A is for “Absorbent”

Have you ever wondered just which paper towel brand is best? Emily approached this question for her science project last week.

She tested four brands of paper towels  (Viva, Bounty Basic, Publix, Bounty, and Scott) for absorbency and for strength.

Here is Emily’s description of her strength test:

Strength Test

What I did was I took the wet paper towels and put them over a bowl  Then I got my mom to hold the towel there while I put some heavy washers on top of the wet paper towel. The results were very interesting and I cant wait to share them with you.

Viva: Viva, had a total of 14 heavy weight washers on top of it until it broke through and into the bowl.

Brawny: Brawny had a total of 11 washers.

Scott: Scott had a total of only 9 washers

Publix: Publix only had 5 washers on it until it caved in.

Bounty Basic: Bounty Basic had 9 washers on it until it broke apart.

I thought that none of them could hold all of those washers while they were wet but it sure did surprise me how many washers they could all hold!

She tested absorbency by pouring water 1/2 tsp. at a time over a paper towel until it was saturated. Then she calculated the cost per square foot of each brand and graphed the results of each test.

Her conclusion was that Viva was the strongest and the most absorbent of the brands that we tested, although it was also the most expensive.

This was a easy and fun project that gave us some practical information and helped Emily develop some good “consumer skills.”  Try it at your house. I’d love to hear if your results differ from ours!