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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To flush tampons down the toilet?

243 replies

CluedoCat · 09/11/2018 19:58

Until very recently, I thought most women did this, and I didn't see it as much different to throwing a wad of loo roll down there. I know the box says you shouldn't, but I thought this way something said but never adhered to. However, I have recently learned it's really bad for the sweage system to do this, and the advice is to put used tampons in the bin?

The thought of putting bloodied tampons in the bin and keeping them in the house is gross to me - I'd rather just thrush it away and that's that. One of the many reasons I don't use towels is because the thought of them festering is disgusting to me.

AIBU to continue doing this, and am I apparently the only woman who does? I've never blocked the toilet or experienced any issues.

OP posts:
Believeitornot · 09/11/2018 22:14

What did you do when your babies were in nappies?

A tampon contains bodily waste. No big deal. It’s your own waste. Wrap it in a tissue and put it in the bin.

That’s the problem with our society. We don’t have to face the waste problems that we cause.

myrtleWilson · 09/11/2018 22:15

Smashtheglass thank you for those photos - really illuminating.. Perhaps sanpro producers should start putting a "rag" skip photo on their products as a gentle reminder...

Isthereeveranexcuse · 09/11/2018 22:16

I used cloth nappies and wipes and am still using them now. How many can say that..

HildaZelda · 09/11/2018 22:16

I am really shocked at the amount of women who were basically taught that's how you dispose of tampons.
I started my periods at 13. I'm late thirties now and even 25 years ago I knew that you didn't flush tampons.

It beggars belief the amount of women that do this.

Sparklingbrook · 09/11/2018 22:17

I empty all the bins in the house into the kitchen bin and take that out to the dustbin every evening. Nothing festers.

Jux · 09/11/2018 22:18

They swell up and block pipes. I remember a guy who started working down the sewage system describing an epic battle with "what seemed like a bloody sheep" which was the first time he'd seen a tampon.

The only paper OK to put down the loo is actual loo paper.

Stop being a wuss and take responsibility. If you can't cope with the functions of your own body, you're either 12 or very very sad.

UsedBySomebodyAlready · 09/11/2018 22:29

HildaZelda it's interesting isn't it. I'm only a few years older than you and yet that's what I was taught. I was brought up in the north, how about you?

Softkitty2 · 09/11/2018 22:36

IDIOT

Willow2017 · 09/11/2018 22:40

^why isn't this common knowledge?^

I don't know. Perhaps they could write it on signs in every public loo, anywhere that has a septic tank and on all the boxes tampons come in. Oh, wait, they already do.

Grin
Gabilan · 09/11/2018 22:43

I'm mid 40s and was brought up in southern England. I was taught (mid 1980s) that it was OK to flush. I stopped doing it decades ago when media coverage made it obvious that flushed tampons and STs ended up on beaches.

I think the changes in packaging occurred some time maybe in the 1990s - but you don't need to read them carefully. It's just symbols making it clear not to flush.

RedLife · 09/11/2018 23:00

Yorkshire pudding

Grin
Beansonapost · 09/11/2018 23:34

Here's the solution...

Empty the the bin in the bathroom regularly...

I also don't get women saying they don't like the thought of them being in the house...

It's a used sanitary product... what's the difference to having a used condom in the bin? They both contain bodily fluids... yet you wouldn't flush the condom.

Have the flushers ever used a public restroom? With the bins in the stalls? You think they're there for decorative purposes? And the signs saying please don't flush san pro? It's even written on the box...

YABU and deliberately stupid.

I also don't understand ripping a used pad to flush it 😐 so much more effort involved in getting rid of it and the mess!!!! Imagine if it was full 🤢. Just save the plastic wrap they come in... remove pad, reuse plastic to wrap in, use tape to close wrap in toilet paper and bin. Empty bin daily.

Ariela · 09/11/2018 23:42

YABU

Try a Mooncup. Nothing to throw away then.

DontCallMeCharlotte · 09/11/2018 23:51

I started my periods in 1976 and sorry to say I flushed tampons as that's what it said on the box. The labelling may well have changed but why would I read the box again? As for the bins in public loos, to my (admittedly stupid) mind that just meant sanitary towels which I never used.

I was ignorant, yes, but I genuinely didn't know until I read it on here.

MrsStrowman · 10/11/2018 00:05

I don't flush tampons, wet wipes etc and wrap them in toilet paper not nappy bags, but I genuinely didn't know about the difference between tissues and toilet paper. I definitely have used a tissue to blow my nose and flushed it, so this thread has taught me something

QuestionableMouse · 10/11/2018 00:43

Loo roll is made to basically disintegrate when it gets soaked. Tissue and kitchen roll aren't.

TheGoogleMum · 10/11/2018 00:43

Wrap in toilet roll and get a bathroom bin with a lid. I'm more of a pad person and I feel super awkward if I need to change at someone's house and there's no bin! It's a little awkward anyway obviously but it's happened when staying with in laws for the weekend (so not like I can wait till I get home to change). We bought a new build last year with 3 toilets, a bin in each was one of the first things I bought!

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 10/11/2018 08:24

Has anyone here used Natracare tampons? I've been looking online and they seem quite good. I'm just a bit worried about changing from Tampax as I've used them since my teens but these ire unbleached and biodegradable.

(Please don't suggest a mooncup, it isn't happening)

HungryForSnacks · 10/11/2018 08:57

I told my DP about this thread and he said "that's ridiculous. Even I know tampons aren't meant to be flushed down the toilet".

Just sayin.

Branleuse · 10/11/2018 09:10

Thanks for the update with your husbands opinion on tampons :/

HippyChickMama · 10/11/2018 09:17

For anyone that's looking for biodegradable bags to put sanitary towels and tampons in, you can buy kitchen caddy bags for composting. Not suggesting that you compost your tampons! But the bags are biodegradable. £3 for 25 bags at Sainsbury's.

YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan · 10/11/2018 09:17

Don't flush anything other than paper, poo and pee down the toilet.

I live in the last house before the main sewage pipe takes a 90 degree turn. There's a manhole cover in my back garden. Several times the pipe has been blocked at the bend due to people putting wipes, sanitary products etc down the toilet. Then it all backs up, comes up the manhole cover and my garden gets covered in raw sewage.

It's grim and frustrating that people don't care and keep flushing such things Angry

AnyFucker · 10/11/2018 09:39

A man has spoken Grin

JacquesHammer · 10/11/2018 09:41

Thank goodness a man is available to tell everyone he knows how to do periods better 🙄

WhirlyGigWhirlyGig · 10/11/2018 09:47

I'm genuinely shocked that people younger than me don't have a clue about this. Surely you've all see programmes or read/listened to the news about the state of our sewers.

Early 50's here and yes when we were young we were told to flush them but I stopped that years ago when I learnt it was wrong.

And op I'm so glad your garden has never had an issue with blocked drains. The day it happens can you record it please so we can see your horrified face 🙄