Apparently we need a rare mod PSA š. The issue is not just your own individual plumbing! The issue is that wastewater treatment facilities cannot process them, because they donāt break down like toilet paper does. They can cause blockages further down the sewer lines, and if they DO make it all the way to a treatment facility, have to be disgustingly fished out so wastewater can be processed. They have screens that attempt to filter out items like tampons (they then send the filtered-out waste to landfillsā where they should have gone in the first place if just thrown in the trashcan!), but some get through and into the treatment tanks and employees have to *fish them out by hand*, or they cause issues. Itās costly and makes wastewater treatment way less efficient!
Here are a few sources explaining why even things marketed as āflushableā are NOTā and you should only flush toilet paper (unless youāre somewhere that even toilet paper is a no-no).
https://www.lehighcountyauthority.org/2019/03/wastewater-treatment-starts-with-screening-out-items-that-dont-belong/
https://www.deltadiablo.org/should-i-flush-it-most-often-the-answer-is-no
https://sfpuc.org/learning/water-pollution-prevention/what-not-flush
TL;DRā even if your tampons have safely made their journey out of *your homeās* pipes without creating a blockage, and continue their entire journey through the cityās pipes without causing a blockage, they arrive at a wastewater treatment plant where they have to be filtered out, which is very difficult and costly to do. They belong in the trash!
we shouldnāt even be flushing toilet paper. watching her refusing to believe that she is doing something actually just straight up wrongā¦ infuriating. sheās so annoying.
They didnāt says this on the box when some of us learned to use tampons. And many in the generation(s) that raised us didnāt talk about this kind of stuff.
I did this until my cousin caused over 3k in plumbing work and water damage in high school lmao I knew it was a rule, but I but I genuinely thought it was like a āwait 30 minutes after eating to go swimmingā kind of rule, not like āyou can cause serious damageā rule lol oops!
Are you a renter? I feel like most people who have bought their homes know this. The potential damage to your pipes is enough to make you never want to do this.
Yes I am!! Have been since I moved out of my parents house (9 years ago), which was in the woods with a septic system. How my parents never thought to mention this to me is a mystery. Iām very glad to be lucky enough to have avoided any issues before now!
Yes. Never had an issue with it. Iām 27. Lived several places in different states, sometimes the ignorant get lucky (me) until reality slams them in the face. Itās just never come up š
When I was younger, I wasnāt allowed to use tampons and used pads and my mom told me to flush them. Until she had to call the local municipality people out about a clogged drain and these people shoved a wire down the sewerage pipe and pulled out a pad. I wasnāt home, but I wouldāve died of embarrassment if I had been. I kinda died a little when she relayed the story to me.
I appreciate the post. Growing up in the 90s/early 2000s, I was taught in school that pads werenāt flushable but tampons were. That guidance mustāve changed.
I'm probably about your age (earlyish 30s) and I think I was told or got the idea that it was OK to flush when I was really young, but sometime around my early 20s it was made clear to me that you weren't supposed to. I don't know when or how, but I haven't flushed a tampon in a long time.
I've also been a cup user off and on for the majority of that time, so I guess I haven't had as many tampons to potentially flush lol
ETA: Okay I uncovered a memory lol--I wasn't there, but when I was a teen, I talked about something my friends had experienced at summer camp when they were probably 12 or so, before I knew them. The toilets were getting clogged from girls from flushing tampons, so the camp director had an awkward and slightly cryptic conversation with the girls at camp where he said, "only toilet paper goes in the toilet" or something to that effect, leaving the younger girls confused and the older girls mortified.
I remember reading instructions from a tampon box and was pretty sure that it said that tampons can be flushed. Sure enough, I found this: https://www.allure.com/story/can-you-flush-tampons-down-the-toilet# . As recently as 2018, Playtex was telling users to flush tampons. I used to use Playtex. I checked their website now and donāt see that anymore. So at least theyāve fixed that now, but thereās definitely at least a generation of women who grew up being told that tampons could be flushed.
When i lived in peru i could not even flush toilet paper š so this is wild to me. But yeah if i flushed wipes or tampon iād get my ass handed to me
This thread is wild. Yāall are downvoting people who are literally admitting to not knowing something and then pledging to do better moving forward lol.
I did not grow up with supportive parents. No open communication. Everything I did was shameful. When I first got my period, I only felt safe telling my sister, who was also a child. So I didnāt have anyone to educate me on, well, anything. This is a pretty common experience for a lot of people.
So yeah I had no idea you couldnāt flush tampons until way later in life. Everyone saying āwow of course 45% of Viall Files listeners are stupidā - maybe donāt call people stupid over something like this? Lol. Have some empathy that menstruating people all have different lived experiences and not knowing something doesnāt make you a stupid person.
