Paper Towel Test

by Steven Babiak
(Martinez,CA)

We're on a roll

We're on a roll

Big questions about paper towels - What if a paper towel taught you how scientists think? You might find that real science starts right where curiosity lives if you grab some water and ask a few honest questions.

What Steven did... I took many different brands of paper towels and put them through different test.

First, I put a measured amount of water in a bowl and sunk the paper towel, till it could hold no more water. I then found the amount of water the towel soaked up.

Second, I did a softness test, where I asked people to rate how soft one towel was. I presented this and let people in the science fair try too.

I did this in 6th grade, but I didn't win. I would do it again just to remind myself of the results.

Barry's Response - I subscribe to Consumer Reports. That is the type of research they engage in and is very useful to the public. More so than your typical scientific project for sure.

The other criterion advertisers tout so famously is paper towel strength. At least that's what I have seen in most of the commercials.

Search this site for more information now.

We'll pretend the paper towels are racers

There's a puddle for each towel. Some people drink fast. There are some that fall apart. Act tough, but quit early.

Why? Every paper towel has a tunnel inside. Like rain moves through soil or pollution moves through air filters, water crawls through them. It's called capillary action, but you can call it "water climbing."

This happens in clouds, so meteorologists watch it. Scientists watch it in rivers and lungs. Same thing. On a different scale.

Let's get to the spicy part

It's all about the ads. It whispers and measures. You don't have to hate companies to test them. You don't have to worry about the planet either. Just ask questions and think calmly.

People say, "Don't question science." Scientists say, "Don't question, just measure."

It's important to have freedom. That's how we fixed ozone loss. It's how we clean the air. That's how we research instead of guessing.

Yes, sometimes cheap towels win. People are surprised by that (and other elements of truth.)

Counter-narrative

There's nothing stronger than nature but humans can affect it.

Kids learn not to be afraid of big ideas by testing small things. Whether it's climate, air, water, or paper towels, science works best when it's curious.

Care for creation, test your tools, tell the truth - that idea shows up in many cultures and faiths. Don't lie to yourself, but take care.

Growing this project with new ideas

- Use flour dust to test towels as air filters
- Compare wet and dry strength, like storm clouds and clear skies
- For non-readers, graph results with smiley faces
- Let the kids design the next test

It's how inventors start.

Here's why testing works for us

- Topics that are clear
- Language that's simple
- Experiment in real life
- Tone of curiosity
- Steps you can repeat
- Results you can trust
- It ends with an invitation, not a lecture.

Now it's your turn

Which paper towel surprised you the most? What would you test next if you didn't know the answer?

Comments for Paper Towel Test

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by: Ben

Thanks for introducing two types of paper towel tests. It is one of the main item that we are using in our daily life. So we have to check its quality and thus we can conclude that how much it is best in quality. Continue sharing these kind of worthy posts!

From Barry - Ben, that's exactly the spirit of science. When you test paper towels, you learn how materials interact with water, air, and force. It's the same thinking meteorologists use when they study how clouds hold moisture, or environmental scientists when they test air filters. Tools are often the best teachers because they inspire curiosity instead of fear. I'm glad you see the value in testing what we use every day-that mindset applies to weather forecasts and air quality too.
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starstar 		Not enough!
by: Anonymous

Your test should have included strength. That is one of the most important aspects of paper towels.

Also, you should have tested to see if the towel after use could be rinsed and used again.

From Barry - That's a fair and important critique - and you're thinking like a researcher. Absorption alone doesn't tell the whole story, just like rainfall totals don't tell you if a storm will flood. We always test both capture efficiency and durability of filters in air-quality science, because a filter that collapses under load isn't very useful. The idea of reusability is also great; it's like how we test materials for repeated exposure to wind, moisture, or pollution. By noticing what's missing, better science is built - by noticing what's missing.
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starstarstar 		I'd like more information
by: Bruce

That sounds like an interesting project.

I'd like to know what your findings were? What project did win? When was this experiment performed? Has paper towel technology advanced since then?

I agree with Barry. From a consumer standpoint, I care more about paper towel strength.

From Barry - You're asking the right questions, Bruce -- they turn a class project into a real investigation. The goal wasn't to win, but to learn how controlled testing works, so the process matters more than the prize. Experiments like this often show trade-offs: towels that absorb the most water may tear easily, while stronger towels soak up less. We see the same thing in meteorology and air quality—systems optimize for one thing at the expense of another. Like weather instruments and pollution sensors, paper towel technology has improved over time, especially in fiber bonding and texture. It makes sense from a consumer perspective to focus on strength - engineers care about how structures hold up in wind, not just how they look.

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Thank you to my research and writing assistants, ChatGPT and WordTune, as well as Wombo and others for the images.

OpenAI's large-scale language generation model (and others provided by Google and Meta), helped generate this text.  As soon as draft language is generated, the author reviews, edits, and revises it to their own liking and is responsible for the content.