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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think it would be common courtesy and common sense to that? possibly tmi.

436 replies

someonestolemynick · 06/04/2016 19:24

To put a bin next to the toilet.

This makes me irrationally angry: My job involves going to people's houses. Normally I will be with them between a and 4 hours, so occasionally I will have to use their toilet.
Today I'm on my period and have quite heavy flow. I was on a longer job (3hrs) and bled through my tampon. I discovered that there was no von in the bathroom. Just to be clear. I try to avoid having to change my tampon in client's houses by changing in public loos, McDonald's or Starbucks and carry scented plastic bags with me tobwrap the offender in when I have to do it at someone's house.
So, anyway, i was in the very awkward position of having a soaked tampon and no way of getting rid of it. I was in charge of a very young child - so no way of nipping out to the bins or a pub (to use the loo) and ended up stemming the flow with toilet paper and going back to working with their dc for another hour.
I will not flush a tampon down the loo because I don't want to block the clients toilet.

So, aibu to ask you all to provide a bin for female visitors?

OP posts:
Moreisnnogedag · 07/04/2016 21:53

I have a septic tank. No one is allowed to flush anything remotely non biodegradable down there but I have little bags and a bin.

Having said that, I don't think sewer guys are really phased by anything really. Whilst I heave when I look down the septic tank, the guys we've had merely stick their heads down there. I did have a moment of panic as my 4 year old enthusiastically ran towards the guy whilst he was precariously leaning into the tank. My ds thinks they have the coolest job in the world because they have a tractor with a giant hose.

itsbetterthanabox · 07/04/2016 21:55

Appleset
Do you not often go out?

marshmallowpies · 07/04/2016 22:07

Rudeelf as I said, she mainly just bashes on the lid when she does go for the bin. Windowsill and top of cistern are too narrow. In any case, since she started crawling, she is old enough to respond to my voice.

RudeElf · 07/04/2016 22:10

So no worries about having tampons in there then Wink

LogicalThinking · 07/04/2016 22:15

MTPurse, if she had disposal bags with her then the problem is solved. She can put them in her bag or a different bin - whichever is easier. She was organised enough to have pads with her, having little bags is such a simple thing to do to remove that stress.
But if she's close enough to a friend to have a sleepover, I find it very odd that she couldn't ask where to dispose of her pads.

limitedperiodonly · 07/04/2016 22:18

I sort out the contents of my bathroom bin because I recycle and the debris is always benign. I'd rather someone didn't put a used tampon or any other bodily waste in it because I don't empty it that often.

LogicalThinking · 07/04/2016 22:29

This kind of thing is what I used to use before my mooncup days
www.femininewear.co.uk/feminine-wear-wet-bag---frogs-in-love-8845-p.asp
or
www.earthwisegirls.co.uk/angel-padz-large-purse-wash-p-453.html

TaraCarter · 07/04/2016 22:33

I have two bathroom bins- one for recycling and one for well, things that need binning. But this is only possible if your bathroom is wide enough to (hypothetically) swing a domesticated pet of average size or some 50 Shades of Grey-themed bondage tat

limitedperiodonly · 07/04/2016 22:37

Snotty tissues, dental floss and plasters pass the biohazard test of my bathroom bin but anything else doesn't.

JacquesHammer · 07/04/2016 22:42

My head is exploding at the thought of rummaging through bathroom bins.

It isn't hard - stuff that can be recycled goes.....well in the recycling. Stuff that can't goes in the bin.

I empty the bathroom bins by tipping them into the bin bag on bin day.....no touching of anything that's in there.

And.....shock horror......I see a tampon wrapper. What's going to happen? I'm going to discover another woman is menstruating? Shock

Really women who have The Curse should simply stay at home.

MTPurse · 07/04/2016 22:44

She was organised enough to have pads with her

Nope, not at all, she had pads in her bag as I had packed them, Just in case! And it was a good job that I had! She was 11(just turned) and she had no mobile phone, She was in primary, so could not call me.

I am pretty shocked by this thread, I can not believe any woman would deny another woman disposing of their sanitary wear in their home.

Their must be a seriously deep rooted problem in anyone who would be offended by that.

MTPurse · 07/04/2016 22:54

LogicalThinking

I'm sorry but I have just looked at your links and I have nothing to say but LOL, I have been here for fucking years and never, not once felt the need to lol but you have broken me (please give yourself a pat on the back from me Smile)

You really expect me/my daughter/any other SANE person to put their used tampon/towel in a neat little bag with frogs or kittens on it?

A bin is a bin is a bin, if there is one available, We will use them ffs!

I'm 35 not fucking 5 and my dd is 14 not 4!

LogicalThinking · 07/04/2016 23:07

You can get plain ones if the pattern offends you so much Confused
I used washable pads so yes, that's exactly what I used as a grown woman. I never found it a problem to have used pads folded and tucked inside a zipped, lined purse. Tampons get wrapped in toilet roll and you can use nappy sacks too if you want to.