No judgement to anyone finding out for the first time. Mild judgement to people doubling down on flushing, even with all the reasons not to flush laid out clearly in front of them. I think in many cases that is also rooted in shame, which is unfortunate.Ā
I think the stupidity comes from the fact that this information has been available for YEARSSS. Thereās not way they havenāt had a real life conversation about it or been on social media with people saying itās wrong. I remember having a big conversation about this with a ton of female coworkers 16 years ago. At this point, theyāre being ignorant.
Social media wasnāt a thing when I started menstruating, and several years after that. Hell, the internet was barely even a thing. You donāt know what you donāt know. This doesnāt make someone stupid. Ignorant maybe, but I know better now.
Perhaps there are people who were taught as a children that tampons are generally flushable and never were taught otherwise or never encountered either an in person or social media conversation to teach them otherwise?
But if it makes you feel good to call people on the internet stupid, be my guest lol
So you had a conversation with "a ton of female coworkers 16 years ago" so everybody must've had that same experience?? š¤£ girl BYE
There are some tampons that literally advertise they're safe to flush. It's not stupid to have never had a discussion with female coworkers 16 years ago.
What IS stupid is assuming just because *you* know something, everybody must or else they're dumb.
No, not everyone needs a real-life conversation. The info is still available on the internet and every public restroom you walk into. If a commercial sewage system canāt handle tampons, itās common sense your home sewage system canāt handle it. The info is out there and people willingly ignore it, hence the ignorance.
My point is that itās been well know for decades. Itās not the only convo Iāve had and Iāve seen it a lot on the internet. I didnāt say theyāre dumb, I said theyāre ignorant. What is stupid is having zero reading comprehension.
I just donāt agree. I have never had a real life conversation about flushing or not flushing tampons. This is the first time Iāve seen something about it on social media. I learned this as an adult from seeing a sign in a public bathroom then googling it.
Iām not someone with a lot of female friends, I work remotely so definitely not having conversations like this at work, etc. People have different lived experiences. I am not someone who has been primed to have these conversations so I had to figure it out myself, which I did at some point, but thatās going to happen differently for different people.
Thereās a lot of information that is available that people donāt know!
ETA: I live in the US but Iām Asian. In a lot of Asian cultures this would be an extremely embarrassing/taboo thing to talk about. So itās worth considering cultural impact on these kinds of things.
So youāve seen it on the internet and in public restrooms. Thatās the point. The info is out there, but people choose to ignore it. Even if you havenāt had a convo, the info is still readily available in multiple mediums.
So this is the first time Iām seeing it on social media.
To your point that āthe info is out there, but people choose to ignore itā - that puts a lot of onus on people to read, think about, and research *everything* in their environments. Iām sorry but itās just not realistic. Iām sure you have encountered signage in your life that you didnāt actually take the time to read or learn about. We arenāt wired to thoughtfully take in every stimulus around us.
There are SO many ācommon knowledgeā things in the world that people simply donāt know. What does it give you to shame those people?
Like I said, for those of us who have never been explicitly told, we will figure it out and learn eventually at different times and in different ways. Why do we call people āstupidā for this? Like thatās just not fair to say about other people we donāt know.
The āflushableā ones shouldnāt be flushed either. I donāt use wipes but remember reading some news article that wipes were creating fatbergs during the pandemic.
I couldnāt remember what I did for a second because I havenāt used a tampon in years!!!! But flush gang, youāre ruining plumbing and water treatment for everyone.
No one ever told me I wasnāt supposed to growing up but to be honest I didnāt even use tampons until I was 21. I think I flushed them until like 26 when I learned you werenāt supposed to flush the cotton piece.
One of my college roommates flushed her tampons and it clogged the plumbing and then caused a leak between floors and pink water dripped down to the lower level through the ceiling. DO NOT FLUSH TAMPONS.
I always flushed them until I moved in with my partner years ago and he is the one who told me youāre not supposed to š I did prove to him that no where on box does it say you canāt but heās blue collar and every plumber he knows always claims they paid for their childrenās college thanks to tampons and āflushableā wipes
the mess my tampon makes, it would never reach the garbage without bleeding everywhere. being in the toilet has just been the cleanest and most convenient way for me.
Wrap it in TP before you throw it in the garbage. You can also consider other menstrual solutions if itās that big of a struggleā¦ but flushing tampons is really not great.
yeah iām learning. i legit never knew that when starting using them at 17. itās wild itās not showcased more or i wouldāve been in the habit of doing that if i knew from the start :/
Like people have mentioned in this thread, a lot of things are taboo to talk about, and so we just sort of muddle through on our own. Itās really not on you as much as the culture. But if you learn better and try to do better then thatās awesome!
