6 Paper Products That Frustratingly Shrank on New Yorkers
Same brand, same-looking package, fewer sheets on the roll.
For New Yorkers who grab the usual bulk pack on autopilot, that can mean running out sooner than expected.
Here are the paper products that got smaller, and how to spot them before you buy.
1. Charmin Ultra Soft
Charmin Ultra Soft Mega rolls went from 224 sheets to 208.
That’s from a January 2026 post on Mouse Print, a consumer site that tracks shrinking packages.
That’s 16 fewer sheets on every roll, or about 7% less.
Staples lists the 24-roll case at the same 208 sheets a roll.
So a 24-roll case holds 4,992 sheets. The old count gave you 5,376.
You’re short 384 sheets, or almost two rolls.
2. Cottonelle Ultra Clean
In an April 2024 post, Mouse Print flagged Cottonelle Ultra Clean rolls that fell from 321 sheets to 284.
The new version is pitched as thicker and stronger.
But the package is smaller.
Each roll lost 37 sheets, or about 11.5% of the old count.
Buy a 12-roll pack and you’re short 444 sheets. That’s more than one whole old roll.
3. Viva Paper Towels
Viva paper towels got shorter too.
The January 2026 Mouse Print post shows double rolls going from 94 sheets to 86.
That’s 8 fewer sheets, or about 8.5% off the old roll.
Other paper towel brands shortened their rolls as well.
4. Quilted Northern
Mouse Print’s June 2026 post found Quilted Northern’s mega toilet paper roll dropping from 295 to 255 sheets.
In a six-pack, that takes away almost a full roll.
It wasn’t the first cut.
Three years earlier, the mega size had gone from 328 sheets to 295.
Add the two cuts together and you lose 73 sheets a roll.
That’s about 22% of the old 328-sheet roll, or roughly 1 sheet in every 5.
Staples’ 18-roll case lists the same 255 sheets a roll.
5. Charmin Strong
A December 2024 Mouse Print post says Charmin Strong, in the red package, went to 330 sheets a roll from 363.
Procter & Gamble retired the Super Mega name and renamed the roll Mega XL.
That’s 33 fewer sheets, or about 9% less, in every roll you buy.
Here’s a way to see it.
It takes 11 of the new red rolls to match the sheets in 10 of the old ones.
6. Puffs Tissues
Mouse Print’s April 2024 post also caught Puffs tissues, the only paper product here sold by the box.
They went from 56 to 48.
Eight tissues came out of every box, which takes about 14% off the old count.
Buy 10 boxes and you’re 80 tissues short.
Where These Counts Come From
Every shrinking product on this list comes from Mouse Print.
Its posts credit reader tips and show photos that compare the old and new packages.
Staples and Home Depot listings give a second look at the new counts for Charmin Ultra Soft, Quilted Northern and Cottonelle.
The posts give old and new sheet counts for these six, but no price change.
So we can’t say whether any shelf price moved.
You can check each count against the package in your cart.
What Mega Means on the Label
“Mega” on a toilet paper pack is a size name. The two Staples listings above define it against each brand’s regular roll.
Staples’ Quilted Northern listing says each mega roll equals four of that brand’s regular rolls.
Its Charmin Ultra Soft listing makes the same four-to-one claim.
Mouse Print adds that the Mega XL rename apparently cleared the way for an even larger roll called Mega XXL.
Each Mega is measured against its own brand’s regular roll.
So the word alone can’t tell you how one brand’s pack compares with another’s.
Psst! How much do you know about everyday paper goods? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
Quiz
Paper Goods Pop Quiz
Answer these questions on toilet paper, tissues and the companies behind them. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Which New York city was home to the inventor who patented the idea of perforating a roll of paper in 1871?
What BLS Found
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the government agency that tracks prices.
It logged 716 reports of household paper products changing size from 2015 to 2021.
BLS says no other category in its sample saw more upsizing and downsizing.
Not every change was a cut, though.
Downsizing barely moves overall inflation. But on a single pack, you get less for your money.
For toilet paper, say a roll goes from 220 sheets to 200.
BLS economists count that as a 10% rise in price per sheet.
The Math Behind Price Per Sheet
Say a paper product shrinks and the price stays the same. Your price per sheet goes up by more than the share of sheets removed.
The same price now covers fewer sheets.
Charmin Strong shows it. 363 sheets down to 330 is 9.1% fewer. But 363 divided by 330 is 1.10, so at the same price each sheet costs 10% more.
For any roll, divide the old sheet count by the new one, then subtract 1. That tells you how much more each sheet costs.
Counting Sheets Before You Buy
It's easier to compare toilet paper, paper towels and tissues by counting sheets, not rolls.
Sheets are what you use.
Multiply the sheets on the label by the number of rolls. Divide the pack price by that total.
Then multiply by 100.
Cottonelle Ultra Clean is one example.
Home Depot lists a 12-roll pack at 284 sheets a roll, which is 3,408 sheets.
Its $15.39 price in early October 2026 comes to about 45 cents per 100 sheets.
Charmin Ultra Soft Mega is a second example. Staples listed the 24-roll case at $46.99 in early October 2026. At 208 sheets a roll, that's about 94 cents per 100 sheets.
The two examples come from different stores, so the 49-cent gap between them isn't a like-for-like comparison.
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