Can someone tell me WHY they are so grossed out by sanitary products in a BIN?

[KateTush]

I know this thread may invite the haves and the have nots of bathroom bins to argue endlessly about it, but what I really want to know is…

…(to the people who DON’T think it’s acceptable to put a tampon/sanitary towel into a bathroom bin): WHY ON EARTH NOT?!?

It’s a bloody bin (pun not intended). In a bathroom. For bathroom rubbish. Which for many women is primarily used sanitary products. I’ve often seen threads where people say it’s disgusting to have to “handle” or “root around for” a friend’s tampon…er…you don’t do either?! You tie a knot in the bin bag, without looking at the contents cos you’re not deeply weird, and chuck it in the outside bin.

Using kitchen bin is one thing, but expecting a guest to put bathroom waste in their handbag next to their phone/snacks/pen/chewing gum/whatever is just so unreasonable it boggles my mind. Even more so if you have a bathroom bin but think that this particular use of it is unreasonable.

I’m wondering who I’ve offended in my life by using their bathroom bin in this way - it would never occur to me that there was an unsaid rule about sanitary products not going in there when it seems to be the main purpose of the bin being there in the first place.

I’m sorry, but I’ve also got to ask all the handbag smugglers/hosts who expect guests to handbag smuggle - are you generally a bit uptight about hygiene and bodily functions or perhaps periods in general? And again, how is it more gross to BIN something that PUT IT IN YOUR HANDBAG.

A bin is a bin. It’s for rubbish. That includes used sanitary products (obviously unless a recycling bin). A handbag is for putting everyday and useful items of an inoffensive nature in.

I don’t, but purely because the bloody dog fishes them out and eats them 🤢

I wrap products up and put them in bathroom bin as do my two daughters. I tend to empty bin more often if one of us is on our period . I'd aim not to use another persons bin as I'd be worried if they didn't empty it it might smell or if they found my tampon.

If someone ended a friendship over me using their bin for its intended purpose then I'd write them off as a complete weirdo and count it as a win to be honest

Ha ha only on MN are towels and bedding washed and replaced daily but bathroom bins never ever emptied.

If you've had people over just empty it that day. What's gonna happen of it gets emptied on thrusday not Saturday?

I dont believe for a second that someone has the mental capability to figure out a way to dispose of it despite not being prepared with wet bags and wipes etc as u would be with reusables, eveb to the extent of using shampoo bottles, but is simultaneously too stupid to empty a bin after you have guests.

Honestly its a joke.

Well if they don't rifle through daily on their hands and knees, carefully examining each soiled article for DNA evidence how will they know which friendships to end?

Is that a bit like carbon offsetting?
Don't have kids but use plastic disposable stuff?

No, for me I just don't really know anyone who uses all that stuff still. Seems very, erm, 1990s, as I said. Literally even Primark sell period knickers so it's not like it's some kind of niche product.

Haven’t read the entire thread and will have to stop here and go to another one, as this one is making my blood boil. There seem to be some real women-haters here.

FFS, some people are completely abnormal about what is a NORMAL bodily function. We women bleed and have these not entirely pleasant things called periods. Mine are incredibly painful and heavy which is the most unfair thing to me as I have never wanted children and won’t ever be pursuing this activity, so I feel periods are a cruel waste of my time and money.

But to berate women for daring to dispose of their pads etc in a bin, a receptacle that is meant to house dirty items, no? Really? Ffs. Any women who is bleeding is welcome to dispose of said items in my bathroom or kitchen bin, and I will do the same at others’ homes.

Used condoms and used tampons are not a valid comparison. I don’t go round a friend’s house for a cup of tea then nip upstairs for a shag, there’s no need. But I’m certainly likely to need a wee and a tampon change.

No, for me I just don't really know anyone who uses all that stuff still. Seems very, erm, 1990s, as I said. Literally even Primark sell period knickers so it's not like it's some kind of niche product

They are expensive though. Ever heard of period poverty. Just don't invite someone poor round. They might have some god awful non wrapped stuff they got from a food bank or something. The dirty mares. Maybe they even live In emergency accommodation and can't rinse them out or hang them out to dry. Wouldn't wanna be friends by accident. I'd check their bank statements befire they cross your threshold.

Yes I agree it's not an entirely fair comparison - but I think they're a reasonable suggestion (and solution, in many cases, to the problem this thread is talking about) given the prohibitive cost of sanitary wear (not to mention the environmental impacts).

