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....

I always flush tampon, tube everything, cant stand the thought of them in my bin - yuck!! Never had any probs with drains. I actually didn't even know you weren't supposed to flush them, what if u were at a friends house or something

Please don't flush them - it's appalling for the environment. If you're at a friend's house, wrap in loo roll and bin. Don't risk blocking their drains either!

Do your friends not have periods boopsy?

cant stand the thought of them in my bin - yuck!! it's a bin in the toilets! Why does it matter? Bin with a lid, small rubbish bag in it, job done.
If you think about it, a bin in the kitchen where you prepare food is much more disgusting. Practical obviously, but not ideal. Most people with one seem to survive.

Shout out for Mooncups. Astonishingly game changing wonderful.

I actually didn't even know you weren't supposed to flush them, what if u were at a friends house or something?

Throw it in the bin?

Oh no, how awful, now your friend will look into their bathroom bin and gag because you had a period.

Throw a bunch of toilet paper on top if it bothers you, then no-one will know. Then again, I go for dumps in friends' houses if I need one - since becoming lactose intolerant, I can't afford to be squeamish.

I have to flush tampons for the first day or two, the loo looks like a murder scene as it is, without adding to it by manhandling a tampon.

I do remember when I started my periods about 40yrs ago initially ripping towels in half & flushing.

Have always binned tampons though & towels when I moved onto the ones with the sticky strip!

Mooncup and washable pads here [old hippy emoticon]

My drains and conscience are clear

Can understand why women still flush tampons as that's what I was taught to do in the olden days and it hasn't been well publicised other than on MN but there's really no excuse ever for flushing plastic wrappers or sanitary towels. What do you think happens to them? Even if they don't block your drains, they're not going to biodegrade. Told DH off for flushing dental floss because he couldn't be arsed to walk to the bin.

The thought of mooncups make me feel physically sick. I get it if you don't leave the house but how do you empty them a clean up in a public bathroom?

Never

Flush

Tampons

Ever!

Aside from the obvious ecological issue there's the fact that your water bills are high because the water company has to clean up the blockages caused. Same goes for moist toilet tissues (they only flush, they don't degrade which causes blockages) and sanitary towels.

Same goes for fat being poured down the drain. Causes massive issues and costs everyone money.

Since nobody's yet done the obligatory 'but mooncups' post necessary to every towel or tampon thread, I feel I should add that they also don't flush. A friend dropped hers in the loo first time staying at a relatively new boyfriend's house, couldn't face retrieving it and tried to flush it.. Then when that started blocking the toilet attempted to retrieve it with the loo brush, thus wedging it further in. Eventually he started banging on the door and she had to admit that she'd flooded his bathroom with water and blood. A plumber was called, she paid. She did not get asked back...

Wouldn't your hands get covered in blood if you ripped up towels? How is that more "discreet" than a bin?

I always flush tampon, tube everything, cant stand the thought of them in my bin - yuck!! Never had any probs with drains. I actually didn't even know you weren't supposed to flush them, what if u were at a friends house or something

Am I actually reading this?! Jesus no wonder the world is falling to pieces.
Put them in the bloody bin (pun intentional)! The environment will thank you.

Restless you can leave them in for much longer which means you can often avoid changing them while out. I prefer this to a tampon as I hate changing tampons in a skanky public toilet. But even if you have to change it, you just empty it and out it back in. It's only going back where it came in. Some people wipe with tissue but I never bother

Tampons used to say flushable- cardboard applicator and all; and towels said to tear and then flush- so people who do did get the info officially at first! But it is like flushable wipes- they do flush, but they block the drains further down. It would be good to have a big campaign actually, especially with all those moist wipes around.

Most single men I know don't have a bin in the bathroom. What do they do with things like cotton buds, dead razors etc?

PrinceAli but what do you do about the blood on your hands though? Of I went fishing about up there during my period I'd be up looking like an axe murderer and ruining my manicure

It's blown my mind that a woman has had to justify what sanpro she choses to use, over the course of several posts. As for the various suggestions on what else to use... Not your vagina, not your business. Bordering on mansplaining.

As it happens, I used to only be able to use the plastic applicator ones myself, due to being an odd "angle" and severe spasms when I attempted anything else. I now use washable pads and it's changed my life.

I have massively heavy periods due to fibroids. I have a disposable bag ready, remove tampon and drop straight into bag.

And if friends don't have bins in the bathroom "where would you like me to put sanitary rubbish"?

what if u were at a friends house or something

yes, it would be such much better to flush the toilet and then watch in horror as the water keeps rising....

And if you have ever walked along a beach in the morning, you will see all the applicators and understand why you shouldn't flush