Corin]

Lots.  My eyes stream whenever there is a slight wind.

[Pawz4me]

I'd estimate that we use  somewhere between 12 and 18 boxes a year. Unless we have a cold or sinus issue, most of our usage is from me and DH putting in eye drops (both of us have dry eye). But we're a household of three adults.

[Bootsie]

We went through tissues much more when the kids were young.  I can't remember the last time I bought them--we moved a year ago and moved the boxes I had bought some time before that and haven't bought any since then.  DH uses a bandana/handkerchief often.  I have allergies, but usually more sinus congestion and back-of-throat drainage rather than a drippy nose.  

[cintinative]

All four of us have allergies, so yes. Back when I was couponing, I used to have a stash of about 70 boxes and we would easily use that in a year.

[Kassia]

We use almost none unless someone is sick (which is rare).  I have one adult son who goes through a ton when he's home due to allergies, though.  

[MercyA]

Huh. This thread is interesting. We go through about a box a week, with three people. No serious allergies.

[skimomma]

We use handkerchiefs cut from old jersey sheets.  Each person has their own color.  I wash them once a week with sheets and towels.  I bought a box of tissues about ten years ago that we drag out whenever we have overnight guests to put in the guest room.  I always have to toss the top tissue as it gets dusty over time.  It is still over half full.

[Loowit]

We go through about 1-2 boxes a week.  Several of us have allergies.

[Melissa in Australia]

Maybe 2 boxes a year. And that is only really when someone has a cold. 

We all use handkerchiefs everyone has there own, including the twins. Every morning, as part of getting dressed I put a hanky in my pocket. 

[WendyLady]

We rarely use them. I have two boxes in the open living room/dining room but they are the same ones from when we moved in over a year ago. I think we just don't have runny noses very often.  I keep a mini pack in my purse and that tends to get used more, but mostly because my eye get a little weepy in the car - I think it's the wind from the ac. No real allergies. 

[kbutton]

In a bad year, we might go through a box per month, but I think that's an overestimate.

If one of us is having bad allergies, we break out the cloth handkerchiefs. We rarely get colds, and when we do, they are mild.

I have allergy issues, but no longer the seasonal issues where my nose runs like a faucet (and when it did, I just made a tissue into a rhino rocket and walked around with my nose plugged up, lol). 

[alisoncooks]

I'm in the 1-2 boxes a year camp. ETA: we're not often sick and the allergy kid is mainly a dry sneezer. She's also my nosebleed kid, though -- that's pretty much the only time they get used. 

Edited November 17, 2020 by alisoncooks

[Lady Florida.]

We use 1-2 boxes a week but both ds and I have seasonal allergies and even taking allergy meds doesn't stop it completely. Also, "seasonal" is a misnomer because in Florida there's always something blooming that produces pollen we're allergic to. 

[Ellie]

I don't think we even kept tissues in the house when I was growing up. It was TP, I suppose, although I don't really remember. I think my grandmother might have used an actual hankie.

We are snotty people. Well, maybe it's just me, lol. I'm allergic to dust mites, and so I'm snotty all the time (I do use a nasal spray daily now, which does help). I have a box of tissues next to my computer, in the bathroom, next to my chair in the family room, and one in the car. And not just any tissue: it's always Kleenex, either Ultra Soft or with Aloe. Also, I'm a snob, so using TP is just so, IDK, gauche, lol. Also, given the number of times I have to use something, TP would make my nose raw in no time, so there's that.

ETA: There's also a box in the kitchen. Also, the kitchen and bathroom have cute Longeberger tissue baskets. 🙂

Edited November 18, 2020 by Ellie

[stephanier.1765]

We might use one a year if someone is sick enough to need tissues. The other day when I couldn't stop crying I had to keep a roll of toilet paper next to me since I don't usually have tissues on hand.

While watching The Crown, there was an episode where she called tissues, "paper handkerchiefs". Is that what they are normally called across the pond?

[Ausmumof3]

I’m somewhere in between.  My DS has bad seasonal allergies so we are around a box a week right now but other times they last a lot younger.  We also have birds and I often use tissues to clean up their messes.

[rebcoola]

We buy a box if someone gets sick.  Otherwise we don't use them very often and just grab other paper product for the random need.

[Bootsie]

We don't go through that many tissues, but I do have some in my household who can easily go through more than a roll of paper towels in a day, which I find very hard to understand.

[Laura Corin]

59 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

We might use one a year if someone is sick enough to need tissues. The other day when I couldn't stop crying I had to keep a roll of toilet paper next to me since I don't usually have tissues on hand.

While watching The Crown, there was an episode where she called tissues, "paper handkerchiefs". Is that what they are normally called across the pond?

I think that was what we said when I  was a kid. Paper hankies.  We mostly say tissues now. Just as when I was a child, we would respond to 'Thank you' with 'Not at all', but now we say 'You're welcome.'

[carriede]

Maybe 1 box a month, on average? We keep a box in each of our two bathrooms, and one in each of our two cars - but those are rarely used.

I also have a stash of lotion tissues for when someone is sick and using a bunch in a day.

[J-rap]

We probably use a box/week in the fall and winter (especially winter), and maybe a box every two weeks the rest of the year.  (That's just when it's the two of us!)   My nose runs a lot in the winter, especially if I'm walking outside.  I probably go through 10 kleenexes/day in the winter.  (We say kleenexes here. 🙂)

[AbcdeDooDah]

I don't buy them. We use toilet paper.

