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.

80s kids were taught to flush, but I guess we are all hitting the end of the line soon, so that’s something..

Not a UK thing, I’m French and was also told to flush them (born early 80s). Pretty sure the box said so and even if they updated the message why would you read the instructions again?
Same as PP regarding the «do not flush» signs I always thought it meant towels or random objects, not tampons/loo roll.

@evilharpy

A more recent one

This is what Tampon boxes looked like when I first started using them (late 90s) and I distinctly recall flushing it all for years, cardboard applicator and all.

I don't do it anymore, because I know not to, it all goes in the bin. But I only stopped probably five years ago!

I was told to flush in the 80's.

But I had definitely stopped by the mid 90's. I remember leaving a used tampon wrapped in toilet roll next to the sink and being yelled at by my sister.

@isittheholidaysyet

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!

Like I said where I'm from, we don't flush. Normally I'd put a fresh one in just before leaving the house. I'm lucky that my periods weren't that particularly heavy so it would last for quite a while. If I stayed over , wrap it in toilet roll and throw in the main bin. Never had an issue or someone complaining about it. Even when I asked they'd just say "oh just throw it in the bin". But then again due to not flushing, this was normal and natural and not really something to worry about.

@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.

God, I’d forgotten this. We did didn’t we?!

But, as someone who got given a sanitary belt and a pad that resembled a draft excluder, I can remember how liberating it was to find thin pads, and then those super easy to insert (plastic. Sleeve) tampax in boots.

Obviously they are shite for the environment snd there are better options now, but they did have a roll to play in changing the perception of menstruation from a disabling experience to something easily managed.

Sorry for the thread derail OP, I am musing..

I genuinely always thought they were flushable until I read on here that they weren't. I remember my mum flushing the wrapper as well in the 1980s.

@Luredbyapomegranate

80s kids were taught to flush, but I guess we are all hitting the end of the line soon, so that’s something..

😂😂😂 I nearly spat my coffee out.

Well - another one here who has always flushed. I have only ever used tampons, and in 40 years have flushed away happily. Still going at 55. Not going to stop now, too late to worry. As the risk of TMI, on my heavy days, they just drop out, so no way am I going fishing for them .

Meanwhile in a prime case of whataboutery, on the "Litter Tray" people flush their cat poo and litter down the toilet and think it is OK .

What an odd mindset... because I've always done it, I'm going to continue . Why? Just wrap and put it in the bin

I'm a resolute Mooncup user now but I started using tampons in the 80's and definitely they were designed to be flushable and we all did. The cardboard applicator was apparently designed to seperate into pieces in the loo to be easier to flush.
Dreadful really.

@BigWoollyJumpers

Well - another one here who has always flushed. I have only ever used tampons, and in 40 years have flushed away happily. Still going at 55. Not going to stop now, too late to worry. As the risk of TMI, on my heavy days, they just drop out, so no way am I going fishing for them .

Meanwhile in a prime case of whataboutery, on the "Litter Tray" people flush their cat poo and litter down the toilet and think it is OK .

This is your chance to do something decent

@SomethingSuss why on earth do you think it's ok to use a racial slur to describe a shop?! Just call it a corner shop FFS.

The cardboard applicator was apparently designed to seperate into pieces in the loo to be easier to flush.

On which subject, I was HORRIFIED a few years back when DH mistakenly bought applicator tampons, which I never use and hadn’t seen since school freebies when I was 13. The applicators were now PLASTIC. How did that become a thing in the age of recycling?

[quote SoupDragon]@SomethingSuss why on earth do you think it's ok to use a racial slur to describe a shop?! Just call it a corner shop FFS.[/quote]
Yes I reported that too.

[quote SoupDragon]@SomethingSuss why on earth do you think it's ok to use a racial slur to describe a shop?! Just call it a corner shop FFS.[/quote]
I think that was the very point she was making ...

No need to revive it, though, even with asterisks. BTW, it was by no means universally an okay term in the first place so not a good comparator.

[quote SoupDragon]@SomethingSuss why on earth do you think it's ok to use a racial slur to describe a shop?! Just call it a corner shop FFS.[/quote]
Did you actually read the post? Like, anything else of it or just the bit containing the asterisked racial slur? It was pretty much the point of what I said. Way back when I was a kid, no one raised an eyebrow at the awful language used. Now we know better. It's horrible and few people will get anything but a very negative reaction for saying shit like that. Looks pointedly at in laws

Had the pleasure of periods at school in late 70s. No such thing as a sanitary disposal bin in any toilets so moved to tampons asap as we were taught they were flushable.

Had no idea you weren't meant to flush them until recent SHOUTING messages. Bit late for me now anyway. But we flushed because a) we were told to and b) no disposal facilities.

HTH.

I was taught to flush in the 80s but I stopped doing it ages ago.

I haven't used tampons for over a decade, but used to flush them as had always been told they were biodegradable and OK to flush.

Like one of the previous posters, I fail to see how on earth one could dispose of a used, full tampon other than down the loo.
Saying "just wrap it in toilet paper" doesn't make sense to me. I would have needed yards and yards of paper to absorb all the blood. The tampon was often literally dripping with blood. Just how much loo roll would you need for disposal of a very full Super+ tampon in a bin? And surely the bin would then need to be emptied immediately? You couldn't just leave a blood-soaked tampon in the bathroom - especially if it was in someone else's house!
I suppose people must have to carry a supply of plastic disposal bags along with their spare tampons these days? I would have needed to use at least two bags per tampon, I think, to prevent leakage.
Maybe I just had heavier periods than average?

Not only were we told to flush the tampon after use but we were told to flush the cardboard applicator and wrapping.
We were also taught how to tear a thick sanitary towel lengthways before flushing it.

Years and years of doing this with no blocked pipes in the house - The problem is of course where they end up. Blocking main waste pipes and contaminating the environment.

Like one of the previous posters, I fail to see how on earth one could dispose of a used, full tampon other than down the loo.
Saying "just wrap it in toilet paper" doesn't make sense to me. I would have needed yards and yards of paper to absorb all the blood. The tampon was often literally dripping with blood. Just how much loo roll would you need for disposal of a very full Super+ tampon in a bin? And surely the bin would then need to be emptied immediately? You couldn't just leave a blood-soaked tampon in the bathroom - especially if it was in someone else's house!

It’s interesting isn’t it?
I’ve just asked my DD who says that everyone she knows wraps them in lots of toilet roll and puts them in a plastic nappy bag before putting in a bin.

Not great for the environment!
I don’t think just popping them in a bathroom bin and leaving them there is the way to go.

Do people put them in the outside bin every time they change one?

Highlight fail!