• Hegemone said on Mar 12, 2009....

  It probably would do the same Uni, but it might take more energy, or more equipment, or whatever to cut out/stamp out a different shape.  Personally, I think they need to come up with tissue balls ... instead of making ME have to crumple it all up to get just the right place to blow my nose into, crumple it FOR me first so I can just grab and go!  But seriously, the cost effectiveness via energy, equipment, time or whatever is probably what determines the shape, realistically.  Also, how in the world would they ever get the concept out to people that it was a different shape?  Lol, there could be mass rioting!

• nytquill17 said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Probably easiest to manufacture and package.  It may have something to do with the dimensions of the material the individual tissues are cut from - the size/shape that leaves the least "scrap material" behind after it's cut out.  Or that is fastest to cut and package.
  
  Or it could be some totally wonky reason that it's just always been done that way and now we're so used to it they can't change it without upsetting people or something.  That happens a lot in manufacturing.  Like bubble gum is pink because when the guy originally invented it, that was the only coloring he had on had.
  

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Hege - tissue balls ...... hmmmm I like it!  I also think they need to make tissue spikes so that when you have that really thin snot you can stuff them up your nose to stop up your nose.

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  nytquill - I'm thinking it's a societal thing.  But then, hankies are usually square!

• destinydiva said on Mar 12, 2009....

  this should be filed in the weirdology files :-) lol..   wht about heart shaped tissues?? hmmm you wouldnt wanna fill a heart shaped tissue with snot though will you...  okay maybe thats why they are rectangle??  :-) xxx
  

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  des - I think a heart shaped tissue would send the wrong message about hearts (desposable and something to put snot on).  I guess rectangles don't represent any given notion.

• mobil said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Ok, you are officially sidelined for awhile haha. This is what you come up with this morning?
   
  Here's my take on this rediclious subject matter, if you have sissors, you can make them into any shape you want. BUT
   
  Here's what I do, I hold my finger to one side of my nose and blow, then the other. I do this outside only of course and my wife loves it haha.
   
  When inside I use her bathtowel, don't tell her ok?

• Hegemone said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Uni ... tissue spikes ... FANTASTIC idea!  Lol, then you don't have to have the rest of kleenex sticking out!

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  mobil - I know!  It's lame, but my brain still hurts and I can't think of something clever.  Oh ..... I'm gonna tell on you though.  Just because ;)
   
  Hege - well, it was an invention born of the experience of sinus issues.  I'm actually surprised someone hasn't already capitalized on it.

• Hegemone said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Uni, me too, to be quite honest.  I can't count how many times I've just jammed some kleenex up there like that and went, lol.

• CayenneMan said on Mar 12, 2009....

    :o)   And you're wandering about a hair cut ?
  
  
     Trust me, I don't know what I meant either.
  

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Hege - maybe there's a buck to be made, but it's just too much energy to put into proposing it to the tissues kings.
   
  CM - yeah, I know.  My mind is a pretty strange place right now.  I'm hoping someone will hit the reset button soon.

• Zayda said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Well, before Kleenex (or any brand of disposable tissue was created, people used handkerchiefs or bandannas, which are also rectangular in shape.
  
  While the shape is probably influenced by the manufacturing process, it's also probably heavily influenced by the shape of the tissue's predecessor, the handkerchief and bandanna.
  
  
  Don Norman has done these fascinating studies about why things are shaped the way they are and why things work the way they do. According to his research, many items are shaped the way they are not because it is more efficient to produce them that way but because of human-user interaction and they way we "expect" things to work. Thus, we expect a tissue to be rectangular in shape because what was used before was in that shape; we expect doorknobs to be a certain shape (round, oval, or if a lever to have a slight curve to the lever) to fit the curve of our hand when we grab them.
  
  So, perhaps the question should then become "Why are bandannas rectangular?" or "Why are handkerchiefs rectangular (although some are perfect squares)?"
  
  Have  you noticed that with Kleenex's designer oval containers that the tissues that come out of them are still rectangular.  I guess that goes to show that you can put a "square" object in a "round" box.  ;)
  

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Z - I've only seen square handkerchiefs, but if they also came as rectangles, that kinda explains the kleenex quandry.  Yes, I've noticed also that if you change the shape of things people tend to shy away from it.

• Zayda said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Norman has this fascinating book called Emotional Design.  Basically, the book explains that we, as humans, react to the design of objects on three levels:  the visceral level (how the object looks), the behavioral level (how the object performs), and the reflective level (our level of personal satisfaction with the object).  So designers have to  consider all three levels when designing objects.
  
  Basically, this is why we get frustrated with doors that say "push" on them but have a handle on the outslde of them that is a handle that conveys the idea of "pull" (handles shaped like kitchen cabinet handles convey the idea of "pull", for instance).  Apparently, if the handle on a door sticks out in a loop and looks like it should be pulled, even if the door says "push" on it, people will still instinctively pull on the door handle to try to open the door.  So, the design of the door handle conflicts with what we are being told through the text "push" on the door.  Thus, it's a bad design.
  
  Paper napkins are squares until you unfold them; then they are rectangular.  I wonder if they were designed as squares because cloth napkins are square and bandannas used to be used as napkins (as well as tissues) centuries ago.
  

