Disaster Skills: 3 "Off Label" Uses For Toilet Paper

We often take this resource for granted in the modern world, but it’s an older commodity than most people imagine. Toilet paper was recorded in China as early as 600 AD and it began being mass-produced in the 14th century. Since then, it’s become the ideal product for cleaning up after a bathroom break, as well as blowing your nose and other personal hygiene tasks. And it’s better than the prior methods of wiping with sticks, rocks, grass and bare hands. But that’s not all a roll of TP can handle.

An Alcohol Stove
My Uncle Don showed me this one on a camp out many years ago. Drop a full roll of toilet paper into an empty coffee can (or any other #10 tin can). Pour in one bottle of high proof rubbing alcohol. Toss in a match and you’ve got a coffee can cook stove. It’s a little hard to regulate the heat, and it doesn’t burn forever. Yet it works well enough to cook a meal, as long as you can suspend your food over the fire safely and effectively. Be careful when using alcohol for fuel, as the flames are hard to see in bright daylight. Turn the stove “off”, if necessary, by placing a flat stone over the can to smother the flames.     

Fire Starting Fuel

Toilet paper and the roll are flammable, making these great additions to your bag of fire starting tricks. Either material can burn as the tinder to get your fire going. Toilet paper can also be wadded into little balls and dipped in melted wax to make superior fire starters. Just leave a little “flag” of paper sticking up from each, to make them easier to light. You can stuff the cardboard roll with dryer lint, cotton balls or other fuel – either as a way to transport the materials or as a fire starting “log” for wet weather. Drench the stuffed cardboard tube in oil or melted wax for something that will burn for a long time.      

Gardening Hack

Save those empty cardboard toilet paper rolls, as they have many uses in the survival garden. If you’re a fan of biodegradable seed pots, fill a plastic tray with vertical roll sections, add dirt, and sow your seeds. You can also make cutworm collars for non-chemical pest control. Cut out rings from your toilet paper rolls and press them into the soil around the base of tender seedlings to block cutworms (which pop out of the soil and kill your baby plants). As a final home for toilet paper tubes, rip them into little pieces and blend them with your compost pile to create a little more dirt – and a little more food down the road.

Ready to get ready? Disaster preparedness is a skill set best learned BEFORE you actually need it, and we have many classes that can help you along your path to self-reliance.

Written by Tim MacWelch First draft published on outdoorlife.com