Am I the only one who thought tampons were flushable?!

[sunseaandme]

I'm 32, and only recently have I discovered tampons aren't flushable. I always thought they were, I can't remember where this thought came from, I assume my mum told me they were when I started my period, but that pads were obviously not flushable. I feel so guilty for flushing them all this time (obviously I won't do it anymore!). Am I the only one?? I realise I probably sound like an idiot as it probably says on the packet not to flush them but I never thought to check 🙈

Doesn't sound like you should be preaching to anyone about environmental impact tbh!

Re flushing condoms, I'm not sure how that's relevant. Man flushes condom. Someone says "don't, it's so bad"

Man shrugs and continues. End of discussion.

I’m in my 20s and have been flushing them all my life, I was always told you could!

The thing is I do give a shit. I make pretty good ecological choices (better ones than you do, by the details you've provided in response to my questions). I took issue with you getting 'pissed off' at someone using plastic applicators.

My DM taught me not to flush in 80s. But that's because we had sceptic tank which couldn't deal with them. She did also tell me not to flush elsewhere either as you don't know what their sewage system is like.

The wording on the box is misleading. It’s the applicator that’s flushable, not the tampon. If they were flushable then they would dissolve inside us. Yuck. I’ve not read the entire thread so apologies if someone has already said this.

@Iwishmynamewassheilah I thought so too but someone upthread has posted images of tampon box that explicitly state that the tampon is flushable and fully biodegradable

I remember being told they were flushable too. Thankfully I've been a cup user for the last 16yrs otherwise I could have inadvertently caused plumbing issues.

Condoms aren't flushable either. But while we're on the subject of changing things to be kinder to the environment, the issue isn't so much that women are expected to make changes, it's that companies make single use, very short term items out of a substance that lasts in the environment indefinitely. It's our entire attitude towards plastic that needs to change. Tampon applicators could be made from something like cellulose - which STILL would not be flushable but would at least not last thousands of years in a landfill or clog up the oceans with unnecessary waste. Same goes for sauce packets, plastic cutlery and straws.

The pearl applicaticators are far more comfortable the poster has a valid point. I don't think its fair to start telling others what to be doing with their own vagina FFS. I have no idea how anybody uses a non applicator tampon.

For various reasons we all choose what fits best for our bodies...

There was a South Park episode last night where they were talking about the West's obsession with toilet paper and how it's a billion dollar industry, destroying forests, and keeping us sub-optimally clean in the bottom region. Yes, South Park! Most of the world uses water to wash. I am switching to bidets where I can as it feels cleaner. But possibly something else to consider re what goes into toilets?

A lot of things are labelled as biodegradable but will take years to biodegrade, even if left out in the fresh air. Flushed down the loo it will join a fatberg.

Flushable means it will flush, not that you should flush it.

Took me years to realise it too.
I even had it explained at college how a waste water plant works, "rags screen" then "fine screen" and the "grit".before it goes into various setting tanks.

Later i even worked on one where some poor operator manually shovelled what the "rag screen" removed into a skip. Someone even joked a but him being the fanny pad shoveller.

It was MN that put all the bits together rags = santiary towels, pre-disposable towel women used 'rags'. Loosing your rag comes from the same place.

To those saying that signs are everywhere about not rushing tampons, I've never seen one!

I'm 40 and was told by my mum that tampons and panty liners were ok to flush. I only realised until a couple of months ago that they weren't when my husband told me. He used to be a caretaker at a school and would have to deal with the drains and blocked toilets etc.

I've told my daughter to not flush them but she still does 🙄

Flushing not rushing 😂

Tampons were advertised as flushable in the 60, 70s and 80s.

I flushed my Lillets away all the time.

Also, there were never any bins in loos. It's amazing how (almost) every women's loo has a bin in the cubicle.

In the old days, there was one bin outside the loos beside the wash basins (if you were lucky) .

At school, there was a mini furnace on the wall in full sight and sound of anyone else in the toilets at the same time.

That's why we all used tampons asap as they could be flushed.

My mum used to burn her pads on our open fire, wrapped first in old newspaper. I don't know what she did in the summer when the fire wasn't on.

I guess the 'flushable' meant they would physically go down the loo and not hang around in it like a huge pillow (as they were in the olden days.)

It's only very recently, that san bins in each loo have existed.

It's not that long ago that you'd have to wrap your pad in something and put it in your bag till you got home, or wherever there was a bin.

I've certainly never carried used sanipro home.
When I first had periods and it was big thick cotton pads, the advice was if there is no bin, rip in half and flush.
Remember back in the day towels weren't individually wrapped.

well, I never heard that 'advice' as everyone knew it would block the loo! I don't see how it would be possible to rip them in half as the earliest ones- the Dr Whites- had a gauze mesh over the cotton wool!

Of course they weren't wrapped. You'd have to use a load of loo paper to wrap it in until you could find a bin. There was usually a bin in women's loos but not in each cubicle.

My mother bought me a Nikini contraption into which Nikini pads were fixed (horrible, inadequate, narrow things and I was expected to wear the 'contraption' for whole week, day and night, but that's another story). I didn't dare complain. They were supposed to be soluble, user removed the gauze and flushed both parts.

When I first started my period in '63 aged 13 I asked mum if we could have a bin in which to put used pads and she was annoyed that I asked because, who knows, my dad or a visiting man might wonder what it was for and look! I know, those were the days at least as far as my family was concerned.

Therefore I flushed them at home but not at school where bins were provided. Other girls told me it was not a good idea to flush at home regardless of the suggestion as they could block the lavatory. However that didn't happen, it was only me having periods at that time so hardly heavy duty. The following year I bought some Tampax to try and, like others on here, believed they were flushable so that's what I did. Never used the Nikini 'brief' again.

@LBFseBrom - I remember those Nikini belts and thick, uncomfortable pads in the 1960s too. There were no individual bins in the toilets at school, only an incinerator next to the wash basins. It made an awful noise and seen as embarrassing to use (at the time) so everyone used to tear and flush.

My mother's generation used homemade STs in their pants (often cut up terry nappies) which were stored in a lidded bucket and then boil washed. Richer women used to send their used sanitary towels with their washing to the local laundry. If you have watched the film Philomena, the girls working in the Magdalena laundries used to have to wash other women'a STs by hand...

I always knew they weren't. Makes me sad to read. No wonder our water cleaning facilities are full of them. And even those posting pictures, and claiming it was suggested on the box they were flushable, it's still obvious. Plus water companies have been campaigning for years to get people to stop.