What began as a child’s simple question slowly turned into a shared adventure. Explaining why toilet paper is white led us through its colorful past, when rolls once came in pinks and blues, to the modern obsession with “hygienic” white. We talked about how bleaching cleans and softens the paper, how white signals purity and safety in our minds, and how manufacturers learned that one neutral color keeps costs low and bathrooms coordinated.
More than the answer itself, what stayed with me was the way his curiosity cracked open something I took for granted. Sitting on the bathroom floor with a roll in his hands, he reminded me that even the dullest objects have stories hiding in them. His question wasn’t really about toilet paper; it was about whether adults are still willing to look closer, wonder aloud, and learn beside their children.