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.

[specialsubject]

unfortunately many people don't know the difference between a toilet and a bin, not helped by all the packets which are labelled 'flushable'.

for anyone else baffled; NOTHING goes down UK toilets except body waste and some toilet paper. No tampons, no condoms, no baby wipes, no other wipes, NOTHING else. If it is a yacht, a macerator or a Greek toilet then it is body waste only.

can your house insurance help - accidental damage?

[HouseAtreides]

I'd have to say something, just so she is aware that flushing wipes is a no-no anyway, macerator or not!

[anythingforaquietnight]

this is what happens when baby wipes go into the main sewers (Warning: NOT for the faint hearted, or those eating!)

[ecuse]

Crikey, I actually didn't know you shouldn't flush baby wipes!

[Sparklingbrook]

There should be a public service announcement about all the problems flushed wipes cause.

[Mintyy]

Am amazed that anyone thinks you can flush even a single baby wipe. How come people are ignorant about this?

Op, you have to find a way to tell her! Before long she could be blocking her own toilet at home.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

I've got a poem...

The bog is for bog roll and poo
Its not for baby wipes or nappies

So unless you want me to make you clear it by hand
Don't be so fucking stupid.

I know it does not rhyme and I'm rubbish at poems but hey.

[GirlOutNumbered]

Why are people so amazed by this?
Who teaches you what you can and can't flush down the toilet.
My husband had no idea that you couldn't flush baby wipes, as he hadn't read the packet.
Im not even sure how I know...

[Sparklingbrook]

Common sense says you shouldn't flush some stuff down the loo. It doesn't go round the u bend and magically disappear into thin air.

[Mintyy]

Its just common sense, surely?

Surely!

[Sparklingbrook]

X post Mintyy. But yes-surely.

[furfoxsake]

I'm to say I didn't realise they didn't flush either. I have zero common sense.

DH spent an eventful New Years Day ridding the drains. Fortunately he's a plumber and he bloody LOVES dealing with shit.

I'd tell her. She is probs as dim as me!

[muddymarvellousdarling]

My neighbours do this and it's our garden that ends up covered in sh*t
all the time.
We have called dyno-rod and local water out twice in the past year!

I ended up putting a note in my neighbours letterbox, saying please don't put baby wipes or flushable loo wipes down the toilet.

I would put up a sign in your loo.

Those saniflo things are bloody expensive.

[80sMum]

Ideally, you shouldn't even put loo paper into a macerator. There should be a separate bin for the soiled paper.

I think this "flush it down the loo" culture started back in the days of the old-fashioned high cistern loos, which held about 10 gallons of water and gave an almighty powerful flush when you pulled the chain. Modern loos are much more delicate mechanisms, use very little water and many have narrower pipework than of old.

[HotCrossPun]

I wouldn't flush baby wipes.

But tampons? I always flush tampons

[NomDeOrdinateur]

"A message from the loo:

You may already know this,
but I thought that, just in case,
I should tell you that I only take
Bog roll and human waste.

So please don't feed me kitchen roll,
Tampons, wipes, or towels;
Or we'll need to get a plumber
And the bill will make you us howl..."

I think you'll have to take this one on the chin since you didn't warn her (although I agree that it was a very stupid thing to do), but please put the above on a little sign before her next visit. If she's nice, she may offer to reimburse you!

[80sMum]

I wouldn't flush wet loo paper wipes down the loo either.

In a standard loo: poo, pee and loo paper only.

In a macerator: poo and pee only.

All other items go in the bin.

[kali110]

I know you shouldnt flush babywipes but wondering if people get confused because of those erm bum wipes that can be flushed down normal toilets.

[digerd]

Neighbours at end of the road have shared drains and the main drain in the road was blocked with baby wipes. Lucky our local water company clears shared drains free. There was also asphalt poured down the loo which had set firm at the bottom too.

[GirlOutNumbered]

I had some toilet roll in France that when it was empty you flushed the roll down the loo.
Not seen it over here though.

[RenterNomad]

We had to get Dyno-Rod out for a baby wipe block (thanks, DH...)

Google AdWords isgoing to go wild with this page!

[SmokedMackerel]

I can't believe there are people out there who would flush a nappy . Although perhaps I am not one to judge, as I once put a disposable nappy through the washing machine (by mistake, I had put it in my bag when we got changed for swimming, then forgot and shoved the entire contents of the swimming bag in the machine when we got home. Little gel balls exploded all over the inside of the drum)

I would find some way of educating her about not flushing baby wipes - I sometimes wash them to reuse (not ones with poo on!) They come out of the washing machine intact, several times, so goodness knows what they would do to the sewage system!

[Oblomov]

What's wrong with flushable wipes?

[sisterofmercy]

I live in a block of flats and every now and then the drains get blocked because of baby-wipes and tampons. This leads to shirty sounding letters being out through the doors from the landlord. Apart from me the blocks have quite a transient population so it happens every year or so without getting much better.

If it wasn't for the landlord's letter, though; I wouldn't have known.