Kimberly-Clark On a Roll

D A L L A S, Jan. 17 -- Seeking to wipe out potty discomfort,Kimberly-Clark Corp.is plunging into the market with a newproduct, moistened toilet paper on a roll.

The maker of Kleenex, Huggies and Kotex believes its latestcreation could be the biggest advancement in toilet paper in acentury — since someone thought to sell tissue on a roll.

The Irving-based company said Tuesday that it plans to spend $40million marketing Fresh Rollwipes under the Cottonelle brand name,one of its biggest product introductions ever. Company officialssay annual sales could hit $150 million within a year and $500million in six years.

The product will be introduced in early summer in the Northeastand Southeast, the company said.

For several years, Kimberly-Clark has sold flushable moistenedtoilet paper that comes in a tub — similar to baby wipes, exceptthat the fibers break apart in water, like ordinary tissue. Infact, the rapid growth of the wet-paper market persuaded companyofficials to see if they could refine the product.

The company surveyed 2,000 consumers and found that 63 percentof them occasionally used something wet — often a baby wipe orregular toilet paper sprinkled with water — after going to thetoilet. About a quarter did it daily.

To make moistened toilet paper a big seller, company officialsfigured they had to put it on a roll, in tiny perforated squareslike conventional toilet paper.

Top Secret Testing Done

Beginning with prototypes in 1997, company engineers developed aplastic dispenser that attaches to the toilet-roll holder in mostbathrooms. The moistened toilet paper developed at the company'sNeenah, Wis., plant can be unrolled from the top of the device,leaving room below for a roll of regular toilet paper.

Now the company has to persuade people to buy it — at $8.99 fora dispenser and four rolls, $3.99 for a 4-pack refill.

"Using a moist product cleans and freshens better than drytoilet paper alone," said Peggy Nabbefeldt, a Kimberly-Clarkmarketing director. "They have to realize this should be a normalpart of a universal task."