Do you flush tampons?

[Anonymous]

I sometimes put it in the plastic wrapper of the new tampon and wrap it up in TP, into trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I flushed up until I learned it was wrong in my 20s. Now I use a cup so no more tampon worries.

Same!!! Except once I learned how bad flushing them was I stopped and that was part of my motivation to switch to a cup as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Always wrap in toilet paper and throw in trash when at home or in a public restroom with a receptacle for that in the stall.

Unless I'm a guest at someone's house. Then I flush... twice. Can't leave my bloody tampon in their power room trash.

Dogs that eat them are at risk of an obstruction.

You’re awful

How so? Less chance of a clog. Also I am not putting their pet at risk.

I would be livid if I found out a guest was flushing their tampons at my house. Do you know how expensive it is to fix the inevitable plumbing issue that will arise? Flushing twice doesn’t do anything to mitigate this risk BTW

Obviously people need to use their best judgment given the social situation. Sometimes people have a trash can with no lid and no bag in their powder room.

No one and I mean no one wants a tampon flushed down their home toilet. I would be so angry to find out someone did this and perhaps contributed to a major plumbing issue. Wrap very well in toilet paper and toss, how hard is it? Everyone has a trash can in their bathroom. Whether it has a bag or lid doesn't matter--you wrap the tampon well and throw away. You never flush it under any circumstance.

Look, you are wrong. Occasionally you have to use your brain.

I made the mistake of putting a well wrapped tampon in an open trashcan. Host's dog sniffed it out and the spent the evening at the pet ER.

In retrospect, I wish I had flushed that time, given the circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Stop being so hard on OP. Yes, flushing tampons is bad. But lots of people never get told this. Think about why.

Women are taught from a young age that periods are gross and offensive, something to be ashamed of and to hide. That is 100% the message I got. And that's how women can go decades flushing tampons without realizing you shouldn't do it. They are doing what they think they are supposed to -- hiding their periods, eliminating all evidence of it, and not talking about it.

You need to be gentle with women in this position. Especially those of you who are younger and were raised with a more progressive, open, not shaming attitude towards periods. It's so great that culture has shifted in this direction, but you need to understand that so many women (including me) are brainwashed into believing periods are embarrassing and disgusting and even once you realize this brainwashing has happened, it takes time to undo it.

I don't flush tampons anymore, thankfully, and I'm teaching my kids that periods are normal, period blood is just a bodily fluid like any other, and that they can ask questions about anything body and bathroom related and shouldn't feel ashamed of any of it. But I still have to deal with some of that shame because it's how I was raised. Have some patience.

[Anonymous]

Heck no. My house was built in 1942 and has the original pipes to the street. We don’t flush anything except human waste and TP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Always wrap in toilet paper and throw in trash when at home or in a public restroom with a receptacle for that in the stall.

Unless I'm a guest at someone's house. Then I flush... twice. Can't leave my bloody tampon in their power room trash.

Dogs that eat them are at risk of an obstruction.

You’re awful

How so? Less chance of a clog. Also I am not putting their pet at risk.

I would be livid if I found out a guest was flushing their tampons at my house. Do you know how expensive it is to fix the inevitable plumbing issue that will arise? Flushing twice doesn’t do anything to mitigate this risk BTW

Obviously people need to use their best judgment given the social situation. Sometimes people have a trash can with no lid and no bag in their powder room.

No one and I mean no one wants a tampon flushed down their home toilet. I would be so angry to find out someone did this and perhaps contributed to a major plumbing issue. Wrap very well in toilet paper and toss, how hard is it? Everyone has a trash can in their bathroom. Whether it has a bag or lid doesn't matter--you wrap the tampon well and throw away. You never flush it under any circumstance.

Look, you are wrong. Occasionally you have to use your brain.

I made the mistake of putting a well wrapped tampon in an open trashcan. Host's dog sniffed it out and the spent the evening at the pet ER.

In retrospect, I wish I had flushed that time, given the circumstances.

You are all wrong. Carry a ziploc bag. Wrap it well in TP and stick it in your purse until you get home. I have double bagged poopy diapers and taken them home when a guest at a home with no babies.

[Anonymous]

Nope. Never.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all those name calling those who flush, and are acting like it's THE worst offense someone can do: Did you grow up believing you can flush them, or were you always told not to flush?

I grew up being told not to flush. We lived in a "new" build house. It is (or so I thought) common knowledge you don't put anything down the toilet expect toilet paper and human waste (and spiders, of course). You are asking for plumbing problems if you flush other things down, but especially tampons. Plus it is on the bathroom stalls in many places not to do it- that should clue you in it isn't good practice.

I was never given any guidance as a teen and flushed them. When I was in college our sorority house had a major plumbing issue and the plumber pulled out what was probably hundreds of tampons from years of 27 women in 1 house. I never flushed again after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Always wrap in toilet paper and throw in trash when at home or in a public restroom with a receptacle for that in the stall.

