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A paper towel is an absorbent, disposable
towel A towel is a piece of absorbent cloth or paper used for drying or wiping a surface. Towels draw moisture through direct contact. In households, several types of towels are used, such as hand towels, bath towels, and kitchen towels. Paper towels ...
made from paper. In Britain, paper towels for kitchen use are also known as kitchen rolls, kitchen paper, or kitchen towels. For home use, paper towels are usually sold in a roll of
perforated A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes collectively are called a ''perforation''. The process of creating perforations is called perfor ...
sheets, but some are sold in stacks of pre-cut and pre-folded layers for use in paper-towel dispensers. Unlike cloth towels, paper towels are
disposable A disposable (also called disposable product) is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months (e.g. disposable air filte ...
and intended to be used only once. Paper towels absorb water because they are loosely woven, which enables water to travel between the fibers, even against gravity ( capillary effect). They have similar purposes to conventional towels, such as drying hands, wiping windows and other surfaces, dusting, and cleaning up spills. Paper towel dispensers are commonly used in toilet facilities shared by many people, as they are often considered more hygienic than hot-air
hand dryers A hand dryer is an electric machine which might make use of a heating element and an air blower to dry the hands after hand washing. It is commonly used in public toilets as a cost-effective alternative to paper towels. It may either operate w ...
or shared cloth towels.


History

In 1907, the
Scott Paper Company The Scott Paper Company was the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of sanitary tissue products with operations in 22 countries. Its products were sold under a variety of well-known brand names, including ''Scott Tissue'', '' Cottonelle'', ...
of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
, introduced paper tissues to help prevent the spread of colds from cloth towels in restrooms. Popular belief is that this was partly accidental and was the solution to a railroad car full of long paper rolls meant for
toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...
that were unsuitable to cut into such. In 1919,
William E. Corbin William E. Corbin (1869–1951) was the inventor of Nibroc paper towels and was the mayor of the city of Berlin, New Hampshire (1931–1932). Early life and career William E. Corbin was born in 1869 in Charlestown, New Hampshire to Samuel and ...
, Henry Chase, and Harold Titus began experimenting with paper towels in the Research and Development building of the Brown Company in
Berlin, New Hampshire Berlin ( ) is a city along the Androscoggin River in Coös County in northern New Hampshire, United States. It is the northernmost city in New Hampshire. The population was 9,425 at the 2020 census, down from 10,051 at the 2010 census. It ...
. By 1922, Corbin perfected their product and began mass-producing it at the Cascade Mill on the
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
/ Gorham line. This product was called Nibroc Paper Towels (Corbin spelled backwards). In 1931, the
Scott Paper Company The Scott Paper Company was the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of sanitary tissue products with operations in 22 countries. Its products were sold under a variety of well-known brand names, including ''Scott Tissue'', '' Cottonelle'', ...
of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
, introduced their paper towel rolls for kitchens. In 1995, Kimberly-Clark acquired Scott Paper Company.


Production

Paper towels are made from either virgin or
recycled Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
paper pulp, which is extracted from wood or fiber crops. They are sometimes bleached during the production process to lighten coloration,Sasser, Sue Lynn
Paper Towels
from the
Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
website. Retrieved on June 29, 2007
and may also be decorated with colored images on each square (such as flowers or teddy bears). Resin size is used to improve the
wet strength The wet strength of paper and paperboard is a measure of how well the web of fibers holding the paper together can resist a force of rupture when the paper is wet. Wet strength is routinely expressed as the ratio of wet to dry tensile force at bre ...
. Paper towels are packed individually and sold as stacks, or are held on a continuous roll, and come in two distinct classes: domestic and institutional. Many companies produce paper towels. Some common brand names are
Bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...
, Seventh Generation,
Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...
, and Viva, among many others.


Market

Tissue products in North America, including paper towels, are divided into consumer and commercial markets, with household consumer usage accounting for approximately two thirds of total North American consumption. Commercial usage, or otherwise any use outside of the household, accounts for the remaining third of North American consumption. The growth in commercial use of paper towels can be attributed to the migration from folded towels (in public bathrooms, for example) to roll towel dispensers, which reduces the amount of paper towels used by each patron. Within the
forest product A forest product is any material derived from forestry for direct consumption or commercial use, such as lumber, paper, or fodder for livestock. Wood, by far the dominant product of forests, is used for many purposes, such as wood fuel (e.g. ...
s industry, paper towels are a major part of the "tissue market", second only to
toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...
. Globally, Americans are the highest
per capita ''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person". The term is used in a wide variety of social sciences and statistical research contexts, including government statistic ...
users of paper towels in the home, at approximately yearly consumption per capita (combined consumption approximately per year). This is 50% higher than in Europe and nearly 500% higher than in Latin America. By contrast, people in the Middle East tend to prefer reusable cloth towels, and people in Europe tend to prefer reusable
cleaning sponge A sponge is a cleaning aid made of soft, porous material. Typically used for cleaning impervious surfaces, sponges are especially good at absorbing water and water-based solutions. Originally made from natural sea sponges, they are most commo ...
s. Paper towels are popular primarily among people who have disposable income, so their use is higher in wealthy countries and low in developing countries. Growing hygiene consciousness during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
led to a boost in paper towel market growth.


Environmental issues

Paper towels are a global product with rising production and consumption. Being second in tissue consumption only to
toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...
(36% vs. 45% in the U.S.), the proliferation of paper towels, which are mostly non-
recyclable Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
, has globally adverse effects on the environment. However, paper towels made from recycled paper do exist, and are sold at many outlets. Some are manufactured from bamboo, which grows faster than trees. Electric hand dryers are an alternative to using paper towels for hand drying. However, paper towels are quicker than hand dryers: after ten seconds, paper towels achieve 90% dryness, while hot air dryers require 40 seconds to achieve a similar dryness. Electric hand dryers may also spread bacteria to hands and clothing.Ngeow YF, Ong HW, Tan P. Dispersal of bacteria by an electric air hand dryer. Malays J Pathol. 1989 Aug;11:53-6.


See also

*
Hand washing Hand washing (or handwashing), also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap or handwash and water to remove viruses/bacteria/microorganisms, dirt, grease, or other harmful and unwanted substances stuck to the hands ...
* Handle-o-Meter


References

*I wanna come home to roses and dirty little notes on the post its and when my hair starts turning grey hell say you look like a fine whine better with age,I guess i learned it from my parents that true love starts with friend ship a kiss on the forhead a date night fake an apology after a fight I need a man whos patient and kind gets out of the car and holds the door i wanna slow dance in the living room like were 18 at senior prom and grow old with someone who makes me feel young I need a man who love me like my father loves my mom.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paper Towel Paper products Cleaning products Personal hygiene products Domestic implements Disposable products American inventions 20th-century inventions