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?

This is mad, why would you expect her to trudge out to your wheelie bin when you could just have a bin in the bathroom

We don't have a bin in our downstairs toilet because of the dog. (Same reason we don't have one in our living room - although this just means lazy people leave rubbish lying around and the dog still gets it!) I think he'd sniff at and try to get in a pedal bin even. Our kitchen bin is tall and has a push-and-pop-up lid and if it's shut he leaves it alone. The daughters and I just use the kitchen bin for sanpro if necessary. There is a bin in our upstairs bathroom. Had never thought about guests (although obviously I have guest tampons and towels in both loos ) but they could use upstairs if it were an issue and they didn't want to walk next door to the kitchen. I don't have a problem with vaginal fluids in my kitchen That bin gets changed at least once a day.

She kept hinting for a reason OP! A good host makes their guests as comfortable as possible.

I'd wash a guest's knickers, when my Mum visits I always tell her to let me know if she needs to add anything to a load of washing. I don't think I'll catch anything horrible from her and it means she can travel with fewer clothes if she knows she can wash things when she's here.

OP, you MUST have a bin in your bathroom. Tampons, Incontinence pads and nappies all need somewhere to go and surely it makes more sense for someone to do the trip once a day out to the wheelie bin rather than expecting everyone to go out there each time they generate some waste.

We have 3 bins in the house, one in each bathroom and one in the kitchen. Those rooms are the main rooms for generating unsavoury waste and so they get the bins.

She should have bought you one for Christmas

You definitely need a loo bin. Have you never needed one? Where do you put your used sanitary towels and tampons?
And yes, they shouldn't be flushed.

She did ask for a bin, so you shouldn't be surprised it ended up in the kitchen.

Tbh, now I don't have kids in nappies, I hate it if visitors change a baby and leave (especially dirty, wet isn't so bad) nappies in a bin indoors.

Nappy disposal units ( the kind with cassettes ) can be used for sanpro disposal. Much pleasanter to empty.

X post Atia. Yep, they still come in handy for nappies too

A bin plus disposal bags are useful.

I don't think I know one person amongst my family and friends that does.
Of course that represents about 90% of the population?

I have a bin in my bathroom and in the loo.

But I take my used STs home with me (or throw them away elsewhere) if I am staying with someone else for a couple of days. It's not gross, they are double-wrapped and don't smell. If I am in a hotel/B&B I use the bins there.

This is where a mooncup or similar is your friend though. I wish I could use one.

I never heard this "don't flush tampons/towels down a household loo" until I joined MN. I'm 42 and I've been flushing them down the loo from the age of 11 to 35 (when I went on depo and stopped having periods, hooray.)

There were three menstruating women in my house growing up, we all came on at the same time and we all flushed. Never had a problem with the plumbing, ever. Nobody EVER suggested we shouldn't be flushing.

But loads more waste for landfill. If the bin's lined, then wrapping in toilet paper or the next pad's wrapper is greener, surely.

Now thinking that maybe I will try a tiny Brabantia Touch in the downstairs loo. With a sign saying "no nappies"

The problems often happen downstream, and don't directly impact you.

It's just ignorant to not know that the only non-bodily produced product to go down the toilet should be standard toilet paper.

Continuing to flush items after you know that it is wrong is just entitled and selfish.

(That was re bags.)

It's common knowledge now that you shouldn't flush.

Have you never heard of the 'bag it and bin it' campaign? Even the packaging tells you not to flush them

It's just ignorant to not know that the only non-bodily produced product to go down the toilet should be standard toilet paper.

How is it ignorant if nobody had ever told me? My mum just told me you flush everything down. I was 11, it didn't occur to me to question her debatable wisdom.

You're going to tell me I shouldn't be flushing my used cooking oil down there now, aren't you?

How weird.

You put a bin in every bathroom.

It's better than flushing Atia and better for those who are squeamish.

Your guests should not be made to work out your bin system, i.e. that you do not put certain things in one because it's a warm area, etc., and no woman should ever be made to feel uncomfortable about her period. When she was hinting that you needed bins in your loos that is what she was referring to. As host, even if you don't use them yourself, you should provide them when women visit.

To my shame we once had a lovely new bathroom and our bin was out of sight because I wanted to the lovely new bathroom to be sparkly. I had a friend over who I knew was on her period and I realised after she left that she'd not found the bin and must have carried her refuse home with her. To my mind that was like her assuming she would have to take any serviettes, any wrapping that came from food packaging that she'd eaten, or left over scraps of uneaten food home with her.

demented No, never heard of it.

I can't believe anyone still thinks it's ok to flush, for about the last 20 years the problem of toilet waste on beaches has bern reported on time after time after time.

And of course you should have bins in your toilets if you don't want used sanpro in your kitchen bin.

I'm now starting to really worry that I've had female friends to visit when they've been on their periods and they've gone "oh no, Pocket hasn't got a bin in her bathroom, what shall I do?"

pocketsaviour wtf it is not just a mumsnet thing not to flush them. Oh goody for you they didn't block your toilets, how about the huge amounts of unnecessary waste they cause that has to be filtered out of the water systems and when it isn't ends up with people swimming in your sanitary products? Beyond rank.