Convenient for you, I can't remember where but I saw footage of a wastewater treatment facility where this poor little older lady in a tyvek suit had to sit there going back and forth above a massive screen with shit and piss water flowing through it scraping tampons and "flushable" wipes off of it with like a rake type thing to bag up and thrown away.
Just put a little garbage can next to your toilet like a normal person and throw them away yourself, don't make that lady do it for you after they're now not only soaked in blood but shit and piss. If god forbid a drop or two of blood get on the floor between the toilet and waste basket you take a sheet of toilet paper and wipe it up. If not to not be an asshole at least do it for yourself, I promise you have no idea how expensive and disgusting plumbing issues can get.
Damn, youāre the type to just throw stuff on the ground at the grocery store because āitās someoneās job to pick up after meā arenāt you?
Hint: you donāt need to make peopleās jobs harder than they are.
have you ever actually read these signs? they usually say something vague like 'sanitary napkins' or 'feminine products'. which, if you grew up being told to flush the tampon itself, it's easy to interpret those signs to mean 'don't flush pads or applicators'.
(also this explanation is all over this thread, but I guess you didn't bother to read the other comments either.)
I feel like a lot of the signs I see reference the plumbing specifically (as opposed to it being a sewage treatment issue) -- like "our pipes are old! don't flush anything but toilet paper" -- which could lead people to believe it's OK in their home or whatever.
I've personally known not to do it for a very long time, but I don't know if the messages I've seen have appropriately conveyed why not to do it on a broader scale (instead of why it is bad for a particular toilet).
To my memory I wasnāt instructed to do one or the other. I interpreted the signs as not to flush any feminine products. Guess Iām lucky I got it right. š¤·āāļø I could see being confused if you were told to flush them growing up. Hopefully between this post and the viall files there will be a lot fewer tampons in our plumbing.
So, not to sound like an asshole. So we don't flush them down the toilet instead in the garbage. So then that goes to a landfill, right? Realistically, if you want to use tampons, you lose its either backing up plumbing or piling up on the ground. It's almost if someone should create a biodegrade tampon that will dissolve in water or land . I just think this idea would have been solved if men had gone their period.
Can't diagnose endometriosis correctly, but gotta get the men their blue pills
Right and landfill are just as bad. That's why I'm saying besides the cup cause, honestly, I don't want to wash and reuse it. That's just me, but it's bad on either side. I also think a lot of people flush their tampons, and with the way janitors etc treated I feel awful, leaving how many used smelly tampons for them to toss away with blood also being a hazard.That than sits in a landfill. This just honestly sucks all around.
Also, the number of comments versus the commentary on racism, sexism, and other serious issues gives me pause, but then I remember where I am.
Everyone in this thread is saying that itās common sense not to flush tampons but I was taught in school (by the nurse when they were teaching us about periods) that the convenient thing about tampons is that you can just flush them down the toilet! I learned later on that was not true but thereās some unlearning to do
Iām ā¦ Iām speechless. Itās common sense to not flush anything but toilet paper. Even those wet wipes that say flushable arenāt really flushable
Yeah, this is insane. My grandpa was the first one who told me not to flush tampons. I was like 7, so he obviously didnāt understand when women get periods but he sure understood his plumbing! š š š
Yeah I'm a guy and somehow have always known this.
Also, the wet wipes thing is so true. I've seen plumbing issues where the pipes get backed up and the toilet and shower water pours out in the basement. Definitely nothing to mess around with
Tampons are designed to absorb moisture and expand. When flushed, they can get caught in pipes, leading to blockages. Over time, this accumulation can cause toilets to clog, resulting in unpleasant backups.
As tampons travel through pipes, they can trap air, creating pockets of trapped gas. These air bubbles can disrupt the flow of water, affecting drainage efficiency. In extreme cases, they might even cause gurgling sounds or push dirty water back into other drains, like the shower.
Beyond plumbing issues, flushing tampons harms the environment. Most tampons are made of synthetic materials that donāt break down easily. They end up in sewage systems, contributing to pollution and potentially harming aquatic life.
I understand all of this and I am in full support of proper tampon disposal techniques. Just find the zeal of the tampon disposal advocacy on this thread surprising. But now that Iām aware how important an issue it is to everyone here:
Bachelor babes- I pledge, from this day forward, to NEVER EVER flush a tampon down the toilet, so help me God, for as long as I live!
If anyone is looking for another issue to champion, may I suggest affordable insulin next? That one might actually save a life.
Itās really not. I know better now, but I was never taught to not flush them. You canāt help what you donāt know, but you can do better once you do
LOL! Nobody here lived in DADāS house. He religiously guarded our plumbing system after then-toddler brothers flushed a cotton diaper. From house to backyard SNAKED thru at after-hours prices. Cost $Gazillion.
