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Shell,

Lowe’s also has Lysol and Clorox wipes at good prices. Great suggestion about Lowe’s.

I think about when I was in the Girl Scouts on a camping trip. We decided to roll the troop leader’s cabins, cars, we rolled everything! LOL

The troop leaders got us back! They didn’t replace our toilet paper. We had to use paper towels or napkins from the kitchen.

We were silly 12 year olds!
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Worried,

Do you have a Lowe's there or near by? We do and they sell paper towels and toilet paper, maybe look there.

Also, if you have a Family Dollar you could try there. The last time I was in a Family Dollar they were fulling supply, while the big store shelves were empty!

Good luck!
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I looked at bidet retrofit toilet seats for sale online tonight. I have enough TP to get through the shortage (Amazon got more in stock and I have bunch from them) but I think a bidet seat is a good option, anyway.

I live in an apartment with two roommates, I buy the paper supplies as part of the rental agreements. If I get a bidet seat, it would only be maybe 6 months before it would pay for itself, and that's taking into consideration that some TP would still be used.

I think it's a great solution beyond the TP shortage.
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Worried, check with your local Office Max/Depot or Staples.   OM/D used to carry TP in bulk, as well as coffee filters and other office supplies.   That's assuming though that the office supply stores are still open.

Do you have a Gordon Food Store?   They also sell in bulk, but I don't know if they're in your area.
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People always give me a hard time because I save everything.The wipes,pulse -ox,breathing machine, and the masks and all the stuff I saved from taking care of Mom may come in handy now,if not for me,for them.
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I agree with you Riverdale

i have not been able to buy a single paper product for 2 weeks. Everyone here is hoarding toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and Kleenex! I had to have my husband steal a box of Kleenex from work today because I’ve been using toilet paper!

And now it seems people are hoarding thermometers too? Just saw an angry post from someone in my parents towns local FB group, this person doesn’t have a thermometer and went to the dollar general to buy one but couldn’t because someone else had just grabbed the last 6 the store had!

I’m still surprised at the empty shelves here. I went to Nob Hill for a few necessities last night & because I was hoping to finally find toilet paper. No toilet paper. We needed sugar....I got the last one on the shelf. I was expecting there to be none left since no store here has had sugar or flour in the last 2 weeks either.

Now if I could just find some damn toilet paper!
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I've gone to 3 grocery stores, 2 Walmarts, the closest Wallgreens, for my post-frenzy treasure hunts. I re-travel this route, to the extent needed, to find what I'm looking for.
I've bumped into a former co-worker who was just wandering around with her lightly loaded cart. We waved and shouted hi from a distance so we could do the social distancing routine.

I'm so glad I routinely buy the bare necessities since it gave me some lead time. In the meantime, my neighbors and I have been keeping up with each other's inventories and doing a few front door trades as needed. It decreases having to share the public space in the grocery isle.

I do have a neighbor scared to go into CVS to get her prescription since she can not use the drive through. She was told she has to come in because it's a controlled drug that requires her signature. Face-to-face is the only way to sign and take possession of the script. (I wonder how a POA would accomplish this task, especially if the pharmacist did not know the POA.

The stores weren't entirely thinking either until one day they started rationing. It was quite interesting to see what items each store was rationing. Toilet paper, Kleenex, paper towels, and wipes of all types just not to be found. Even still it's hard to find these items. People are mostly polite and social distancing encourages reasonable behavior.

On one treasure hunt ,there was 2 three-packs of Kleenex on the shelf. The couple in front of me grabbed the first 3-pack and said "this is all there is". I told them if they were desperate, there was another 3-pack at the back of the shelf, but they let me claim the other pack. At least I scored my box of Kleenex on that trip. Felt like the kid who won the top prize.

This really reminds me of the oil embargo back in the 70s. Cars lined up and people speeding to be first in front to get to the gas pump. Of course that really was an oil shortage, and pumps ran empty quite often. But we don't have the TP etc. shortages. I'm sure some shortages will be felt by all of us soon because everything is so out of balance now. Supply chains and transportation are really challenged.

In the meantime, driving all over to find what is needed has become a treasure hunt of sorts. At least gas is reasonable right now. But we discovered it's really a lot easier to compare neighbor's inventories and handle much that way. Not all neighborhoods can cooperate or trust those nearby so we are lucky.
I'm so glad I'm not a senior having to navigate this mess. Of course injury at that requires medical attention is not a comforting thought either.

Some stores have altered their policies to help with this potential issue, among others. The thought of having to visit any ER department right now is not comforting.
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The problem is there presently is not the ability to purchase at a normal pace because there is no normality. Whereas before it might have been 3 on a given afternoon and you would tell yourself to buy toilet paper. Now you either have to get to a store first thing in the morning and possibly get a package or happen to be in a store when they put some out and there is no absolute time frame when and where that might happen. Yesterday my husband was thrilled to find alcohol at a CVS. He did not buy all that was available which wasn't much
and in that short period of time he missed out on the toilet paper being put out. Experiencing this over and over obviously creates a fear of supply. Every day things change so one never knows if what is barely available today will disappear not to mention the ability to be in a store at the right time. I am starting to think there should be appointments made for purchasing but I know that won't happen so we continue on this carousel of disparity.

