Warehouse Worker Urges People To Think Twice Before Using Paper Towels in Public Places

Public common spaces, such as restaurants, retail stores, and bathrooms, are often unhygienic as we know them. But TikTok user Laugh Track (@tallandfunny1982) from St. Louis had a disgusting revelation about paper towels in public places that rang alarm bells on the internet. In a stitched video with @Tacoreacts, who asked about “company secrets” that people don’t know about, the woman blurted out “paper towels.” While people may have a faint idea about the issue, the TikTok creator narrated her experience working at a warehouse that stored paper towels.

Calling out restaurants, grocery stores, and retail stores, she said, “They are disgusting.” the warehouse worker recalled how people tend to use paper towels to open doors or simply use their foot to avoid the germs on the door knob. “You probably do better touching the door with your bare hand and drying your hands on your clothes,” she said. Recalling her time at the paper towel warehouse, where “pallets” of them were stored for month after month, she said all kinds of pests roamed the place. “Oh baby, rats, roaches, spider eggs, everything,” she disclosed.

If that was not repugnant enough, she explained the process of cleaning and dusting off the paper towels before shipment. “We literally would just dust everything off. If they were stained, you would touch them with a little bit of water and that would take away the poop look, or the spider eggs,” she noted. It was then followed by a blow-off to dry it clean and packing it off for shipment. In conclusion, the warehouse worker made sure to emphasize that the paper towels were more disgusting than the doors that most people were trying to avoid. “Yeah, just touch the door. Just touch the door,” she laughed while ending the video.

The video received massive attention from viewers with more than 189,700 likes and several comments about the issue. “I so badly wanna return to 5 minutes ago when I was blissfully unaware of this,” wrote a person (@mactouchinyams) while another (@suchabea) complained, “How do I unlearn this?” “Lol Jesus I will never touch anything outside my house anymore,” quipped a third viewer (@willflannery5). Someone else (@rachelcastellano85) advised with an alternative. They wrote, “This is why I always wash and dry my hands, followed up with hand sanitizer. Washing to get rid of external dirt, and sanitizer to get rid of germs.” Others in the comments section felt scared by the burden of knowledge shared on TikTok. 

The popular opinion was that the creator should have kept the information to herself and spared them the details. “I don't know why I'm upset with you, but I am…” said an internet user (@theworldwithelvis). Another (@shellymom3) yelled, “Why are you ruining my life?!?!” According to Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials, public paper towels, especially ones made of recycled fibers, can harbor bacteria and germs, but are somehow safer and hygienic than hand dryers. A study by the American Society for Microbiology found that unused paper towels can have 1,000 times more bacteria than those made from wood pulp. While the TikTok creator’s well-meaning video was to make people vigilant about their surroundings, paper towels are safer to use than not at all. Hand dryers are not a great alternative, and wiping your wet hands on your clothes is not sustainable. 

You can follow @tallandfunny1982 on TikTok for more videos.