IMO, 3 rolls of toilet paper a week is a lot for one person. We have 2 in my family, one my husband, and I use 2 ply and don't change it until maybe a week? Maybe a little less. Is she used to using Scott and now you use Charmin? That could be the problem.
Papertowels, I can't use cheap ones, need more to clean up. I use bounty select a size. How does Mom use them? If for dryi g her hands, she can use a tea towel for that. If for cleanups, if she has that many maybe she should not be in the kitchen. My daughter just use to pull and tear. Could get 4 at a time. Told her if just drying her hands, leave them on the counter and I would use for cleanup. I saw this once where the person had a trashcan that she put paper towels she only used to dry her hands. Then she used them for clean ups.
The paper wars, almost as much fun as the thermostat wars.
I would suspect she is using the excess tp to solve a problem of some sort and you are right to notice.
I finally bought a new commode for aunt. The plumbing bills were extreme due to the excess toilet paper she tried to flush. The one I bought was advertised as being able to flush golf balls. It was a phase like so many other behaviors that come and go with dementia. A bit of OCD perhaps or just forgetting from one moment to the next that the job was done. Prior to that phase I would catch on camera her going from her chair to her bathroom. The path was through the kitchen. She would see the roll of paper towels, unroll several and stuff them in her pants. We had to store the paper towels out of sight after that and switch underwear to depends.
My MIL always had tissues in her pockets. Occasionally one would be forgotten and go through the laundry by mistake. She’s been gone for years but occasionally I’ll see bits and pieces of a tissue in the dryer lint or they will shake out of the laundry onto the floor. It brings her to mind and what a mess I thought it was when she would visit me back in the day. Now I just say, Hello MIL. The only suggestions I have is to give yourself a break and realize it’s a small thing relatively speaking. At 97 and no dementia listed, your mom is doing great to still be using TP. My mom was wearing depends by 97. No TP wars with her except putting excess in her underwear before she switched to depends. Took a minute for her to realize the extra tp wasn’t going to be the answer. If it is unusual for your mom to use 3 rolls a week, something is going on. Her diet may have changed with the move and is upsetting her stomach? She may be lining her underwear. Try providing her with incontinence pads to see if that helps. She will decline. It’s only normal. She’s 97. Welcome to the forum.
I kept an empty toilet roll tube and wrap the toilet paper needed for a visit on it. I was a little more generous than needed but not so generous as to run through the whole rolI as before. I left that reduced roll on the holder for my parent and kept a full roll out of sight for me to use and replenish from.
I did this for a few months and my parent now seems to have stopped the wastage and only uses a regular amount of paper. if wastage starts again I’ll go back to that method. It’s kind of tedious to do but better than waste! Hope that works for you if you choose to do it.
You don't say in your profile what kind of care your mother needs - are you getting close enough to know if there's been any recent change in her bowel habit? That's the only thing that would concern me, if she's gone from using (say) one roll a week to three.
Buy the cheapest single ply TP to save your pipes. Simply don't have paper towels around, and that problem will go away. Use washcloths and reusable rags where you'd use the paper towels.
If your mother is living with you, she should be contributing to the living expenses incurred in your home for her share of the costs. If the toilet paper isn't clogging up your pipes, then I'd let her be. 3 rolls a week doesn't sound all that excessive to me, really, if she's home all day 24/7. If that amount of paper is causing plumbing issues, purchase a bidet toilet seat using her $$$ and that should eliminate all but the smallest amount of TP usage.
Replace the paper towels with wash cloths if you don't mind doing extra laundry. Again, if mom is contributing her fair share of $$ to the household, let her use the paper towels unless they're causing some sort of problem. I use about 15 wash cloths in the kitchen as rags to clean with so I cut down on my Bounty paper towel usage. But I do wind up having to wash them quite often.
Papertowels, I can't use cheap ones, need more to clean up. I use bounty select a size. How does Mom use them? If for dryi g her hands, she can use a tea towel for that. If for cleanups, if she has that many maybe she should not be in the kitchen. My daughter just use to pull and tear. Could get 4 at a time. Told her if just drying her hands, leave them on the counter and I would use for cleanup. I saw this once where the person had a trashcan that she put paper towels she only used to dry her hands. Then she used them for clean ups.
I would suspect she is using the excess tp to solve a problem of some sort and you are right to notice.
I finally bought a new commode for aunt. The plumbing bills were extreme due to the excess toilet paper she tried to flush. The one I bought was advertised as being able to flush golf balls. It was a phase like so many other behaviors that come and go with dementia. A bit of OCD perhaps or just forgetting from one moment to the next that the job was done. Prior to that phase I would catch on camera her going from her chair to her bathroom. The path was through the kitchen. She would see the roll of paper towels, unroll several and stuff them in her pants. We had to store the paper towels out of sight after that and switch underwear to depends.
My MIL always had tissues in her pockets. Occasionally one would be forgotten and go through the laundry by mistake. She’s been gone for years but occasionally I’ll see bits and pieces of a tissue in the dryer lint or they will shake out of the laundry onto the floor. It brings her to mind and what a mess I thought it was when she would visit me back in the day. Now I just say, Hello MIL.
The only suggestions I have is to give yourself a break and realize it’s a small thing relatively speaking.
At 97 and no dementia listed, your mom is doing great to still be using TP. My mom was wearing depends by 97. No TP wars with her except putting excess in her underwear before she switched to depends. Took a minute for her to realize the extra tp wasn’t going to be the answer.
If it is unusual for your mom to use 3 rolls a week, something is going on. Her diet may have changed with the move and is upsetting her stomach? She may be lining her underwear. Try providing her with incontinence pads to see if that helps. She will decline. It’s only normal. She’s 97.
Welcome to the forum.
I did this for a few months and my parent now seems to have stopped the wastage and only uses a regular amount of paper. if wastage starts again I’ll go back to that method. It’s kind of tedious to do but better than waste! Hope that works for you if you choose to do it.
What's she doing with the paper towels?
Just hide or get rid of paper towels.
Replace the paper towels with wash cloths if you don't mind doing extra laundry. Again, if mom is contributing her fair share of $$ to the household, let her use the paper towels unless they're causing some sort of problem. I use about 15 wash cloths in the kitchen as rags to clean with so I cut down on my Bounty paper towel usage. But I do wind up having to wash them quite often.