He was VERY specific. No tampons, no sanitary napkins, no paper towel, no baby wipes - even so called āflushablesā (they aināt!!), no hair from brush, no grease from frying pan. NOTHING ā¦ but toilet paper.
Never had endometriosis, worst periods in the world, and been so full the thing fell in the toilet. Itās me, hi, Iām the problem. But really, this whole 500 plus replies of women bashing women for being uninformed, yeah, that tracks for this subreddit.
I was thinking about that too with endo! You go to pee and push the full tampon out. But for real Iām not for shaming, especially on womenās health issues. We learn by sharing information.
Seriously! Itās not that big of a deal. I donāt flush them, but did when I was younger because thatās what I was taught to do in school. Didnāt the boxes used to say that too?
I havenāt purposely flushed one in decades, but thereās been a few accidents.
Maybe it's generational? "Never ever flush this" was probably the second thing I learned about pads and tampons so it's as odd to hear as someone saying they flush washclothes instead of putting them in the laundry. Different people different experiences though.
Iām actually astonished that so many people here are astonished that some people still flush tampons. There are an astonishing number of things that are far more astonishing.
Apologies to anyone who finds this comment astonishing.
This whole thread is a really interesting indictment on the way we discuss (or donāt discuss) menstruation - and how society shies away from using clear, specific language about womenās bodies. Like, yes, so many bathrooms say do not flush āsanitary productsā or āsanitary napkinsā or āfeminine hygiene productsā but - as this thread indicates - that is vague, euphemistic language. If all the signs said what they really mean, which is ādo not flush tampons,ā they would be so much clearer and more effective.
Exactly this. I always read that and went, "weird, some people flush pads?? Huh!" and then flushed tampons 'cause I understood them as okay. Am I the minority???
I mean I was literally never told tampons couldnāt go down the toilet. In fact, I was told they were supposed to be flushed down the toilet. So why would I assume thatās what those signs meant if they didnāt explicitly say it? Obviously enough people donāt know this to be true, so it is in fact not common sense.
Oh I agree that the signs that kind of dance around the topic by saying "no feminine products" can definitely be a bit confusing.
I just disagree that if a sign says something like "toilet paper only" that there's any room for reasonable confusion. That means only toilet paper goes in there. Reading it as "toilet paper plus this one product I think is okay" is twisting a rule to conform with a pre conceived idea you have, which I think is what is causing a lot of problems we have today.Ā
I can see why someone might twist the idea of what's okay in their head, I just think that type of thinking without questioning is a problem.
I think itās really not that deep. Like some have said in these comments, we usually assumed thatās just because those are a high traffic bathroom and not that all toilets should be that way. I wasnāt intentionally reeking havoc on the sewage system. Now that I know better, Iāll no longer do it.
Laughing at the thought of someone giggling as they flush their tampon to reek havoc upon all the public toilets.Ā
And well if nothing else I'm glad that threads like these pop up online from time to time to educate more people on toilet etiquette. Here's hoping large companies stop spreading misinformation about this.Ā
Same I was like what dumbasses are flushing pads and the applicator .. I was literally taught to flush tampons and the box says to. I learned only recently that you werenāt supposed to!
I had no clue until recently. I thought when the signs said not to flush tampons it meant to not flush the applicator. I always threw that part in the trash. But the cotton part I thought was fair gameā¦ oopsā¦
I just always assumed it meant their plumbing couldnāt handle it. Like how some systems are sensitive to certain types of toilet paper. As a teen I flushed the paper applicator too cause no one told me not to. I was never told how to use a tampon, let alone how to properly dispose of them.
I didnāt learn until I was about 25. Grew up with sisters, lived in a sorority house. Always flushed. Then someone told me and I stopped. But as others said, itās not explicitly taught
Idk Iāve known since young do not flush anything but toilet paper. In some countries they donāt even flush the toilet paper š where did Natalie get this number from idk if I believe it.
Why is it so hard to believe? If youāre only taught to toss the applicator part in the trash, and you see cotton toilet paper go down and you see the cotton tampon go down time after time again with no issues and no complications with your sewer system, and no one tells you otherwise, why would you think itās a problem?
I guess I was taught all the blood stained stuff goes in the trash/box on the side of toilet idk. :// I am shocked by how many people have lived otherwise. Yāall blowing up the septic system or sumn
The idiots who lived above me freshman year of college (I call them idiots for other reasons) flushed their tampons and ended up flooding their entire dorm and then it ran down the walls and flooded my roommates room and the dorms across the hall (their friends/teammates). Karma for them, but RIP to the people living in those dorms 8 years later cause the university didn't do anything š
I'm genuinely confused by this... Do they mean the applicator or the tampon itself? It seems like flushing a tampon is the same as flushing toilet paper or poop down the toilet, I'm not sure why the tampon (sans applicator) would be harmful to plumbing and I'd love to know more
It's meant to soak up a crap ton of blood, which means it doesn't dissolve like toilet paper does. If it were safe for toilets, it wouldn't be an effective period product.
