How to read a tissue spec sheet

Why the sheet matters more than the sample

A sample tells you what one roll felt like on one day. A specification tells you what every roll in every container is contractually supposed to be. When a later delivery feels thinner or tears differently, the sheet is the only document that settles the argument, and it only settles it if the numbers on it are measurable. That is the test to apply to every line below: could an independent laboratory check this figure, and if not, why is it on the sheet?

Grammage, or GSM

Grammage is the mass of the paper per square metre, written in grams per square metre and shortened to GSM or g/m². It is the single most important number on the sheet because it tracks how much fibre you are buying. Almost every other property, from hand feel to how fast a roll disappears from a dispenser, moves with it.

Two habits keep this line honest. First, insist the figure is stated per ply, not per finished sheet. A two ply product described as a single grammage can hide a thin ply laminated to a thicker one, and the two do not behave the same in use. Second, ask which method the figure is measured under. For tissue the reference is ISO 12625 Part 6, which covers the determination of grammage for tissue paper and tissue products; the general paper method is ISO 536. A producer who can name the method usually has a laboratory that runs it. A producer who cannot is quoting a target, not a measurement.

Grammage also carries a tolerance. Paper is made on a continuous machine and the basis weight drifts within a band. Ask for the tolerance in writing. A sheet that states the nominal value alone leaves the band to the mill.

Ply

Ply is the number of paper layers laminated into the finished sheet. It is the easiest line to read and the easiest to misuse in a comparison. Two ply at a low grammage per ply can weigh less than a single ply at a higher one, so ply on its own tells you almost nothing about fibre content. Read it together with grammage per ply and you have the whole picture.

The sheet should also state how the plies are held together. Embossed lamination, glue lamination or a combination keeps the layers from sliding apart on the roll and in the hand. On products that get wet in use, such as couch roll on a vinyl surface, that choice is felt immediately.

Sheet count, roll length and sheet size

Consumer toilet tissue is specified in sheets per roll. Washroom formats such as mini jumbo, jumbo and maxi jumbo are specified in metres, because they live in dispensers and the dispenser cares about diameter, not count. Centrefeed and couch roll are also stated in metres. Whichever unit the product uses, the sheet must state it explicitly and pair it with the sheet size in millimetres, machine direction and cross direction.

The reason is arithmetic. Sheets per roll multiplied by sheet length gives roll length. A producer who shortens the sheet by a few millimetres and keeps the count identical has reduced the paper on the roll without changing the number printed on the wrapper. Only a spec that states both count and sheet size closes that door. When comparing two quotations, convert everything to metres per roll and then to metres per case before you look at price. We cover the washroom lengths in more detail in our guide to mini jumbo, jumbo and maxi jumbo sizes.

Roll diameter and core

These two numbers decide whether the roll fits the dispenser already on your customer's wall, which makes them a commercial line. Washroom dispensers take either a 60 millimetre or a 76 millimetre core, and the wrong one simply will not mount. Roll diameter must sit under the dispenser aperture. A spec that omits either is a spec for a product that may not be usable.

The roll diameter line also carries the loading story. For the same length of paper, a tighter wind gives a smaller diameter, a smaller case, and more cases in a container. This is why two offers with identical paper can land at different unit costs. Ask each supplier to state the cases per container they are quoting on, for the exact diameter on the sheet, and treat that number as part of the specification rather than a freight afterthought.

Bulk and the feel of the paper

Buyers describe tissue as soft or flimsy. Laboratories describe it as bulk, which is the thickness of the sheet relative to its grammage. ISO 12625 Part 3 covers thickness, bulking thickness and the calculation of apparent bulk density and bulk for tissue, measured under a defined pressure. High bulk at a given grammage means the sheet feels thicker than its fibre content suggests, which is what creping and embossing are for. If hand feel is a selling point in your range, ask for a bulk figure and the method, rather than the word soft.

Strength, dry and wet

A tissue that tears in the dispenser costs you a customer. The sheet should state tensile strength in the machine direction and the cross direction, because they differ, and the cross direction is usually the weaker. ISO 12625 Part 4 covers tensile strength, stretch at maximum force and tensile energy absorption for tissue; Part 5 covers wet tensile strength. Wet strength is the line to read for towel, centrefeed, wiping roll and couch roll. It is far less relevant for toilet tissue, which is designed to disintegrate in water, and a high wet strength figure on toilet tissue is a warning sign for drainage, not a feature.

Absorption

For hand towel and wiping paper, the property the end user actually experiences is how fast and how much the sheet absorbs. ISO 12625 Part 8 covers water absorption time and water absorption capacity. A producer serving the towel market seriously will have these figures. Ask for them on any towel or wiper line, and be suspicious of a towel spec that lists grammage and nothing about absorbency.

Emboss

Emboss is the pattern pressed into the sheet. It bonds the plies and raises bulk. It also carries the look of the product. The sheet should state the emboss pattern by name or drawing, and whether the pattern is the producer's standard or a dedicated design. A dedicated emboss roll is tooling, which means cost and lead time, and unless you own the tooling, it ties you to that producer for as long as the tooling lives. For a first own brand run, the producer's standard pattern is usually the right answer; the word plain is also a valid entry, and on some lines it is the cheaper one.

Colour and pulp basis

White is not one colour. Brightness is measured, and a recycled fibre sheet will not match a virgin fibre sheet for brightness. State the pulp basis as virgin, recycled or a declared mix. If your market asks for a certificate on the fibre, name the scheme and ask for the certificate and its scope in writing. Coloured product, such as blue centrefeed or blue couch roll, should carry a colour reference the mill can reproduce run to run; the word blue does not survive a second production.

Packaging lines

The bottom of the sheet is where the logistics live: rolls or sheets per pack, packs per case, case dimensions and weight, cases per layer, layers per pallet, pallet dimensions, and cases per container. Every one of these should be a stated number, because your warehouse racking and your freight quote both depend on them. If a supplier quotes a case price without case dimensions, you cannot compute a landed cost. If they quote a landed cost without cases per container, you cannot check it.

The lines that are marketing, not measurement

Words like premium, luxury, ultra soft and extra strong appear on a great many specification sheets and mean nothing a laboratory can test. On a label they do no harm. On a specification they occupy the space where a number should be. When you see one, ask what measured property it stands for, and write that property in its place.

A working checklist

• Grammage per ply, with tolerance and test method.
• Ply count and how the plies are bonded.
• Sheets per roll or metres per roll, plus sheet size in millimetres.
• Core diameter and finished roll diameter.
• Bulk, tensile in both directions, wet strength where the product gets wet, absorption on towel and wiper lines.
• Emboss pattern, or the word plain.
• Pulp basis, colour reference, certification named with scope.
• Pack, case, pallet and container quantities, with case dimensions.

A sheet with all of these filled in can be quoted by any competent producer in Europe, and checked by any competent laboratory afterwards. A sheet missing half of them is an invitation to be quoted on something other than what you meant.

Where Millgate fits

Millgate runs own brand toilet tissue, towel, centrefeed and couch roll on European production, alongside cleaning chemicals, consolidated into one container and invoiced from a US company, for distributors in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean. Every quotation we issue states the specification it was priced on, line by line, and we can supply test figures on request, so you can compare it against the sheet you buy on today. If your current supplier has never given you one, send us the label off a case and a sample and we will draft the sheet from the product, then quote against it. Our guide to your first private label container covers what happens after the sheet is agreed.