Why Someone Might Have A Roll Of Toilet Paper In Their Refrigerator

If you opened up your friend's fridge and spotted a roll of toilet paper, you'd probably assume they'd really lost the plot when unpacking groceries. But in reality, they just might be onto a hack for preventing unpleasant kitchen odors. 

There are all kinds of staples people turn to for a lovely-smelling kitchen, but toilet paper may be an unexpected one, considering it doesn't have an aroma. In the refrigerator, though, it's all about absorption. That's why, for a number of years now, some people have been using a roll in the fridge instead of something like baking soda. There's a lot of moisture in refrigerators, with humidity accumulating as the door is opened and closed, disrupting the temperature. All of that moisture carries odor particles of foods in the fridge, which tend to be less than stellar, whether there's anything past its prime in there or it's just a strange clash of different smells. Toilet paper can absorb a lot of that moisture, like a sponge, taking the odor particles along with it. 

Judging by the TikTok and Facebook posts recommending this trick, it works to an extent. Toilet paper is designed to be absorbent, after all. But there are downsides. It's likely not up to eliminating stronger odors. It doesn't last too long either — you replace baking soda in your fridge every two to three months, but for toilet paper, it's every two to three weeks. This method is also a waste of toilet paper and of precious refrigerator space.

On Facebook, Tips and Recipes shares this hack, but with an extra step: Spreading a mixture of baking soda and water onto the toilet paper first. Baking soda doesn't just absorb odors; it counteracts them. It's an alkaline substance, so it neutralizes the acids in those unwanted smells. Putting some onto the toilet paper roll therefore packs the double punch of absorption and neutralization. But is that necessary when you can just use baking soda itself? The box takes up less space than a roll of toilet paper, plus you're not wasting an entire roll.

"I have always just set an open box of baking soda in the fridge, and it does an amazing job with odors," Maria Barthalomis Rowlette comments on the Tips and Recipes video. "Why waste your toilet tissue?" Meanwhile, on Smart Fox's YouTube video covering the same trick, commenters note that it's cheaper to use baking soda since you don't have to replace it so often. 

Ultimately, while toilet paper is a decent option for absorption for a short time, tried-and-true solutions can be more affordable, less wasteful, and more effective for longer while taking up less space. You can also use sliced lemons to counteract refrigerator odors. Black cumin seed oil mixed with dish soap, cotton balls soaked in vanilla extract, or crushed charcoal in a bowl also work a charm. Of course, one of the best ways to avoid kitchen odors is regular cleaning of your fridge.