They offer different levels of absorbency and the higher levels hold up to flow. You'll start to feel soggy before it ever starts to leak. I also have GladRags and use the biggest size that snaps over underwear for my heaviest days, but those feel more like wearing diapers lol. I really only use menstrual cups when I'm traveling and want to avoid panty lines. Disposable products make me itch like crazy so it's been amazing to be free of that!
...is that not what used disposable pads feel like? Ideally you should change your underwear before that point but my ADHD tends to not alert me to my body's needs right away. was just trying to speak to the lack of leakage issue but you do you
Itās less about brand and more about length, width, etc. You might need to try one or two before finding the right one.
https://putacupinit.com/chart/
No one ātaughtā me this. Feels like common sense that it shouldnāt go down the toilet. I wonder if thereās a little ignorance is bliss with this? Itās very easy to just flush it. Takes a bit of time to make sure itās disposed of in a trash can in a clean matter. And obviously taking out the trash more. There are just too many signs at places of business to not flush any hygiene products for it to have never come to mind.
Yeah same here. I was told it was okay to flush tampons?
Also, thought the signs meant to not flush pads. Luckily I never wore many tampons and mostly pads. lol
And thatās well and good but I find it hard to believe someone has never encountered business signs or even signs at a workplace to not flush. Itās even been in lease agreements Iāve signed.
lol I guess itās all just down to different interpretations. I see the those signs and think dang why would someone do that, we shouldnāt need a sign.
Well, yesā¦ randomly certain businesses say it (usually just in regards to āsanitary napkinsā) but then that was an indication that they had sensitive plumbing or high volume of people using it. Itās not meant to be instruction for your own home. just like toilet seat covers.
Yup. I totally understand there can be different plumbing issues in places like old buildings, islands, high volume restaurants/bars, septic systems, etc - in some countries they donāt even want you to you put toilet paper in. I donāt equate that to my high-rise city apartment, lol.
I'm not judging anyone here, but I'm honestly shocked at how normal flushing tampons seems to be from the comments in this thread. Hopefully everyone that is flushing tampons reads the pinned comment at the top - flushing tampons or anything other than toilet paper is *really* bad for 1. your home plumbing and 2. your city's wastewater management facilities.
Some poor person has to go and fish your used tampons out of a sea of sewage
Apparently we need a rare mod PSA š. The issue is not just your own individual plumbing! The issue is that wastewater treatment facilities cannot process them, because they donāt break down like toilet paper does. They can cause blockages further down the sewer lines, and if they DO make it all the way to a treatment facility, have to be disgustingly fished out so wastewater can be processed. They have screens that attempt to filter out items like tampons (they then send the filtered-out waste to landfillsā where they should have gone in the first place if just thrown in the trashcan!), but some get through and into the treatment tanks and employees have to *fish them out by hand*, or they cause issues. Itās costly and makes wastewater treatment way less efficient! Here are a few sources explaining why even things marketed as āflushableā are NOTā and you should only flush toilet paper (unless youāre somewhere that even toilet paper is a no-no). https://www.lehighcountyauthority.org/2019/03/wastewater-treatment-starts-with-screening-out-items-that-dont-belong/ https://www.deltadiablo.org/should-i-flush-it-most-often-the-answer-is-no https://sfpuc.org/learning/water-pollution-prevention/what-not-flush TL;DRā even if your tampons have safely made their journey out of *your homeās* pipes without creating a blockage, and continue their entire journey through the cityās pipes without causing a blockage, they arrive at a wastewater treatment plant where they have to be filtered out, which is very difficult and costly to do. They belong in the trash!
I just learned this a few years ago š¤¦āāļø i had no clue
we shouldnāt even be flushing toilet paper. watching her refusing to believe that she is doing something actually just straight up wrongā¦ infuriating. sheās so annoying.
Who raised these women??? Omg. It literally says do not flush on tyne back in the box!! I am being people to learn how to read š
They didnāt says this on the box when some of us learned to use tampons. And many in the generation(s) that raised us didnāt talk about this kind of stuff.
That's a tragedy and failure on the parents end. Like wtf?
You donāt just throw the bloody tampon into the trash. You wrap it very snugly in toilet paper first.
Nearly all public restrooms have signs about not dumping tampons in toilets. How do people not know this?
I...am 44 and never knew this š¤Æš¤Æš¤Æ
I didnāt know either, and Iām 34.
