To think you should not put baby wipes down someone else's toilet?

[LiegeAndLief]

This going to be massively identifiable if the culprit is an MNer, but anyway...

We have a downstairs toilet with a macerator on it. I had a friend round with a potty training toddler who had an accident, so she went to the downstairs toilet to clean her up. Later that evening, I discovered that the toilet was backed up and the macerator wasn't working. There was a suspicious looking wipe floating in the toilet.

Dh and I tried to unblock it but had to call in a plumber, who has just left (with a large chunk of cash). There was what looked like half a packet of baby wipes in there. Not even flushable wipes, proper tough Johnson's type baby wipes. Some of them have been pulled through into the motor and it's fucked. Going to have to get a completely new macerator at exorbitant cost.

I'm really cross with myself for not mentioning that you can't put anything but toilet paper into a macerator, but really, would you put a whole load of actual baby wipes down someone else's toilet? Or even your own?! My friend is lovely and has done lots for us and I can't bring myself to mention this to her but I am just so frustrated.

[maddy68]

I thought all wipes were flush able? I flush the thick ones all the time, and have done every day for the 20+ years of using them daily.

[maddy68]

I flush wipes regularly I wouldn't think anything of it. My brother has a sanilflow and he has a picture frame with rules on top of the loo.
It's not their fault if the flushed flush able wipes. It iserfectly acceptable to do that but not in your type of loo. You need to tell people

[Oakandacorns]

Minty's:
Its just common sense, surely?

Surely!

I agree with this. Just started looking at this thread and I can't believe that people don't know you shouldn't flush face wipes/baby wipes down the loo. It also amazes me sometimes when people don't have a bin in their toilet / bathroom so that you can throw away a sanitary towel in it if you need to when visiting.
I've grown up in a house where mum Mum had a bin in the bathrooms / toilet.
OP - I know it can be awkward whether to tell your friend in your situation. I guess good to tell her so she knows, at least for future as others have mentioned.

[quoteunquote]

If you don't want blocked drains another good thing to avoid is putting cat litter down the loo , for some reason people with downstairs loos and kitty litter trays seem to put the wee and poo lumps down the loo, over time this will lead to costly problems.

I'm constantly surprised by the discoveries we make as to what has blocked a pipe, we have had a few from stone tumblers, where clients have dumped the left over sludge (ground stone) into the loo, basically making your own concrete, then wondering why it sets hard.

[Thants]

Use a moon cup and it solves all your menstrual problems! Nothing to throw away there!

[KB02]

Maybe we should have a mumsnet education campaign on how to dispose of these items as only a proportion will have seen this thread.

[rumtumtugger]

Nappy sacks are also bad for the environment, albeit in a different way. 'Biodegradable' still doesn't mean it breaks down quickly - it still takes tens of years to do so, and that is in an ideal environment, which a rubbish heap (a lack of oxygen to promote bio-degradation) is not. The best option is to put bathroom waste in a large bin :)

[WetDog]

Huge sympathy OP, what a horrible bill to have to pay :(

DP was using baby wipes due to bowel problems. Not coincidentally we ended up having to call a Dyno-rod type company to sort the drains out because they got blocked. Took the bloke about an hour (he said one of the longest jobs ever) and he said the worst thing for causing blocked drains was baby wipes and the like.

I honestly never thought to check he wasn't flushing them . I just assumed he knew that you shouldn't.

[BlackeyedSusan]

someone blocked a soil pipe in the flats opposite with a chicken carcass.

thankfully our flat is at the front so only us on the pipe. not so lucky if you are at the back and the bathwater from the flat above comes out of your toilet aand runs through into the flat below.

[PTFO]

next time she wants to go out, say sorry ive got a £600 plumbing bill, some thick idiot put baby wipes down the loo, I mean who does that!! and continue to rant about what a dumb thing it is to do and how poor you now are. indirect and hits the spot...

Or next time she is over say loo out of order and rant away about why as above.

or go and block hers the same way, oh im in an evil mood haha.

[Gruntfuttock]

Btw, the disposal bags are bio-degradeable. I don't know why no-one else has ever heard of them. As I say, they're on the same shelves as the tampons and towels Boots, Superdrug and supermarkets.

[Dubjackeen]

I don't flush towels or tampons cos I would be afraid of blocking my loos. I keep a pack of cheap and cheerful nappy bags in the bathroom, and throw them into the bin.
£600, ouch! If you don't want to tell her, you will still have to say something like-oh btw we have had trouble with the loo, make sure you don't put wipes down there.

[PeriodFeatures]

I did this in my own toilet the other day....it seems to have cleared itself. Made me remind myself that i must put up a sign / tell people. Easy mistake to make if you are hurried/tired etc.

How much did you have to pay if you dont mind me asking?

[MrsAMerrick]

we had a sewer pipe blockage at end of our front garden, and the lovely man who came to pump it out (now there's a job I wouldn't want no matter how much you paid me) told me that I shouldn't put tampons down the loo, but should "bag and bin". I've always done so since then, but it's not great and can be quite messy

[Jan49]

I used to flush both sanitary towels and tampons for years because that's what we were taught to do. In fact when we had a problem with sanitary towels causing blockages in a rented flat, we used to take them down to the public toilets and flush them there instead. I don't think the idea of binning them even occurred to me at the time.

These days I don't flush them. I wrap them in toilet paper and put them in my bathroom bin at home (which I empty frequently) or in bins in public toilets. If I were at someone's house I'd probably wrap it in toilet paper and put it in the little bag in my handbag that contains the unused ones and then sort it out at home. Fragrant disposal bags just seem to add more unnecessary waste.

I think a toilet that can cost £600 to repair if someone puts the wrong item down it is really not worth having. OP, maybe you need a sign for visitors, or just use it for family only.

[Gruntfuttock]

Doesn't it say on the tampon packaging not to flush?

[kali110]

Always known not to flush baby or face wipes, dont know why though. Mind you till got with my partner id never heard of the flushable toilet wipes!
Really honest though iv always flushed tampons.

[Sparklingbrook]

olid, they are letting you and themselves down badly.

[olidusUrsus]

I need to get some friends who have correct toilet disposable units. Fecking slatterns

[Sparklingbrook]

I have started a survey thread re bins and bathrooms.

[MrsKoala]

Me neither. Everyone i know flushes them. i always thought the bins in public loos were for applicators or sanitary towels. I never thought you were supposed to put the used tampon in too, till recently.

[Sparklingbrook]

I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have a bin in their bathroom.

[olidusUrsus]

Every home I have been in does not have a bin in their bathroom, I've only ever seen them in public loos.

I have honestly never seen or heard of little sanitary pad bags before Grunt!

[Sparklingbrook]

I have nappy sacks in my bag. My DC are 14 and 11.

[Gruntfuttock]

You dispose of used tampons and sanitary towels in sanitary disposal bags, such as these www.boots.com/en/Boots-Deg-Fragrant-Disposal-Bag_984679/ (supermarkets have them under their own brands)
They're on sale on the same shelves as the tampons and sanitary towels.

I always used them and so does my daughter. It wouldn't cross my mind to flush a tampon.