Yes I presently have more toilet paper than I normally would have but I want a break from leaving the house at dark and being amongst a crowd when a store opens. I am on toilet paper hiatus for the time being.
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There is NOT a TP shortage. People are not pooping anymore now than before. What IS in shortage is sanity, people stocking up on six months of TP. If people didn't act like nuts, there would be TP enough for everyone. If everyone just bought TP at the normal pace they always did, there would be enough.
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Baby wipes are no longer just for babies.
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Did anyone catch that pic of a plastic garden chair with a hole cut in it placed on the lawn over a sprinkler jet?

Maybe only in Australia...

My DH warned the neighbours if they heard screaming from the backyard, it would just be us with the hose. It has a trigger gun with spray or jet options (men & their hose connections 😜). But after using it to shower when the gas hot water service broke a few years back I can assure you COLD water is not that much fun.
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I like the bidet idea. 

The bum gun sounds ok, too, but may depend on whose hands it's in and how nimble one was in dexterity and minds ~ or if one was sick.  How much practice would that take before getting it just right?  Could wind up having to clean and paint all, including the ceiling!  

If the water was shut off during an emergency though (seems to be happening now, too!), then we'd be up that creek we all know the name of.
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Water comes out of a tap. Toilet paper does not.
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I agree on the concept, but bidets take water.
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Julia, you got that right. On cheap mechanical $20 bidets, I rarely go above 1 or 2 on the dial out of 10. A electronic bidet will damp down the fire hose pressure for you.

I always suggest people get a bidet with an adjustable nozzle. That way you don't have to do the bidet dance. You can just move the nozzle around. You don't have to pay a lot for that. Some $20 range bidets have that feature.
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If you’re worried that the water won’t be forceful enough to clean the bum, you’ve never experienced a bidet before. Speaking for experience of turning the knob up instead of down... ouch! You can power wash that behind, if you need to! But, mine gets clean with the knob turned just over half way, and it doesn’t hurt at all. You might have to shift around to hit the right spots. Feels refreshing to be clean!
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Rainmom, these aren't those disgusting European bidets you are thinking of. These are clean Asian bidets. They fit right over the toilet. They take no extra space.

I've had Asian bidets for over 10 years. I can't go back to TP. I only buy some TP once a year. For this event, I didn't even think about buy any. The little stack I bought over a year ago is still pretty big.

You'll need something to dry your bum with a cheap $20 bidet. That can be a bit of TP or some people put a fan over the toilet tank. A better Asian bidet comes with drying built in. No TP needed. You will need a power outlet next to the toilet for the drying bidets. That's why modern houses have power outlets right next to the toilet.

Something else you can use instead of a bidet is what they have in Thailand. Known to tourists as a bum gun. It's basically that sprayer most people have on their kitchen sinks attached to the toilet. That works as well. It does take some skill to use properly and not spray water all over the bathroom. Once you get it down though it's easy. Something like that would save you from having to move to the shower.
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You don't need more bathroom space with modern bidets Rainmom, they are a 2 in one device that works with your toilet. But I admit I share your skepicism about how good a job they really do after a BM - and I'm not talking about someone who is incontinent because none of them are going to take care of that.
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In general, I like the idea of bidets. For freshening up after taking care of business it is...ummm... nice(?).

But let’s get real.

Based on my nearly 27 years of
dealing with Rainmans poop - maybe Rainman has super hardy poo - but to really clean - I have to say that the force of the water would have to be such that it would blow one off the seat.

At times - certainly not every time - but there are times when after a poo I’ve had to have Rainman hop into the shower - and I give him a power rinse with the hand held shower head option and it STILL doesn’t fully do the job. So back to more baby wipes. If the Rain Forests are dependent on me using less wipes on his poopy bottom - I’d have to admit I wouldn’t bet on the Rain Forest.

I mean, I try. I really do. Really. But a ineffective butt cleaning leads to itching, burning “discomfort” and that only leads to busy fingers. And - that just can’t happen.

I would buy a bidet - I would - if I had more space in my bathroom and all my other more pressing bills were magically taken care of. But, to depend on just a bidet to do the job? Nope.
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Gershun there is such a huge range of appliances that call themselves bidet from a very simple spray nozzle connected to the cold water supply line right on up, the really deluxe models not only heat the water but they give you a blow dry too.
(this is why I think we need to have a display bathroom facility, they could put a different model in each stall 🤣)
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Thank you for the link Garden Artist. Definitely something to consider.  Luckily I was able to buy some for myself and my mother last week.  Hopefully new stock will be arriving soon.
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No tp shortage here, hanging off my ears! ha ha.
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Don't you still need to dry yourself after using a bidet? Or do they dry you down there too?

Enquiring minds need to know. 🤔
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I can see it as a benefit. Maybe more people will look into bidets.
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This week my 30-something co-worker said he was interested in getting one but they are also all sold out. Probably not manufactured here, so who knows how long it will take to get one.
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