[Ditto]

We only use tissues when we are sick.  Otherwise we use toilet paper.   I did get a couple of boxes in March when toilet paper started becoming hard to find.  I figure in a pinch it would work just fine as toilet paper.  We still have those boxes.

[Lady Florida.]

Adding: It's kind of hard for me to judge because we keep tissues handy all over the house so I just guessed at 1-2 a week. There's one in my bedroom, ds keeps one in his bedroom, we have one box in a main area accessible to everyone who walks through, and one in each car. 

When you blow your nose multiple times a day - sometimes multiple times an hour - toilet paper is just not soft enough. I don't care how "super soft" or "ultra soft" it claims to be, it's not soft enough. I say this as a 65yo who has dealt with seasonal allergies since the age of 9, tried every kind of tissues and tp available where I live, has done allergy shots on and off all those years, and has been on many, many, many types of allergy meds over the years, some of which are no longer even sold. 

Also, growing up with allergies, I don't know if tp was more expensive or if it was because tp to blow your nose is used more often than just using it for bathroom trips, but my mother bought tissues and insisted I use them for my allergies. Knowing how poor we were I'm sure it was an economical decision. I never actually tested the theory that too much/too expensive tp gets used if you have year round allergies but I did test what was softest and less irritating. It has to be tissues and it has to be soft tissues. 

[wathe]

5 hours ago, skimomma said:

We use handkerchiefs cut from old jersey sheets.  Each person has their own color.  I wash them once a week with sheets and towels.  I bought a box of tissues about ten years ago that we drag out whenever we have overnight guests to put in the guest room.  I always have to toss the top tissue as it gets dusty over time.  It is still over half full.

Similar.  We use cut up old t-shirts and pj's.  Everyone takes what they need from the general family supply - no individually assigned hankies.  They get washed whenever the dirty rag bin is full (1-2 times per week?) .  We do have some fancy real handkerchiefs (hemmed cotton squares - some home-made, some factory-made) to use when out and feeling fashionable.

We also go through very few paper towels (kitchen rags and cloth napkins) and very little toilet paper (bidet).

[drjuliadc]

One or two boxes a year. Just for my kids though. I almost never need tissues myself.

My husband uses toilet paper. I couldn’t believe how many tissues he used when I met him. 

[mom2scouts]

We go through so many tissues. My nose always seems to be running as I have allergies in the spring and fall, my nose always runs when I eat hot food, and it runs when it's cold in the winter.

[Bambam]

We have at least one box of tissues in every room - two in some (bedroom, living room). Allergies, plus when it's cold, my nose will run from coming inside, sometimes just from getting cold. 

I'd say we go through 15-30 year? I usually buy at least two of the big packs at Sam's twice a year. 

I do cheat and keep a few boxes of the super soft ones for if I get a cold. But I keep those hidden! 

[ktgrok]

8 hours ago, kand said:

So interesting how much this varies. My nose is awful when sick and I go through 1-2 boxes when I have a cold, once or twice a year. Otherwise, we almost never use them. I’d say 4 boxes a year total? I bought a three pack in February, in preparation for Covid, and we haven’t gotten into it yet (no illnesses since then). 

same. 

We tend to be stuffy, not runny, nasal people though. And we get sinus congestion with post nasal drip more than even the type of stuffy where you can blow. So nothing to really use the tissues for, as far as our allergies. The way you can tell we are in a high pollen count is we all get "allergy shiners" from the sinus congestion, and headaches/ear aches, but we aren't snotting all over the place. Never really stopped to appreciate that, I guess?

[theelfqueen]

I think we probably use one a month and extra at least once a year so... maybe 15? 

[iamonlyone]

Question for cloth handkerchief people: So, are the used handkerchiefs barely used in your family? I like the idea of further cutting down on our paper use, but I don't like the mental image of laundering for my snotty (literally) family.

I don't know how many boxes of tissues we use a year. We buy the six-box packs several times a year.

[Rosie_0801]

49 minutes ago, iamonlyone said:

Question for cloth handkerchief people: So, are the used handkerchiefs barely used in your family? I like the idea of further cutting down on our paper use, but I don't like the mental image of laundering for my snotty (literally) family.

They dry out, so it's not like you're sticking your fingers into anything goopy by mistake. Then you wash your hands because even dried snot is gross. 😆

[Melissa in Australia]

3 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

Question for cloth handkerchief people: So, are the used handkerchiefs barely used in your family? I like the idea of further cutting down on our paper use, but I don't like the mental image of laundering for my snotty (literally) family.

I don't know how many boxes of tissues we use a year. We buy the six-box packs several times a year.

🙂

so funny

 no different than washing the face washers of the whole family, or the underpants, or the wet socks. I just chuck it all into the washing machine and it comes out clean

[skimomma]

7 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

Question for cloth handkerchief people: So, are the used handkerchiefs barely used in your family? I like the idea of further cutting down on our paper use, but I don't like the mental image of laundering for my snotty (literally) family.

I don't know how many boxes of tissues we use a year. We buy the six-box packs several times a year.

I have an old pillow case hung up for collection of hankies and cleaning cloths.  I dump the whole thing in the washer, case and all.  No touching.

[strawberries]

We use maybe a box a month on average.

[Arctic Bunny]

Maybe two boxes a year? 3 to 4 if there are a lot of colds going around

[hippiemamato3]

I guess my friend's family is more normal than I thought - and we are definitely on the high end. I take multiple allergy meds, so I guess we just have to live with the extra expense! 

[sassenach]

I don’t even buy boxed tissue. We only use toilet paper and I don’t think much at all goes to our noses unless we’re sick.