Costco's Kirkland Toilet Paper Dust Finally Became Too Much For My Fed Up Wife

As a Costco superfan, it pains me to make this announcement: My family has officially given up on Kirkland toilet paper, the brand we've used to wipe butts around here for at least the last 12-14 years. 

My wife made the big announcement Sunday morning before a Costco run that included stocking up on toilet paper. 

Why the big change of heart? Toilet paper dust. 

She finally hit her boiling point with the dust particles that waft through the air when a six-pack is busted open. After a brief investigation into Kirkland toilet paper dust, it turns out more and more shoppers are fed up just like us. 

EMAIL: JOE.KINSEY@OUTKICK.COM

In a March TikTok video, a life hacker named Purely Victoria showed the dust, she says it's toilet paper dust, that had accumulated on her bathroom blinds. "This is why I'm never buying Kirkland toilet paper again," Victoria wrote on the video that turned into a viral sensation. 

Why all of a sudden is dusty toilet paper an issue? Nobody seems to be able to answer that question. A basic Reddit search shows an explosion of this topic over the last three to four years. 

"I don’t remember seeing toilet paper dust when I was kid," one woman wrote on the video. 

In a 2024 post on Costco Reddit, shoppers declared that they had shifted to Red Charmin instead of the overly dusty Kirkland option. Yes, they said at the time, the Kirkland dust has gradually gotten worse over the years. 

"Used it for many years but the quality went down around 2022 (we are in SoCal) so now we use whatever Charmin they have on sale or Target’s Ultra Soft; not quite as soft as Charmin blue but still softer than the last Kirkland we bought," a Reddit user reported on the thread. 

When she was called crazy by TikTok trolls, Purely Victoria made a video to show the dust created by Kirkland toilet paper. She showed the lint balls that stick to the side of rolls and then did the ultimate test where she ripped sheets of tp apart to show the dust storm it created. 

It's time to test Red Charmin to see if it's better

Over the next few weeks, the Kinsey household will test Costco's Red Charmin to see if there's a noticeable difference. First, the half-bathroom, which sees the most tp traffic, will be thoroughly cleaned, dusted and sterilized as we go into the testing stage. 

We'll use the Red Charmin through June and report back with our findings:  

— Comfort

— Dust level

— Cost vs. dust 

— Overall value

Toilet paper is a hot topic around OutKick

My OutKick boss swears by Costco's Ultra Soft toilet paper and reports that his wife and daughter have zero complaints and he's the one who buys the toilet paper, so if there was an issue, he'd be hearing about it. 

That said, we'll also run a test on the Kirkland Ultra Soft, which I believe has to be ordered online across most of the United States. 

"We have used the "leading brand" (C) decades but were increasingly dissatisfied with the increasing cost of a ‘premium’ bath tissue. I thought - why not try something different with Costcos great return policy. We tried KS Ultra Soft Premium Bath Tissue and will NOT go back to 'C'. It is soft yet strong - no more breaking off part of a tissue. And no more tissue ‘dust’ everywhere!" a customer reported 10 months ago. "Holding up to a light you can see it is thicker than ‘C’. I would rather get it from our local Costco but ordering it online was easy and very quick - the 4 cases came in about 3-0 hours from placing the order (from across the state!) Try it you won't be disappointed!"

It's time to get to work. Filters need changed. Floors need to be deep cleaned. Walls need wiped down. It's time to see if we're nuts or if we were being choked out by Kirkland's toilet paper. 

Buckle up. 

*Disclaimer: This post is #NOTSPONSORED. We will not be bought off by Big Toilet Paper.