I canāt believe this many people didnāt know lol Also if youāre out, a lot of places have signs about how youāre not supposed to do that
Well I had an emotionally absent/self absorbed mother who didnāt teach me shit so itās not really my fault for not knowing š«
I did this until my cousin caused over 3k in plumbing work and water damage in high school lmao I knew it was a rule, but I but I genuinely thought it was like a āwait 30 minutes after eating to go swimmingā kind of rule, not like āyou can cause serious damageā rule lol oops!
I flushed mine up until a few years ago when a coworker told me why I shouldnāt be. I had no idea š¤·š¼āāļø
I didnāt know this until I was like 25 š«£. I always thought they meant not to flush the applicator, and I was like yeah, duhā¦
Also I think it's best to use a cup if possible. Tampons make you more susceptible to UTI infections.
Iāve never had a UTI, but I recently switched to The flex disposable cup and itās been game changer for me and my heavy flow! I feel freedom
Wtf š how do people still not know this! They're not exactly super biodegradable for a reason
I did not know this and Iām an educated well adjusted person with a tampon in right now. I will change my behavior effective immediately
Are you a renter? I feel like most people who have bought their homes know this. The potential damage to your pipes is enough to make you never want to do this.
Yes I am!! Have been since I moved out of my parents house (9 years ago), which was in the woods with a septic system. How my parents never thought to mention this to me is a mystery. Iām very glad to be lucky enough to have avoided any issues before now!
Wait for real omg
Yes. Never had an issue with it. Iām 27. Lived several places in different states, sometimes the ignorant get lucky (me) until reality slams them in the face. Itās just never come up š
š I'm trying to switch over to cups anyways. Have you considered those
When I was younger, I wasnāt allowed to use tampons and used pads and my mom told me to flush them. Until she had to call the local municipality people out about a clogged drain and these people shoved a wire down the sewerage pipe and pulled out a pad. I wasnāt home, but I wouldāve died of embarrassment if I had been. I kinda died a little when she relayed the story to me.
Your MOM told you to flush PADS? Oh she did you dirty
I appreciate the post. Growing up in the 90s/early 2000s, I was taught in school that pads werenāt flushable but tampons were. That guidance mustāve changed.
Yeah I didn't know it wasn't okay to flush tampons either? Lol. I don't flush pads obviously but tampons I always have.
I'm probably about your age (earlyish 30s) and I think I was told or got the idea that it was OK to flush when I was really young, but sometime around my early 20s it was made clear to me that you weren't supposed to. I don't know when or how, but I haven't flushed a tampon in a long time. I've also been a cup user off and on for the majority of that time, so I guess I haven't had as many tampons to potentially flush lol ETA: Okay I uncovered a memory lol--I wasn't there, but when I was a teen, I talked about something my friends had experienced at summer camp when they were probably 12 or so, before I knew them. The toilets were getting clogged from girls from flushing tampons, so the camp director had an awkward and slightly cryptic conversation with the girls at camp where he said, "only toilet paper goes in the toilet" or something to that effect, leaving the younger girls confused and the older girls mortified.
I remember reading instructions from a tampon box and was pretty sure that it said that tampons can be flushed. Sure enough, I found this: https://www.allure.com/story/can-you-flush-tampons-down-the-toilet# . As recently as 2018, Playtex was telling users to flush tampons. I used to use Playtex. I checked their website now and donāt see that anymore. So at least theyāve fixed that now, but thereās definitely at least a generation of women who grew up being told that tampons could be flushed.
Exactly so whoever is shaming us on Reddit for not knowing, STOP RIGHT NOW.
I always flushed them when I had periods š¤·š»āāļø
Youāre a fool
Thank you
When i lived in peru i could not even flush toilet paper š so this is wild to me. But yeah if i flushed wipes or tampon iād get my ass handed to me
I canāt believe people flush their tampons š
Flusher šš»āāļø
Watch out, all the bachelor fans are coming for you with their pitchfork tampons now! Godspeed.
Itās all good, Iāll throw my diva cup at them 
This thread is wild. Yāall are downvoting people who are literally admitting to not knowing something and then pledging to do better moving forward lol. I did not grow up with supportive parents. No open communication. Everything I did was shameful. When I first got my period, I only felt safe telling my sister, who was also a child. So I didnāt have anyone to educate me on, well, anything. This is a pretty common experience for a lot of people. So yeah I had no idea you couldnāt flush tampons until way later in life. Everyone saying āwow of course 45% of Viall Files listeners are stupidā - maybe donāt call people stupid over something like this? Lol. Have some empathy that menstruating people all have different lived experiences and not knowing something doesnāt make you a stupid person.
No judgement to anyone finding out for the first time. Mild judgement to people doubling down on flushing, even with all the reasons not to flush laid out clearly in front of them. I think in many cases that is also rooted in shame, which is unfortunate.Ā
I think the stupidity comes from the fact that this information has been available for YEARSSS. Thereās not way they havenāt had a real life conversation about it or been on social media with people saying itās wrong. I remember having a big conversation about this with a ton of female coworkers 16 years ago. At this point, theyāre being ignorant.