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Z - I hate push or pull signs.  I inevitably manage to do the wrong thing.  I like the doors that swing both ways, thereby eliminating my feeling of embarrassment when I try to pull and the door just won't open. (duh!)  As for the tissue question, I'm thinking that at least now it's a question of the cost of retooling the factories to produce a different shape.

• fragglesrock said on Mar 12, 2009....

  well, duh, it's because they don't make circle cardboard with the pretty floral pictures that kleenex boxes have!

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  frags - but I have a perfectly square cardboard kleenex box at home, but the tissues remail rectagular!! 

• gingersoul said on Mar 12, 2009....

  U-nee-k........its just one example of how we humans shape the reality that sorrounds accordingly to what our brain perceives their potentiality of use...
   
  The new ideas in architecture and interior design are constantly going in the direction of creating new unexpected shapes for daily objects......
   
  Some of them are quite interesting and function even better than the original..but some don't achieve the same goal...
   
  During the time we tend to prefer structures instead of others.....the "rectangularity"  of the Kleenex might be an ancestral residue of an original piece of cloth once tore down to a square ...for no apparent reason..
   
  The functionality of that shape has been preferred over others and the pattern has been set.......therefore.....we have rectangular Kleenex and not triangular ones.....
   
  Btw........with doors, i have the same thing...i pull instead of pushing, and push instead of pulling.......i like to think i am following  my own beat....:-).
   
  You do need to focus on your haircut........lol....

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  ginger - I'm wondering what shape kleenexes might be if we had no preconceived notion.  Yes, I do need to put more thought into the haircut issue, but frankly my brain is pretty spongy at the moment.

• tizzygirl said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Um....I have no clue, I think it has to do with wherever people originally stored them, the box must have had to be a certain shape...since you'd think they would have made them square considering hanky's are square and that's where they must of got the idea for a disposable one!  But really that's just a guess.

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  tizzy - that seems to be the popular opinion. 

• RollingC said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Good question but don't really know an answer other than to look at history and fashion statements throughout the centuries and wonder....why?
  Why did they wear triangle shaped hats and why did men and women both use to wear makeup and wigs and now mostly women wear it. 
  Has to do with the human mind and it's perception of things worldly I guess but a more specifically detailed answer escapes me.
  Rc
  

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  RC - you seem to echo what most think, and honestly I don't know either.

• MissMimi said on Mar 12, 2009....

  uni, for heaven's sake, get some sleep before you drive yourself nuts.  :)
   
  They're rectangulat because they fold nicely. Circles are swell but they don't fold efficiently.

• travelr712 said on Mar 12, 2009....

  well hey, you live in cali, land of the elf farts, so why don't you create a tissue of different shapes and see if it markets? maybe nobody ever thought of it?

• GrapeKoolaid said on Mar 13, 2009....

  Have you tried to blow your nose with a triangular piece of kleenex? 
  
  I do because sometimes I fold it in a diagonal. 
  
  Can you imagine blowing your nose on a semi-circle? 
  
  You just blew my mind... 
  

• Twylarants said on Mar 13, 2009....

  I have the definitive answer.
  Because they make the perfect tissue flower to decorate the gym with for prom night.
  
  

• quietone said on Mar 13, 2009....

  hahaah..... me thinks you have had too much sleep!  but on the same token, who ever designs t.p.... why the heck would they make one square so small?  I mean who usues just ONE square??  LOL  

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 13, 2009....

  MMM - too late, already nuts! ;)  and circles do fold neatly into wedges
   
  trav - I probably should, because I'm sure in this economy people are just eager to throw money at odd new things ;)
   
  Grape - a semi circle might be such a bad shape
   
  Twyla - That's it!!! genius!!!
   
  quietone - I'm mad at the toilet paper people too.  They should know better!

• travelr712 said on Mar 13, 2009....

  well, i think only if you're in cali or in the federal gov't uni. hey, you could get a gov't contract supplying camoflage kleenex to the military that could double as an emergency parachute!

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 13, 2009....

  trav - LOL that's an idea worth looking into.  Could call them snotachutes or something.

• travelr712 said on Mar 13, 2009....

  hey, snotachutes, that's pretty good! let's see, lumberjacks, brown, rough ovals. firemen, red, shaped like a fireplug, laced with cinnamon oil. computer programmers, neon, shaped like a monitor...

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 13, 2009....

  hey it's better than buggershoots!  yes, the possibilities are endless and I'm sure there is a niche market for such items.  (says the girl who bought caffienated soap)

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 13, 2009....

  Or wait!  I could call it G.I. Blow! LOL I crack myself up.

• travelr712 said on Mar 13, 2009....

  LOL you crack me up too! course that could take on several other connotations, depending on drug addiction levels or sexual preferences...

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 13, 2009....

  Shit trav!  Did you have to ruin my perfectly innocent great idea?!!  Always in the gutter ...... [mumbles vague curses]

• travelr712 said on Mar 13, 2009....

  not always uni, just almost always...
   besides, i'm just looking out for possible legal blowback. i'm tryin to help ya out here! :-P

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