Do you flush tampons?

[Anonymous]

1979, flush that thing.

http://www.mum.org/RelyInstruc2.htm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was taught never to pour grease down the drain, never to use Drano for a clog, but nothing about flushing tampons. My mother handed me a box of pads and a box of tampons and everything else I know came from the back of the box or Seventeen magazine. I wish we could stop resorting to name calling and class shaming over this. We can do better.

Incidentally, I was in a public restroom this morning and there was a stack of tiny paper bags with a sign about using them for feminine products and a small garbage can. That seems like a good way to do it.

Even if no one ever specifically told you not to do it, hello...it is a tampon, that is designed to expand several times its size and NOT break down. Why in the world would you think that is supposed to be flushed?[b] It would be like flushing the empty toilet paper roll, qtips, cotton makeup rounds, etc. Do you flush other random stuff that is not TP?

Because the box said to! Believe me, the average 12 year old in the 80s wasn’t thinking this through.

Here, this is going way back to the 1930’s, but obviously up to some point in time, the standard instructions were to flush them. See “To Remove”: “...simply flush away.” (From the Museum of Menstruation!)

http://www.mum.org/tamins36.htm

Sorry no, the box of tampons never said to flush the actual tampon for anyone that is alive posting here.

But it did for our moms. The ones who we might have learned this stuff from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was taught never to pour grease down the drain, never to use Drano for a clog, but nothing about flushing tampons. My mother handed me a box of pads and a box of tampons and everything else I know came from the back of the box or Seventeen magazine. I wish we could stop resorting to name calling and class shaming over this. We can do better.

Incidentally, I was in a public restroom this morning and there was a stack of tiny paper bags with a sign about using them for feminine products and a small garbage can. That seems like a good way to do it.

Even if no one ever specifically told you not to do it, hello...it is a tampon, that is designed to expand several times its size and NOT break down. Why in the world would you think that is supposed to be flushed?[b] It would be like flushing the empty toilet paper roll, qtips, cotton makeup rounds, etc. Do you flush other random stuff that is not TP?

Because the box said to! Believe me, the average 12 year old in the 80s wasn’t thinking this through.

Here, this is going way back to the 1930’s, but obviously up to some point in time, the standard instructions were to flush them. See “To Remove”: “...simply flush away.” (From the Museum of Menstruation!)

http://www.mum.org/tamins36.htm

Didn't you have a sex ed class in 5/6th grade? Where they talk about periods and what to do? I specifically remember of gym teacher teaching it and showing us how to wrap pads in their wrapper and dispose and how to wrap a tampon very well in TP and throw in waste box

How old are you? I’m certain this was not taught in my NoVa elementary school in 1988.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was taught never to pour grease down the drain, never to use Drano for a clog, but nothing about flushing tampons. My mother handed me a box of pads and a box of tampons and everything else I know came from the back of the box or Seventeen magazine. I wish we could stop resorting to name calling and class shaming over this. We can do better.

Incidentally, I was in a public restroom this morning and there was a stack of tiny paper bags with a sign about using them for feminine products and a small garbage can. That seems like a good way to do it.

Even if no one ever specifically told you not to do it, hello...it is a tampon, that is designed to expand several times its size and NOT break down. Why in the world would you think that is supposed to be flushed?[b] It would be like flushing the empty toilet paper roll, qtips, cotton makeup rounds, etc. Do you flush other random stuff that is not TP?

Because the box said to! Believe me, the average 12 year old in the 80s wasn’t thinking this through.

Here, this is going way back to the 1930’s, but obviously up to some point in time, the standard instructions were to flush them. See “To Remove”: “...simply flush away.” (From the Museum of Menstruation!)

http://www.mum.org/tamins36.htm

Didn't you have a sex ed class in 5/6th grade? Where they talk about periods and what to do? I specifically remember of gym teacher teaching it and showing us how to wrap pads in their wrapper and dispose and how to wrap a tampon very well in TP and throw in waste box

How old are you? I’m certain this was not taught in my NoVa elementary school in 1988.

38. We were taught to throw in garbage

[Anonymous]

I did not go through all these posts so maybe this has already been shared:

A Nasty "Secret" That Leads To Major Plumbing Problems
https://www.hopeplumbing.com/blog/2014/july/a-nasty-8220-secret-8221-that-leads-to-major-plu/

Can You Flush Tampons? The Facts on Tampon Disposal and Recycling Tampax
https://tampax.com/en-us/about/sustainability/can-you-flush-tampons/

I grew up in the 1980s and I was taught to flush and I taught my daughter this too. Then you be day our toilet backed up so badly that it couldn’t be unclogged. We had to have a plumbing company come out and clear the sewer line. It was very embarrassing so now we always throw them away. What I do get nervous about is when I go to someone’s house especially if they have a dog because I’ve heard horror stories. Only then will I sometimes flush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1979, flush that thing.

http://www.mum.org/RelyInstruc2.htm

How old are you? I wasn't alive then, were you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1979, flush that thing.

http://www.mum.org/RelyInstruc2.htm

How old are you? I wasn't alive then, were you?

