By dallasnews Administrator. But it might not be your fault. Toilet paper squares, the individual sheets that connect to make each roll, were once 4. That standard, however, has shifted, or at the very least loosened its grip on the industry, to a point where companies are selling sheets that are a half-inch shorter or thinner, or. A reader wrote in to a columnist at the Los Angeles Times saying he’s noticed a roughly 26 percent reduction in toilet paper companies that make a lot of money surface area of his toilet paper. Others, including Consumer Reportshave noticed the trend. The consumer advocacy group said that rolls are becoming «narrower,» cardboard tubes are getting bigger, and sheets are shrinking in both size and number. So toilet paper rolls might look the same at a first or even second or third glance, even though they carry less actual toilet paper. But consumers are still paying the same price.