This is a maaaajor debate in the TP community. Okay, maybe not really, but there is some disagreement. Don’t worry, we’re here to get to the bottom of it (hehe, bottom). So, who actually invented toilet paper? Let’s hop in the time machine, shall we? We hear traveling via the space-time continuum is much better for the environment.

Before we get to TP, there was a lot of weird stuff people used instead. The first documented use of paper for your bum was in the 6th century Medieval China. While paper had been used for padding and wrapping material for centuries, it wasn’t until scholar Yan Zhitui recorded use for wiping 589 AD that we have our first official TP movement.

Almost a thousand years later, paper became much more widespread in China. The Ming dynasty reportedly produced hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper in the 14th century. But this wasn’t like the rolls we’re used to today — we’re talking 60 by 90 cm (2ft by 3ft) sheets that were primarily for wealthy and royal families.

So it’s settled — the Chinese invented toilet paper, right? Well, not so fast.

How can there be toilet paper before the toilets were even invented? Sir John Harington introduced the flushable toilet in 1596, so any “TP” before that was just “P”.

Let’s fast-forward again to 1857.

Many give credit to Joseph Gayetty for inventing modern toilet paper. His first product slogan was, "The greatest necessity of the age! Gayetty's medicated paper for the water-closet." Gayetty sold flat sheets of paper, which had his name watermarked on them. Yep, you’d wipe with his name. Not our idea of good marketing, but we’re called Who Gives A Crap, so take our opinion with a grain of salt.

About 20 years after Gayetty’s big debut, a New Yorker named Seth Wheeler, patented perforated, rolled paper. Both he and Gayetty added aloe to their sheets and marketed them as remedy for hemorrhoids. Fun, right?

As flushable toilet became more common, so did toilet paper. By 1942, the first 2-ply paper was invented, kicking off an era of comfy TP. (If you’re curious, our rolls are 3-ply–how luxe, we know!)

Alas, until we obtain 1.21 gigawatts and a Delorean, we’ll never really know the truth about who really invented TP. But what do you think? Was it the people of Medieval China, Gayetty and his watermarked sheets, or Wheeler and his patented roll? Or was it us? After all, what even was toilet paper before our rolls hit the scene?