FFS, yes I was alive. No I wasn’t menstruating yet, but the point is this was the standard messaging up until some point in time, probably somewhere between the mid-80s to mid-90s. So if our mothers flushed and our grandmothers flushed, then it’s not out of the question that we were taught to flush. And because we or our moms were morons, that’s just the way things were done for a long time.

[Anonymous]

^^ not because we nor our mothers were morons.

[Anonymous]

Post menopausal woman here. I flushed tampons my entire menstruating life. Never had an issue. Wrapping them and trashing is gross. I also flushed the cardboard applicator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ not because we nor our mothers were morons.

My mom gave birth to me in the 80s and she knew better than to flush a tampon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ not because we nor our mothers were morons.

My mom gave birth to me in the 80s and she knew better than to flush a tampon.

You are so smart and high-class! Yay!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even though they might seem similar in some ways, toilet paper is very different than facial tissues, tampons, pads, etc. Toilet paper is designed to break down rapidly in water. All the others are designed to absorb as much liquid as possible without disintegrating. Even if it makes it through your "modern" plumbing, materials that don't break down in water are horrible for sewage treatment plants and the environment. Please never flush anything but toilet paper.

EXACTLY - some people have no common sense!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not go through all these posts so maybe this has already been shared:

A Nasty "Secret" That Leads To Major Plumbing Problems
https://www.hopeplumbing.com/blog/2014/july/a-nasty-8220-secret-8221-that-leads-to-major-plu/

Can You Flush Tampons? The Facts on Tampon Disposal and Recycling Tampax
https://tampax.com/en-us/about/sustainability/can-you-flush-tampons/

I grew up in the 1980s and I was taught to flush and I taught my daughter this too. Then you be day our toilet backed up so badly that it couldn’t be unclogged. We had to have a plumbing company come out and clear the sewer line. It was very embarrassing so now we always throw them away. What I do get nervous about is when I go to someone’s house especially if they have a dog because I’ve heard horror stories. Only then will I sometimes flush.

Did your mommy also neglect to teach you to close the bathroom door when you leave? Do you all really leave the bathroom door open for your pets to wander in and out? WTF?

[Anonymous]

FFS how many ways to people need to say “I didn’t know this was a problem, no one told me, I was a kid who had to learn to use a tampon on my own, now that I know I don’t flush them”????

Like those of you who have zero empathy for the fact that many of us not only had inadequate (or wrong!) sex Ed when we were young just come off as entitled brats. You really think a young woman should intuitively know what a tampon can do to a plumbing system, especially if her mother, friends, and others have all told her to flush tampons? That’s incredibly unrealistic.

And do really not understand how much shaming young women used to receive around their periods. My number one concern as a young woman regarding my period was hiding it. This was the universal message I received from my mom, teachers, friends, and advertising — that the worst thing that could happen would be if other people, but especially any male, found out you were on your period. So the last thing most of us wanted to do was leave evidence of our period anywhere. Thus, we were encouraged to flush tampons to eliminate evidence.

Basically, women have been treated like disgusting cretins for the mere act of memstruating for decades, and now we are being shamed by younger women for not standing up to that wall off shaming we received as kids and magically understanding material absorbency and indoor plumbing from a young age. Maybe one day you will learn that this is a hateful (and misogynist) behavior, perhaps when you are on the receiving end of it.

- signed, a woman who has not flushed a tampon in a decade and really wishes someone had taught me this much sooner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You all are wild. I grew up in a four bedroom house in the suburbs with a stay at home mom and a father with a high paying job. I was taught to flush....pretty sure the boxes also say to flush. Why would you want all that nasty blood sitting in your trashcan. Flush it away down the toilet and you won't have to deal with it. Who are you disgusting slobs that want decaying blood festering in your bathroom?! Putting tampons in the bathroom trash is gross. Do you also wipe you butt when you poop and put the toilet paper in the trashcan rather than flushing it down the toilet like a civilized person? Nasty nasty nasty.

Actually, a lot of "civilized" countries do require that you do this to save their antiquated plumbing systems. It's very clear to me from the language that you use that you're not particularly cultured and rarely (possibly never) travelled overseas.



*As for the "decaying blood" - you are aware that only about 1-2 Tbsp of that is actual blood, right? Or do you think your uterus is lined with fresh blood every month? Oh you did!!? How cute.