If you are prepared with everything that you need then you never have to worry about whether there is or isn't a bin. If there is you can use it, if there isn't, no big deal.

If you want to put your used sanitary items in my bin, you are welcome, but you won't find one in my bathroom.

TaraCarter · 07/04/2016 23:16

But if she's close enough to a friend to have a sleepover, I find it very odd that she couldn't ask where to dispose of her pads.

I don't find it odd at all that an 11 year old who'd started before all her friends wouldn't want to ask one of said friends about pad disposal! Quite possibly wisely. Ar ten/eleven girls can be close enough to go on sleepovers and still suspect (rightly) that the friend who hasn't had her menarche will go, "Ewwwwww" and make a big deal of it.

MilkTwoSugarsThanks · 07/04/2016 23:20

Oh.

I have a bin in my bathroom, but it doesn't have a liner. It's plastic so easy to clean. Very very little that goes in my bathroom bin is really proper rubbish - empty toilet rolls and empty bottles mostly which are fished out in to the recycling bin. It's not emptied very often either because it doesn't need to be.

Tbh, I'm not going to start doing it differently just on the off chance that some female visitor to my house needs to dispose of a tampon.

limitedperiodonly · 07/04/2016 23:40

My head is exploding at the thought of rummaging through bathroom bins.

You're not cut out for a career in investigative journalism.

HubbaBubbaMum · 07/04/2016 23:49

This is why tampons, 'flushable' wipes etc should not go down the toilet. Shows a good little video of how 'flushable' wipes do not break down in water like toilet paper does.

binit.thameswater.co.uk/

(I don't work at Thames Water by the way !)

steff13 · 08/04/2016 00:00

I use a bomb disposal robot to get rid of my used sanitary products. Anything less is just disgusting and horrifying.

to think it would be common courtesy and common sense to that? possibly tmi.
LapsedPacifist · 08/04/2016 00:07

Wrap it in loo roll. Then put in nearest bin, or take home in handbag, if exquisitely squeamish about 'What Folks Might Think'. Fark me, Woman of Child Bearing Age is Having Period! ShockI Why the hell should we buy 'special bags' with bunnies on to dispose of our disgusting foul female emission cloths sanpro?

It's not a turd. It doesn't stink. It's not toxic. It doesn't harbour anthrax.

limitedperiodonly · 08/04/2016 00:09

This thread is insane.

I don't menstruate any more and it doesn't occur to me to accommodate other women who use my loo and still do. This is my house, not a public place.

But should I? I am a woman, after all, so maybe I should do that, along with all the other things women are expected to do to make other people's lives easier for them.

Or maybe I should continue to provide the basic minimum sanitary standard of bog roll, a flushing toilet, running water, soap and a towel. There is a bin, but I'd prefer not to find a smelly surprise in it when I clean it - though I now understand that someone might make a mistake for fear of contaminating her handbag or blocking my drains.

There's just so much to think about that sometimes my post-menopausal brain can't cope so maybe someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong.

NHSisfubar · 08/04/2016 00:09

I can't believe the amount of people who think it's ok to flush tampons. Anyhow; I wouldn't leave used tampons in a bathroom bin- I would wrap it in loo roll then put in a nappy bag and either take it home to dispose of or put it in a kitchen bin which is more likely to be emptied quickly.

NHSisfubar · 08/04/2016 00:34

Oh and those saying nappy sacks are see through well just buy dog poo bags which are black. Easy.

MuddlingMackem · 08/04/2016 00:54

Moltenpink Thu 07-Apr-16 20:28:34

Don't people separate the recycling out of the bathroom bin though? Mine is always full of cardboard rolls and plastic bottles.

ProfessorBranestawm · 08/04/2016 01:11

Zoe, your level of rage is utterly baffling - whatever happened to make you so repulsed by the female body, I am so, so sorry.
I have studied pathology, ifyoulikepinacolada, that's what "happened"

What does that mean? Genuine question, not being facetious. Not entirely sure what facetious means but I know it's bad. Is it because of worries about germs?

(totally shocked at price of fab little bags)

mathanxiety · 08/04/2016 01:12

I think you should consider accommodating menstruating women who might be your guests. Otherwise, what you provide 'to make other people's lives easier for them' is actually what you provide for men. Why not make what women might need the default standard?

I would definitely prefer to find a used tampon than dental floss or plasters in my bin. But I actually have no idea what is in it because it all gets whipped up in its liner and thrown out every few days. I take recyclables out of the bathroom with me to the recycling bin I keep in my kitchen.

MTPurse, I agree with you here, and have always had a bathroom bin. I have four DDs and their friends are always in and out, frequently sleeping over.