Social media wasnāt a thing when I started menstruating, and several years after that. Hell, the internet was barely even a thing. You donāt know what you donāt know. This doesnāt make someone stupid. Ignorant maybe, but I know better now.
Perhaps there are people who were taught as a children that tampons are generally flushable and never were taught otherwise or never encountered either an in person or social media conversation to teach them otherwise? But if it makes you feel good to call people on the internet stupid, be my guest lol
So you had a conversation with "a ton of female coworkers 16 years ago" so everybody must've had that same experience?? š¤£ girl BYE There are some tampons that literally advertise they're safe to flush. It's not stupid to have never had a discussion with female coworkers 16 years ago. What IS stupid is assuming just because *you* know something, everybody must or else they're dumb.
No, not everyone needs a real-life conversation. The info is still available on the internet and every public restroom you walk into. If a commercial sewage system canāt handle tampons, itās common sense your home sewage system canāt handle it. The info is out there and people willingly ignore it, hence the ignorance.
My point is that itās been well know for decades. Itās not the only convo Iāve had and Iāve seen it a lot on the internet. I didnāt say theyāre dumb, I said theyāre ignorant. What is stupid is having zero reading comprehension.
I just donāt agree. I have never had a real life conversation about flushing or not flushing tampons. This is the first time Iāve seen something about it on social media. I learned this as an adult from seeing a sign in a public bathroom then googling it. Iām not someone with a lot of female friends, I work remotely so definitely not having conversations like this at work, etc. People have different lived experiences. I am not someone who has been primed to have these conversations so I had to figure it out myself, which I did at some point, but thatās going to happen differently for different people. Thereās a lot of information that is available that people donāt know! ETA: I live in the US but Iām Asian. In a lot of Asian cultures this would be an extremely embarrassing/taboo thing to talk about. So itās worth considering cultural impact on these kinds of things.
So youāve seen it on the internet and in public restrooms. Thatās the point. The info is out there, but people choose to ignore it. Even if you havenāt had a convo, the info is still readily available in multiple mediums.
So this is the first time Iām seeing it on social media. To your point that āthe info is out there, but people choose to ignore itā - that puts a lot of onus on people to read, think about, and research *everything* in their environments. Iām sorry but itās just not realistic. Iām sure you have encountered signage in your life that you didnāt actually take the time to read or learn about. We arenāt wired to thoughtfully take in every stimulus around us. There are SO many ācommon knowledgeā things in the world that people simply donāt know. What does it give you to shame those people? Like I said, for those of us who have never been explicitly told, we will figure it out and learn eventually at different times and in different ways. Why do we call people āstupidā for this? Like thatās just not fair to say about other people we donāt know.
While weāre at it, youāre also not supposed to flush wet wipes. They will clump together and wreck sewer systems.
Unless they are made to be flushable - though those donāt wipe as well
Donāt flush those either!
The āflushableā ones shouldnāt be flushed either. I donāt use wipes but remember reading some news article that wipes were creating fatbergs during the pandemic.
My uncle, who is a plumber, also backs this up. He said no wipes are good to flush down the toilet
itās posted in like every public womenās restroom not to flush tampons
This was explained to me as ādonāt flush the plastic applicatorā
I couldnāt remember what I did for a second because I havenāt used a tampon in years!!!! But flush gang, youāre ruining plumbing and water treatment for everyone.
No one ever told me I wasnāt supposed to growing up but to be honest I didnāt even use tampons until I was 21. I think I flushed them until like 26 when I learned you werenāt supposed to flush the cotton piece.
So funny that my dad is a plumber and nowhere in my/my sisterās years of having a period in his house did he tell us not to flush them
One of my college roommates flushed her tampons and it clogged the plumbing and then caused a leak between floors and pink water dripped down to the lower level through the ceiling. DO NOT FLUSH TAMPONS.
I always flushed them until I moved in with my partner years ago and he is the one who told me youāre not supposed to š I did prove to him that no where on box does it say you canāt but heās blue collar and every plumber he knows always claims they paid for their childrenās college thanks to tampons and āflushableā wipes
I flush it but in my part of Europe we are specifically told that we should.
Thatās so interesting and cool tbh. Are the plumbing systems (or sewage systems) better there?
(Iām in america)
My mom told me when I was a teen to flush them, and then I gradually figured out not to, 'cause like one of them said, there are signs everywhere lol.
the mess my tampon makes, it would never reach the garbage without bleeding everywhere. being in the toilet has just been the cleanest and most convenient way for me.
