DIY Toilet Paper Dampner

A few weeks ago, included in my CNN’s “5 Things” email was an advertisement for a product called The Unwipe. It’s a sponge holder filled with water that you dab your toilet paper onto in order to provide a softer experience for your tush and you use less toilet paper (or disposable wipes which aren’t exactly environmentally-friendly.) What a fabulous invention, truly. Our travel trailer is quite tiny so less toilet paper to store is welcome. 

A few days later, I revisted that email and read the article. I clicked on the Unwipe link for the half price special but that didn’t seem available (perhaps the deal was only available on publish date?), so I clicked on the Amazon link and the product was “Currently Unavailable” - I expect it's quite popular! Being on a budget, I decided to attempt a DIY. At first, I thought I’d use a short sour cream container, but then realized a TUCKS container would work much better. Using a make up cleanser pad (I’m sure any TP or paper towel would also work) and rubbing alcohol, I removed the blue ink from the TUCKS lid. Luckily I had some nail polish remover that removed the rest of the greenish ink so I was left with a nice, solid white container. 

I cut a 1" high cellulose sponge to size and placed it in the container. Next, I used a feta container lid that was already white and cut it to size (Note: some yogurt lids are too thick, I would suggest a sour cream or cottage cheese lid.) It worked better to flip the lid upside down before placing the TUCKS container on it to trace the bottom. As well, when cutting, cut on the inside of your pen line so the flat plastic piece fits nicely inside the TUCKS container.

The last task was to create holes in the flat plastic piece. I used a single hole punch. Note that there are two ways of inserting the plastic into the hole punch: one way reaches the center of the plastic lid a little more than the other. I punched a circle of holes as close to the center as I could get and then used the hole punch the regular way to punch the rest.

During my first experiment, I folded the flat plastic piece and cut a few diamonds using scissors, trying to create some holes in the center but then the lid didn’t flatten out afterwards. I tried hammering a thick nail through, thick screws, etc. but in the end (no pun intended), I decided to leave the center solid. Add some water and voila! Dab your TP a few times on your dampner and you’ve got yourself some soft TP that isn’t soggy. Your tush, your wallet, your storage space, and the planet all benefit. We’ll certainly use this in our tiny travel trailer and at home, too. 

Pefer the real thing which is certainly better? Head on over to The Unwipe and order one, heck - order a few! Who wouldn’t want one of these brilliantly designed, sustainable gifts?