Are Toilet Paper Roll Crafts a Safe and Sanitary Idea?

The argument behind toilet paper tubes being unsafe and unhygienic stems from the fact that they live in the bathroom before being recycled in crafting projects. Bathrooms are hot spots for disease and germs, which means everything in them has the potential to be crawling with microscopic particles that may make you or your kids sick. A study conducted by the Microbiology Department of Leeds Old Medical School, for example, found that flushing the toilet without the lid down can lead to a splash of bacteria throughout the entire room. The Mythbusters team confirmed this when they checked for the presence of bacteria on a toothbrush in a rest room.

These risks, while they might present some danger to those extremely susceptible to disease or somewhere germ-laden like a hospital, are pretty negligible. Rest rooms and therefore toilet paper tubes are covered in germs, but so is everything else! Your risk of catching something horrific from a bout of crafting specifically is pretty small. If the germs in a bathroom were unsafe, we'd be sick constantly from touching other bathroom-dwelling items like the door knob, toilet itself, sink, and more.

Despite the above evidence, many schools have banned parents from donating these materials for classroom crafts. Oftentimes the stated reason is the risk of spreading nasty bathroom germs. The reality is, however, that the germs they are probably worried about are not necessarily bathroom-centered entirely. Bringing in toilet paper rolls from any home will come with that home’s germs.

Schools have no way of confirming whether or not one home or the other is sanitary. There is also the risk of carting in something a child might be allergic to like dog or cat dander, peanut particles, etc. Since toilet paper rolls have a higher priority of being germ-covered, banning them is more of a precaution on their end. It has not been scienfifically proven (or studied as far as we could tell) as to whether or not germs from a toilet paper roll specifically could or have made a child sick. Much like banning egg cartons in the UK due to the risk of samonella, schools always err on the side of caution. 

Making toilet paper roll crafts is not likely to put you on your deathbed. The instances of bacteria making its way from a bathroom to a crafting material to a human are actually pretty rare. So, long as you continue to take care of yourself (and your kids, as usual) you are not likely to get sick. Make sure to wash your hands before and after crafting to prevent the spread of disease. The only real threat a toilet paper roll probably poses to an everyday crafter is the anxiety caused by thinking about those creepy crawly germs.

Sometimes the actual risk of germs is not quite as high as our anxiety. Don’t let the facts above deter you from creating adorable craft ideas. Here are some toilet paper tube alternatives and/or tips for keeping them clean: