TAMPONS ARE *NOT* FLUSHABLE

[SandingWithMyUnshavenLegs]

I cannot believe the number of women nonchalantly stating somewhere on MN that they have always flushed their tampons, and expressing mild, disinterested surprise at the notion this is not okay.

So.

Stop flushing them. They are not flushable.

Cheers.

folk

Thanks @MerryChristmas21

Please just talk the good talk without the shouty caps.🙏🏻

🩸 🚽 & 💧emojis would make a thread title much more eye catching without the feeling of being yelled at. 😊

I am another one who had absolutely no idea it wasn't ok until reading this thread. I was taught to do that. Intuitively I also assumed it was fine. It looks papery, not plasticky, and as soon as you drop it in the loo, it starts expanding and getting all soft looking, so it looks like something that would degrade easily.

As others have said, never read the label after you know how to use it. And those signs look totally like they are about pads or packaging (I've always seen them and thought about the silly girls in school who tried to flush pads and thought 'duh'")

Honestly, tampax or someone could easily have got the message across much clearer by now but they would lose some of their competitive advantage over pads..... so I'm sure that's why they haven't. Why the public info signs are not better I have no idea, it would be so easy to make a silhouette of something that was obviously a tampon, but they haven't....

[quote MerryChristmas21]@SandingWithMyUnshavenLegs. I was going to say 'Calm Down! Stop Shouting! There can't be anyone (especially on MN) who still thinks it's ok to flush them'.

But obviously I was wrong. I'm not sure where people have been for at least 20 years, that they've missed this messaging.

I'm 52, so for the first 20 years of periods, flushing was the done thing (not pads though) but it's been a very long time that NOT flushing has been 'a thing'

KEEP SHOUTING THE GOOD SHOUT!!![/quote]
You used to be able to flush pads. I'm sure they said to tear in half lengthways to flush (bodyform). That's probably before they became more high tech and full of plastic.

All packaging now says to bin rather than flush

The only thing that should go down the toilet is
Pee
Poo
Paper (only loo paper obviously)
Puke.

I have worked for a water and sewerage company in the past and have visited more sewage treatment works than I care to mention. If the sanitary products reach the works without blocking the sewers then they are captured on the inlet screens. employees have to keep the screens clear to allow the poo and pee to get through. This is a manual task.

What is even more shocking I was taught to rip pads in half and flush envy most definitely not envy.

Yes, I was taught this too, or to strip the plastic back off and put that in the bin. Pads were just full of fine cotton wooly stuff, but you had to tear carefully or else bits of bloody (literally!) cotton wool went everywhere. Loved Bodyform in those days, although they were chunky and had a bump that meant they fitted well.

I'm of the generation that was told you could flush sanitary towels if they were torn in half length ways first !

@SusannaQueen

What is even more shocking I was taught to rip pads in half and flush envy most definitely not envy.

Yes, I was taught this too, or to strip the plastic back off and put that in the bin. Pads were just full of fine cotton wooly stuff, but you had to tear carefully or else bits of bloody (literally!) cotton wool went everywhere. Loved Bodyform in those days, although they were chunky and had a bump that meant they fitted well.

I remember the bumpy bodyform too. They were great

Cross post

@Xanadu58

I'm of the generation that was told you could flush sanitary towels if they were torn in half length ways first !

I was of that generation too but then things changed and you were told not to flush

Have you said why op?

Might have missed it but could be more convincing than just don’t and I can’t believe you all don’t know etc..

Here's a sample Lilet box.

I’m 55 and while yes when young we were taught to flush tampons - and also tear sanitary towels in half and flush them too - I’m perfectly aware NOW that you shouldn’t do it and this has been the advice for about 30 years.

I mean there are literally signs on every single public toilet in the UK saying do not flush, use the bins provided. Why do people think the bins are even there if you think it’s okay to flush?

Here's the link to the Tampax website in case anyone thinks the OP is making it up.
tampax.co.uk/en-gb/tampon-truths/can-you-flush-tampons/

@SandingWithMyUnshavenLegs

I think I am surprised that you lot haven’t read the packaging, or seen the “no-flush” symbols or come across laminated signs in public/hotel toilets that say “Do not flush any feminine hygiene products” etc.

Once you've worked out how to shove them up there, people don't tend to read the instructions again. And the instructions used to be flush them away - including the applicators as they were also made of cardboard, not plastic.

Neither are most “flushable” wipes.

Advised by drainage engineer not to use them. High percentage of blockages he’s called out for are caused by clogged up wipes.

Although there are now wipes marked with the 'Fine to Flush' logo that are supposed to be ok for flushing

Drainage engineer advised just don’t, all potentially cause blockages 🤷‍♀️

(We’re in an old neighbourhood though, maybe new developments have wider drains.)

We still have lidded bins for wipes in the bathroom. The wipes we use say fine to flush but we have a rubbish flush on the toilet so they get binned instead

I only ever used them as a teenager in the early 00s but I'm almost positive that the packaging said the full thing could be flushed applicator, wrapper and all. I don't use them now but I knew they couldn't be flushed from reading a thread on here a couple of years back.

So how do you dispose of them?

Pads you can roll up inside themselves and put in your pocket till you find a bin.

But if I'm at a friend's house. Holding a piece of string which has a lump of cotton dripping with blood on it, what do I do?
This is a nice house the bathroom waste paper basket (if it exists) is open and pretty and has no innerbag. I can wrap in toilet roll but the blood will seep through. Do you carry plastic bags/nappy sacks to put them in, till you get home/find a bin?

Let's get practical here!

I started using them in 1980s. I was always told by mum, relatives and schools to flush them- everything…even the applicators which back then were not coated in that shiny stuff.
I continued to flush right through to around the 2005 when I started to hear stuff about them getting into sewer. Same time as recycling started to kick in.
We didn’t even have a bin in bathroom to put sanitary items in at home, or most of my adult life. Friends homes didn’t either. Sanitary bins were for public loos and we were always told for non flushable towels. Horror is many towels were sold as flushable too, and yes I did flush them
Different times.
Thankfully menopausal for years, but I provide a bin and sanitary bags and sanitary items in my guest bathroom for visitors.

Hi op, thanks so much for your post. I honestly didn't know that you couldn't flush tampons 😳 I first read the leaflet in the 80s and haven't since. I thought you couldn't flush towels but you could with tampons as others have said this was advertising, leaflets. I will buy a bathroom bin today.

My dil sent me a message freaking out because she had flushed tampons down my toilet as I have no bin. I wondered what she was on about. Makes sense now 😳