Loo bins - do you have them and what is the etiquette for visitors?

[cosmicdomestic]

We had SIL to stay over Xmas. She is always a polite house guest and generally tries to fit in with what we do. This time though she kept on hinting that we needed a bin in our downstairs loo (which is tiny) - we don't need one in our opinion.
Anyway, as if to make her point, when I went to put my Quality Street wrappers in the kitchen bin on NYE, I had horror moment when right there in the bin, on top, partially covered with one thin tissue was a (heavily) used tampon (bin is in the cupboard next to the dish washer - so it gets warm and we never put perishable waste in it - but the cupboard actually smelt of the offending article!!). It could only be SILs and I did not mention it
Even if we got a bin in the loo, is it polite to put used sanitary protection in it - surely she should flush or wrap in tissue and quietly put in our wheely bin?
What do other households do for female guests?

Where do u expect her to put it? Carry around a plastic bag and put in that and stick it in her handbag? Yabvu. What do you do when you are on your period?

If you do not have a bin in your loo then you are making things unpleasant and embarrassing for visitors.

That is the etiquette.

You definitely need a bin in your bathroom. It could be worse though. My PIL, who are generally lovely don't have a bin in their house at all! They collect up rubbish and take it all the way down the garden to the bin! I love visiting them, but the lack of bins drives me bonkers.

Yabu

A tiny pedal bin doesn't cost much or take up much space. To me it is an absolute necessity especially for female residents/guests.

What do you do with your towels/tampons etc?

Superdrug/Boots etc do small coloured bags, next to the san-pro for just this purpose. Like smaller nappy sacks, but darker in colour. These make it less potentially embarassing.

" I'd wrap them and put them in my bag to take home and dispose of!"

and some people think bins in bathrooms are grim the SIL was staying with the OP over Christmas! [two tampons discretely hidden under a santa hat emotocon] [santa]

Your poor sil!

Yes, get a bin. With a lid. Use with binliners. Job done!

Can't believe people take used stuff home in their bag

We have 2 bins in every bathroom/cloakroom - one pedal bin for waste and a plastic tub for recycling (paper and card mainly plus empty plastic shampoo bottles etc). They get emptied at least every week, and daily if there is sanitary waste which with teen girls in the house is most of the time. Lined with old carrier bags or bin liners they take about 2 seconds to deal with every morning - I stick the bag in the wheelie bin in the way out.

I am about a trillion miles from being remotely domesticated (it just took me over an hour to clean the door of the oven - it really was grim) but using my bin system is easy, quick and sanitary.

Sanitary towels well wrapped in a bin, which is emptied very regularly, is not grim.

Personally I wouldn't want vaginal fluids in my kitchen

Yes, you need a bin. It's gross not to have one.

Your poor sil, of course you should have a bin in the bathroom. Imagine expecting her to use the wheelie bin. As pp have already said, what do you do when on your period?

Er, WTF? Of course you need a bin and of course you expect sanitary products to be put in it. That's what it's for!

Flushing tampons is terrible for the plumbing and taking one home in your bag is really, really minging - especially if she's staying with you for 2 weeks. Did you expect her to store them in her bag for 2 weeks?? That is beyond belief. Imagine the smell!

Even if you had a bin in your bathroom I wouldn't expect you to empty its contents. Assuming I hadn't expected to be on and had brought my own bags, if I was your SIL I would wrap them somehow and leave them in my room and either put them in your wheelie bin during the next day, or take them home with me. Its like I wouldn't expect you to wash my knickers before I went home - I'd put them in my case in a wash bag for this purpose and wash at home. Yuk on your SIL, If I was on NOBODY would know.

Having said that, I have just got a bin for my loo for teenage DD's.

Kathy washing knickers is completely different. I wouldn't expect a host to wash my non-period-infested knickers.

Some weird repressed attitudes to menstruation on this thread.

Personally I wouldn't want vaginal fluids in my kitchen

So females are not allowed in your kitchen, especially when menstruating?

Some tampon cases are plastic, the inserter thing. You definitely need a bin.

I hate this and dread staying more than 3 hours with people I know to not have a bin in the bathroom. It's just about excusable if no one in the house has periods but even then it's really not nice for guests, and in the 7 years I didn't have periods (pill) I still kept a regularly emptied bin in the bathroom.

It's your house and up to you, but I think it's inhospitable and you're making your guests feel needlessly uncomfortable when it would be such a small courtesy on your part. And I posted on a thread yesterday about 'what you expect when staying with someone' to say that all I expect is a reasonably flat bit of floor and use of a shower that's seen some cleaning spray in the last three weeks or so, so I'm not exactly a spoiled princess when it comes to being hosted.

If this was AIBU I'd have called 'reverse'! And if it's only MNetters who have a small bin and some nappy sacks easily found in every loo, then clearly virtually all my friends and family are MNetters. Your poor SIL!

We have San pro bags and a small bin lined with a bag. You need a bin op!

Sounds like some people are ashamed of a normal bodily function, you really don't need to be you know.

Scarf well it does depend how long I was staying. If overnight then I would just take home.

I just know from empting my own bin that's its not pleasant. Surly the SIL could have discreetly asked for help?

A small, lidded pedal bin will cost less than a fiver. Just get one for the comfort of your guests and visitors instead of having a go at them with unnecessary details about their used sanitary protection. Where the heck else did you expect her to put it?