Talk:Paper Towels

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Current revision as of 08:36, 19 April 2020

[edit] Merge with Towels?

Paper towels are a variant of towels that serve roughly the same purpose. So far, the only reason I have found not to have paper towels on the Towels page is because DorianGray didn't want them there when he first created the page ten years ago. I don't see a problem with having them on the same page, and I've drawn it up in the Sandbox twice (most recently here). What does everyone else think? And I wonder why DG didn't want paper towels on that page originally. The Knights Who Say Ni 03:51, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

Because despite the name, paper towels and regular cloth towels aren't really the same thing. If the title of the article was Disposable Paper Wipes, no one would consider them similar to towels other than being used for drying. -- 68.37.43.131 03:58, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

I agree with my fellow annony -50.234.189.37 04:48, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

(edit conflict'd) Wait, so paper plates aren't really the same thing as china plates? Because one is disposable, no one would consider them similar other than being used for eating off of? That's not how it works. The Knights Who Say Ni 04:52, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

Okay. Next time Damp Towel Man comes to your house to take your bath towels, I'll give you a roll of paper towels to dry and cover yourself after a shower. And the next time you have to clean the tile grout in your shower, I'll get Damp Towel Man to use your bath towel. Good luck. -- 68.37.43.131 12:40, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

Knights never claimed that cloth towels and paper towels serve the exact same purpose, and it's not something we need to bicker about. The question is whether they should be on separate pages. The reason I see in favor of that is that cloth towels have a specific joke/association in the series (Coach Z's questionable practices) that paper towels do not. However, if we're set on keeping them separate, I'm personally not convinced that paper towels need a page at all. They have five to ten appearances, but of those, I would describe maybe one or two as "of at least moderate importance to the work". Paper towels are a common item and they're used in pretty common ways. I see the proposed merge as a way to keep the work on this page without having an extraneous page on a very minor object. I do agree with Knights that towels and paper towels have a lot in common. That's why they're both called towels. Lira (talk) 15:59, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

I disagree with the merge and I think Lira may have missed anonny's point about Towels and paper towels: even though they share a name, they don't share a use. Plates and paper plates are used for pretty much the same thing (except that you can make cutout masks out of paper plates). However the uses of towels and paper towels have become so distinct that they are considered to be different kinds of things. Even to me it just doesn't seem appropriate that they be piled together into one page.

I understand your second point about there not being enough "unique" instances of paper towels showing up but a merge is not the way to resolve that question. I think this is more of a "should the page be deleted" kind of question and probably warrants another discussion. Are the entries listed valid, and if not, are two entries enough to keep the page. I think that's where that discussion should begin. --Stux 21:33, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

I agree with Stux, either you keep it or trash it, but merging is not the answer. While it's not a spectacularly-specific item to the H*R universe, there are enough instances that we keep, and paper towels are different enough from towels that no merge is necessary. — timmodonuts (^T/C) 14:42, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

Delete or merge. Spoons. RickTommy (edits) 21:27, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

No delete or merge. -50.234.189.37 22:08, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

They're different enough IMO and generally used differently enough that they should stay separate. I can't think of any tasks for which I sometimes use one and sometimes use another. There are tasks for which I use paper towels and would be annoyed if there were only real towels available, and there are tasks for which I use real towels and paper towels wouldn't cut it. Not much overlap for me really. — Defender1031*Talk 08:36, 19 April 2020 (UTC)