AIBU to be so naive - embarrassing question!!!!

[loveyouradvice]

Almost too embarrassed to ask... so simple, so ignorant....

Im a long-term Lillets user... occasionally I buy Tampax as desperate and nowt else to buy....

So much stuff... Lillets, everything flushes down the loo....

Tampax - nice little paper wrapper AND double tube thing.... At home, where do you put these? Presumably neither flush....

I've spent last 3 days, carefully wrapping in loo paper and putting in bathroom bin... feel a bit ridiculous... but they feel too revealing just lying there for all to see in the bin.....

Guessing Im missing something really obvious....

For those getting their knickers in a twist about cardboard vs plastic applicators, technically neither are recyclable. Plastic because they have been contaminated by body fluids. Cardboard for the same reason, plus they have a waxy coating that makes recycling impractical (much like most takeaway coffee cups). Perhaps the cardboard are marginally "greener" in the production process but it's not significant.
Personally I think you should be able to chuck boiling water over a collection of the plastic ones and recycle them but the waste disposal companies will continue to separate them out.

Mooncup means you can empty it down the toilet, rinse it, put back in, and nothing has to go in a bin! I hate wrapping up used tampons and emptying bins full of sanitary wear. Obviously I'll do it if need be, but a mooncup does save the hassle.

I couldn't get on with the mooncup at all, it leaked (wonky anatomy due to prolapses).

Besides sugar and spice and all things nice... this is what moon-cups are made of bfy.tw/C7JY

a big part in that post was declining to take responsibility because it's not required of men using razors or because it's mainly manufacturers fault

No it wasn't.
I would explain it to you but I suspect this is just another way of you avoiding saying 'oops sorry, misread' so I would be wasting my time.
There is nothing in my post and definitely not a 'big part' refusing to take responsibility for anything.

Again...my post is not about flushing tampons. Other people can see that. I am pretty sure you know that too. Why you can't admit it is for you to sort out.

For those worried about nappy sacks you can buy biodegradable dog poo bags in most supermarkets.
They are stronger than nappy sacks and if you are lucky will have a nice picture of a doggie on them.

I don't get why ppl use applicators too

Been explained by several posters. For me birth injuries mean an applicator is the only way I can position a tampon

Oh come on OP did you really ask that?? It's common sense!!

"Why would anyone flush pads?!! Have they never got a bit of the sticky side caught on skin?!"

When I first started there wasn't a sticky bit!!

"Flushing towels is so gross. Flushing any of it is gross, but tearing a towel up to flush is on another level."

What's so gross about ripping a towel in half as some of us used to be told to do?

I was clueless about not flushing tampons until I read a thread on here maybe 6 years ago. When I started my period at 11 I used tampons straight away, my Mum told me to flush the tampon and bin the applicator so I did.
Thinking about in the almost 37 years that have passed since that first period I haven't actually had that many periods, what with mostly using depo as a contraceptive, four pregnancies and breastfeeding, the longest we were ttc was 3 months. It's only since DH had the snip 5 years ago and I found mooncup after two miserable years of tampons falling out.

I always understood that cardboard applicators were stopped because they increased the risk of toxic shock syndrome. Sure I read that somewhere. I haven't used tampons in over 20 years, as I always struggled to get them positioned comfortably.

However pads are much easier to dispose of, these days...I can remember the packs saying to rip the pads before flushing, back in the day (but that was when they seemed to be made of nappy liner material stuffed with cotton wool! And a double sticky strip that hardly ever worked!)

I carry around a little box of purple disposable sacks in my handbag,for times I get caught out at a friends house etc. It just makes it more hygienic. No different to getting rid of a nappy or cleaning up after a dog.( I have black poo sacks in my bag too! Lol)

At home there is a bin in the toilet just for sanitary towels, which gets bagged up and put in the main waste bin.
My husband and two sons have no problem with female hygiene arrangements, or seeing products on show.

I'm slightly concerned at the people who find getting blood on their hands a problem. Just wash your hands after going to the loo, as you ( hopefully) always would!?!? It's your own blood...what's the problem?

The number of people who are incredulous on this thread is laughable. It would do you good to realise that your experience is not everyone else's experience.

Not everyone can use a mooncup. That is a fact. The same way not everyone could use a contraceptive cap back in the day. People are different. People cannot change their internal arrangements just because you say so. I tried and tried with the damn thing (it was a DivaCup actually) and whatever I did it either leaked or tried to suck out my uterus.

Not everyone can recycle shampoo bottles. In case you aren't aware (yet again) things are different. Different areas of the country have different recycling systems. Again, that is a fact. If I put shampoo or bleach bottles in my recycling, the whole lot would be rejected. Then we would have to drive to the tip, which kind of defeats the object.

Glitter the cheap unbranded mooncup I got was fine, better than the original. The stem isn't hollow, it's softer, I find it more comfortable.

It's supposed to be medical grade silicon, I think. It looks pretty harmless in comparison with many things...

Getting blood on your hands in a public loo to the extent that happens if you have stupidly heavy periods isn't a pleasant experience.

Boopsy will probably be joining me in the great 'liver lump' scramble

Ok going to be gross now, but if you are very heavy on your period, binning a tampon can be near impossible and if not, hugely messy.

Wad of tissue in left hand, tampon in right hand, CATCH. It's do-able. Does not excuse blocking drains.

Yolo, it really isn't 'do-able'. Believe me and be thankful that your periods are manageable. I used to think that people that couldn't swim, or made a fuss were just being feeble and big fuss about nothing. I was so, so wrong. Staggering to the loo every 30 minutes after soaking a tampon, pad and often your clothes, holding the walls and trying stay upright on the loo when your head is spinning and your body is shaking doesn't make your simple idea of 'CATCH' quite as easy as you find it.

Ok going to be gross now, but if you are very heavy on your period, binning a tampon can be near impossible and if not, hugely messy. Trying to get something literally dripping with blood wrapped nicely in tissue while dealing with it gushing out of you at the same time is difficult. It can get everywhere. Especially if you are not in your own house and there are drips everywhere

I have fibroids. I lose massive clots. Its not impossible at all and doesn't have to be messy.

Get a nappy bag opened and scrunched down, wad of loo roll in hand, grab string with loo roll and straight into bag.

There is absolutely no excuse for flushing tampons.

Yes its not great for the environment but neither are cars

That's a bit of a strawman isn't it? I chose an environmentally friendly car as possible as I live rurally and pretty much need one. You could argue that you don't need tampons, which is true. HOWEVER you absolutely do NOT need to flush them. You're not only risking the environment but your neighbours drains too.

Ah fair enough. I have had v. heavy periods but holding the tissue right under me as I take the tampon out usually works.

Also, I just went and bought that £2 mooncup from Amazon yesterday.... if I hate it, it's only £2 eh!

I tried the mooncup and hated it.

However, I used a sea salt sponge now and love it....well love it as much as I can love anything related to my periods lol. So much easier to use though, would never use anything else now.

When I did use tampons though I did flush them because I always have done. Wouldn't anymore though.

With the catching business, maybe some of us are shaped differently from others. Or are less coordinated. There are times when there was no way. None. Thank goodness for my mooncup. Life is much less messy now. I can confidently leave the house now.