FWIW, I have two pairs of heavy-duty period pants which I use in conjunction with a mooncup only on days where there is any 'risk' involved (i.e. staying at a friend's, long flight etc). The truth is I so rarely leak that I don't need to worry about the pants going in the wash with other stuff as they don't have blood on them. They're really just an extra layer for peace of mind. And just anecdotally, mine are about as quick to dry as cotton t-shirts. 🙂

I cannot recommend mooncups highly enough to anyone who is able to use them. Life changing.

When I first met DH now mil had no bins in the bathrooms. I was mortified. What am I meant to do take the obvs wrapped sanitary towel downstairs to the kitchen bin? Ask where the outside bins were? Ooh future mil can I put my used tampon in the kitchen?

Why should I put a used sanitary towel in my handbag?

This is the highest of oddness. It's a bin. For putting rubbish i.

None comparable if it was a guest bathroom as I don't shag my friends husband. But if it were dp he'd wrap and use the bathroom bin yes. What's the other option?

Better used period products in the bin than down the loo. Why does there always seem to be a contingent on MN that wants to make their guests as uncomfortable / confused as possible?

The difference is that sanpro doesn't flush.

I would have thought that was obvious.

What do you expect people to do with it, other than put it in the bin?

Nothing says CELEBRATING and BROADCASTING menstruation and being INDISCREET like putting a wrapped, used tampon in – ::checks notes:: – a closed, opaque bin. Of course I dispose of it backwards while roller skating in my white catsuit, but that’s another matter.

I think I would ask the host loudly and brazenly “ where do you prefer I dispose of used sanpro while I’m here? Some people are weird about them going wrapped in the bathroom bin” To underline how being weird about periods is unnecessary and Victorian, we should all be open about how bodies function , or this will never end.

Done discreetly? Well yes, quietly and discreetly popping them into a bathroom bin then. Or did you mean carrying them around the house in your bag, pocket or hand, and traipsing around in search of a more acceptable bin? Is that the type of discreet you meant?

I generally put pads in a nappy sack and in the bin. I have done this whilst out too. If I have not got a sack with me I will wrap in toilet roll then dispose. I couldn't care less if someone put their tampon or pad in my bathroom bin because that's what it is there for.

How very odd that you think disposable sanitary products are "very 1990s".

According to Mintel’s data, in 2020, 15% of menstruating women opted for environmentally friendly products.

So that's 15% using anything defined as an environmentally friendly product, which includes for example the organic undyed tampons I use.

In other words, 85% of women ONLY use traditional tampons and sanitary towels.

It's even odder that you claim to know exactly what type of sanitary protection ALL of your female friends and family use, since you are so confident that none of them form part of this overwhelming majority.

You can be as sneering and faux-shocked as you want , but you are in fact just wrong.

www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/01/the-rise-of-period-pants-are-they-the-answer-to-menstrual-landfill-and-womens-prayers

You need to work on that.

I don't get it, 4 adult women here as of this week (university finished alas) 3 toilets, 3 bins to empty because they are lazy, lots of sanitary products. My only complaint is that they should bring down the recyclables themselves, so I can just tie up the bathroom bin liners once a week rather than have to sort them. After I've done all 3 bins I wash my hands. Don't get what people have a problem with

@Hercisback so do I! There's a moon cup sitting in the upstairs bathroom belonging to whichever dd is on a eco friendly drive.

Yeah, it's an odd take alright.

I started my periods in 1999 and I don't remember there being anything other than towels and tampons available.

Reusable sanpro wasn't really on my radar until about 5 years ago, although I didn't menstruate a lot during my 20s due to the implant.

@ValerieDoonican now that's an idea, might buy a second bin for the DD's bathroom

My Mum doesn't have a bin in her house at all, other than a kitchen caddy for scraps.

She takes recycling straight out and anything else she puts straight in the bin outside.

So of course, every bloody time I visit my period starts. And it's heavy, and I have to change in the middle of the night, which means I now take a supply of small bin bags keep in her spare room with me. Drives me bonkers.

There was a stage when my mother in law decided that when she emptied the bathroom bin she would go through it to check for recycling.

I refused to let her as I'd put sanpro in it.
(They don't have outside bins- a bag of rubbish goes out on bin day). My only other option was the open kitchen bin, or walking half a mile down the road to the nearest public bin.

She got quite cross with me 'I have to check for recycling'. It was in the guest bathroom that only DH and I had used, and I assured her there was no recycling. She said i didn't know what they could recycle, and that as I'd used the bin there must be recycling in it.

I said I'd used it for sanpro and she told me I was disgusting and shouldn't have used it for that. She couldn't suggest an alternative. We were staying there for a fortnight.

We don't go there often now, as I have DD and don't want her to have to go through the same.