Disposing of sanitary products when staying at someone else's home.

[Motheroffive999]

Twice this has happened now.
Heavy period whilst staying with friends and relatives.
Tampons don't suit me so I use towels and for the first 24 hours my period is heavy.
Where are you supposed to dispose of them , the two families only have a kitchen bin , no other bins in the house.
Also they have a white sofa and the other has a light pink one , so I was concerned about leaking on the sofa.
I have had a scan , hysterscopy and they were not concerned about my periods, I don't have to change them every hour liked the doctor mentioned.
It's just awkward

😷😊

But not the kitchen bin

He’s a keeper 😊

I used to have this issue when staying places (had an hysterectomy) and would put it all in a carrier bag and dispose in their outside bin or take it home. I recently discovered Dicky Bags for dog poo, I don’t use them as I don’t walk far enough to warrant them. However, it may potentially be useful? Line with a carrier bag perhaps and the largest is 16cm x 10cm. https://www.dickybag.com/products/jo-scott-dark-blue-dicky-bag

I have lidded bins in the bathrooms so I'd expect you'd use those, but I use a moon cup so don't have anything to throw away myself.

I wouldn't want to walk around someone elses house with a used pad or tampon to throw in a kitchen bin/outside bin even if it is in a bag.
I think it's really rude of people to not have something for guests to use to dispose of waste in the bathroom, even if they don't care themselves.

That is exactly what I would do.

Do you wear gloves or just sift through guests bathroom debris with bare hands?

Same, even if it’s just cotton wool or buds, I don’t want to be walking into the kitchen with it

i have a lidded bin, nappy sacks, tampons/pads, wipes and whatever else you might need for people to use
plus with the fun of endo you can also have a heated plug in stomach pad, menthol period patches or industrial pain killers! Help yourself

What do you dispose of them in when at home?
I wrap them in abit of tissue, then the wrapping of the new pad then put them in a scented nappy sack and put them in the bathroom bin.

I do the same when im away from home too.
If you are concerned / embarrassed for whatever reason, i would do as above and then out it in my handbag...

With regards to white sofas..
I would use night pads and change much more often
If you have Period knickers wear them too....

And if comfortable / Able. I would take a dark coloured towel with me...
I could not and would not sit on someones white sofa while on my period

I’m not sure if this cultural but I’m Canadian and everyone I know has a garbage in their bathroom. It has never grossed me out to deal with another woman’s maxi pads.

I find a lot of these attitudes surprising for a women’s site. Periods aren’t gross and shameful.

I use period pants but have a bin, tampons, pads and a sanitary bags for guests in a little glass jar by the toilet. It’s zero effort and saves guests a lot of unnecessary embarrassment.

Not the kitchen bin!

Take them out to the wheelie bin.

My mum used to have baskets of tampons, pads, scented sanitary disposal bags on full display right next to each toilet. A range of products presented like a hamper in a wicker basket!! We were always taught it was polite to provide whatever a guest needs to feel comfortable. It’s hardly an effort to provide a bin and a couple of sanitary bags as a minimum.

There are some weird attitudes in this thread. I have bins in all bathrooms. Who the heck goes through the bin before talking it out. How can you be offended by sanitary products in the bathroom bin. Don't you have female relatives or daughters?. It doesn't stink and it's not gross.

Probably not the answer you're looking for but I wouldn't stay with them if they didn't have a bathroom bin to dispose of them into. I won't even visit someone's home if I've got my period and I know they don't have a bathroom bin. I'm not interested in risking advertising my private bodily functions to the inhabitants of their home by carrying used pads from bathroom to kitchen bin, which they might see. I hate carrying them around with me until I get home too, I just find that disgusting. There's nothing shameful about periods it's just it's my own personal business and I don't tend to share anything health related with others. If you're worried about the sofas you could wear period underwear as well as normal underwear and pads, as a backup.

I have a bin in my bathroom for them 🙂 so do most women I know

I'd NEVER leave a used menstrual product at any residential homes garbage ...a friend or family member...because the dog might steal it out of the garbage and chew it up or they may not empty that garbage often if they think it's just a little wad of tissue then it rots and stinks....
Nope

I always have small ziplock baggies in my purse and used menstrual products go in the sealed baggie with the excess air squeezed out so it's as small as possible. Then into my purse. Then into my home garbage or a public garbage can which will be emptied daily (ex at a shopping centre).

Please don’t do this! It means I have to fish it out of my outside bin and put it into. A black bin liner or it will just stay in the outside bin forever as my refuse collection removes only content that is in a black bin liner. Please don’t put anything into the outside bin without discussing with the bin owner ! Fishing out of the outside bin is so much more gross than emptying a bathroom or kitchen bin!

Ah thank you- I am on the waiting list for a hysterectomy (fibroids) - been waiting a year now. They recently called me for blood tests and I was hoping the op would be soon then they said I am aenemic and need to take iron first. Well of course I am anaemic - hence why I need the op!

Thank you though x

It's such a shame that we live in a world where asking a host simply where they would like sanitary products to be put is considered embarrassing or some deep taboo. Presumably they are older than 10 and understand that periods are as normal a part of life for half the population for a big chunk of their life.

My Bathroom bins don't contain sanitary items, tampons get flushed only shampoo bottles etc so that's not an issue , kitchen bins we only separate food waste at the time , recycling all goes in one bin the be separated later

You shouldn't flush tampons.

I would much prefer to just put them in a bin provided in a bathroom. Surely that's an entirely normal expectation.

Menstrual blood, despite being perfectly natural and not at all shameful, can still contain pathogens. Quite honestly, and aside from issues of modesty or embarrassment, it is better for people to deal with their own.

I think it depends who the host is.