Unless I'm a guest at someone's house. Then I flush... twice. Can't leave my bloody tampon in their power room trash.

Dogs that eat them are at risk of an obstruction.

You’re awful

How so? Less chance of a clog. Also I am not putting their pet at risk.

I would be livid if I found out a guest was flushing their tampons at my house. Do you know how expensive it is to fix the inevitable plumbing issue that will arise? Flushing twice doesn’t do anything to mitigate this risk BTW

Obviously people need to use their best judgment given the social situation. Sometimes people have a trash can with no lid and no bag in their powder room.

No one and I mean no one wants a tampon flushed down their home toilet. I would be so angry to find out someone did this and perhaps contributed to a major plumbing issue. Wrap very well in toilet paper and toss, how hard is it? Everyone has a trash can in their bathroom. Whether it has a bag or lid doesn't matter--you wrap the tampon well and throw away. You never flush it under any circumstance.

Look, you are wrong. Occasionally you have to use your brain.

I made the mistake of putting a well wrapped tampon in an open trashcan. Host's dog sniffed it out and the spent the evening at the pet ER.

In retrospect, I wish I had flushed that time, given the circumstances.

Nope. That is the host’s dog issue. Never flush a tampon. That is never the right answer. If you are worried about a pet, you bag up the tampon and put in another trash, pack it in a plastic bag etc. but flushing down the toilet is NEVER the right choice. Please don’t do this to anyone’s house

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP 8:01 and I was curious! Found an eBay listing for a Tampax box (80s) and sure enough it’s what I remember-a flushable applicator!

Vintage Tampax Tampons 40 Super Flushable Applicator

I remember that the cardboard applicators were marketed as flushable, but it seems to me that there was caveat not to flush the tampon itself.

I started menses in 1979.

Yes, I always learned that, while some applicators might be flushable (but really who cares about those), the tampons never were. People just obviously misunderstood the advertising as it clearly states that the applicator is flushable. I've never seen anything about a flushable tampon. I think that would probably get them sued when people's systems backed up.

As a teenager in the 90s, I did once put a tampon, wrapped in loads of toilet paper, in a friend's bathroom trash, only to find it 15 minutes later on the floor in their living room, brought in by the dog. I was obviously mortified, but they all laughed and said it happened all the time.

Now I use a cup, which really has been life changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop being so hard on OP. Yes, flushing tampons is bad. But lots of people never get told this. Think about why.

Women are taught from a young age that periods are gross and offensive, something to be ashamed of and to hide. That is 100% the message I got. And that's how women can go decades flushing tampons without realizing you shouldn't do it. They are doing what they think they are supposed to -- hiding their periods, eliminating all evidence of it, and not talking about it.

You need to be gentle with women in this position. Especially those of you who are younger and were raised with a more progressive, open, not shaming attitude towards periods. It's so great that culture has shifted in this direction, but you need to understand that so many women (including me) are brainwashed into believing periods are embarrassing and disgusting and even once you realize this brainwashing has happened, it takes time to undo it.

I don't flush tampons anymore, thankfully, and I'm teaching my kids that periods are normal, period blood is just a bodily fluid like any other, and that they can ask questions about anything body and bathroom related and shouldn't feel ashamed of any of it. But I still have to deal with some of that shame because it's how I was raised. Have some patience.

Ok, shame or not, considering the major plumbing damage this does, how anyone has reached adulthood and not come to know this escapes me. Sorry, but this really should be common knowledge not to flush.

[Anonymous]

No, because I’m not an idiot.

[Anonymous]

I used to. But then after a few close calls of the tampon not being flushed all the way and needing to try to figure out how to fish it out of the toilet when it was sopping wet, I started just wrapping in TP and putting it in the trash can. Then I started doing this at home 100% of the time. The one exception was public restrooms with industrial toilets that have a huge flush.

Thank god I have an IUD now so no period at all and I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oldster and post menopausal, 52.

I remember as a teenager in the 80s that we all flushed our tampons! I recall one brand being marketed as “flushable” (maybe even the applicator) bit certainly the tissue paper wrapper.

OB tampons were the first non applicator tampon and I know I flushed those.

In the 80s and well into the 90s, we were flushing everything down the toilets; condoms, tampons, medicines

+1 DH and I are in our 50s.. he put condoms in the toilet; I put tampons in it. I no longer have my period (thank god). But towards the end (a couple of years ago), I stopped flushing it.. due to this forum lol.

I either have a stack of newspapers or one of those prospectus booklets in my bathroom in a drawer next to the toilet. I used to get a few pages and put the tampon in it, and then in the trash. DH used to tease me about doing a bit of light reading when on the toilet. I will instruct DD to do it this way, too. She has her own cabinet in the shared bathroom with her brother.

[Anonymous]

When I lived in an apartment that wasn't mine, I flushed. Even knowing how it was bad, I still did it because not my plumbing.

Now that I own a house, no, never.

At a store or restaurant? It's getting flushed. Not my plumbing! The only exception is if they have a notice about not flushing like many older places in DC have.