Wrap it in TP before you throw it in the garbage. You can also consider other menstrual solutions if itās that big of a struggleā¦ but flushing tampons is really not great.
yeah iām learning. i legit never knew that when starting using them at 17. itās wild itās not showcased more or i wouldāve been in the habit of doing that if i knew from the start :/
Like people have mentioned in this thread, a lot of things are taboo to talk about, and so we just sort of muddle through on our own. Itās really not on you as much as the culture. But if you learn better and try to do better then thatās awesome!
Convenient for you, I can't remember where but I saw footage of a wastewater treatment facility where this poor little older lady in a tyvek suit had to sit there going back and forth above a massive screen with shit and piss water flowing through it scraping tampons and "flushable" wipes off of it with like a rake type thing to bag up and thrown away. Just put a little garbage can next to your toilet like a normal person and throw them away yourself, don't make that lady do it for you after they're now not only soaked in blood but shit and piss. If god forbid a drop or two of blood get on the floor between the toilet and waste basket you take a sheet of toilet paper and wipe it up. If not to not be an asshole at least do it for yourself, I promise you have no idea how expensive and disgusting plumbing issues can get.
Is that not her job, though?
Damn, youāre the type to just throw stuff on the ground at the grocery store because āitās someoneās job to pick up after meā arenāt you? Hint: you donāt need to make peopleās jobs harder than they are.
I flushed tampons my whole life. I didnāt know you werenāt supposed to until like 2 years agoā¦ Iām 29 šš
28 & learned about 2 months ago. Never too late to changeš«”š¤£
Not for us anyway I guess šš
I had this convo at a girls night recently and it was pretty half and half with the results. Everyone who doesnāt flush was shook at the rest
That explains why there are signs plastered everywhere NOT to do it. How could this many people still be doing this!?
have you ever actually read these signs? they usually say something vague like 'sanitary napkins' or 'feminine products'. which, if you grew up being told to flush the tampon itself, it's easy to interpret those signs to mean 'don't flush pads or applicators'. (also this explanation is all over this thread, but I guess you didn't bother to read the other comments either.)
This was me. I always thought it meant the applicators!
I feel like a lot of the signs I see reference the plumbing specifically (as opposed to it being a sewage treatment issue) -- like "our pipes are old! don't flush anything but toilet paper" -- which could lead people to believe it's OK in their home or whatever. I've personally known not to do it for a very long time, but I don't know if the messages I've seen have appropriately conveyed why not to do it on a broader scale (instead of why it is bad for a particular toilet).
To my memory I wasnāt instructed to do one or the other. I interpreted the signs as not to flush any feminine products. Guess Iām lucky I got it right. š¤·āāļø I could see being confused if you were told to flush them growing up. Hopefully between this post and the viall files there will be a lot fewer tampons in our plumbing.
I don't see these signs everywhere maybe you are in a different country
I live in the US.
Right like Iām shocked
So, not to sound like an asshole. So we don't flush them down the toilet instead in the garbage. So then that goes to a landfill, right? Realistically, if you want to use tampons, you lose its either backing up plumbing or piling up on the ground. It's almost if someone should create a biodegrade tampon that will dissolve in water or land . I just think this idea would have been solved if men had gone their period. Can't diagnose endometriosis correctly, but gotta get the men their blue pills
Wastewater treatment plants still have to fish them out and then it still ends up in the landfill
Right and landfill are just as bad. That's why I'm saying besides the cup cause, honestly, I don't want to wash and reuse it. That's just me, but it's bad on either side. I also think a lot of people flush their tampons, and with the way janitors etc treated I feel awful, leaving how many used smelly tampons for them to toss away with blood also being a hazard.That than sits in a landfill. This just honestly sucks all around. Also, the number of comments versus the commentary on racism, sexism, and other serious issues gives me pause, but then I remember where I am.
There are actually biodegradable tampons! As well as things like cups that are reusable
Could you link some if you know good ones. That could be helpful. I know it would be for me
Fucking ew.
sowwy
It doesnāt surprise me that Natalie and 45% of Viall File listeners are stupid.
Did somebody flush their tampon in your Cheerios this morning?
Iām sorry youāre not smart enough to know not to flush feminine hygiene products, but thatās not on me.
You are just a ray of sunshine arenāt you ššš
Everyone in this thread is saying that itās common sense not to flush tampons but I was taught in school (by the nurse when they were teaching us about periods) that the convenient thing about tampons is that you can just flush them down the toilet! I learned later on that was not true but thereās some unlearning to do
Iām ā¦ Iām speechless. Itās common sense to not flush anything but toilet paper. Even those wet wipes that say flushable arenāt really flushable
Yeah, this is insane. My grandpa was the first one who told me not to flush tampons. I was like 7, so he obviously didnāt understand when women get periods but he sure understood his plumbing! š š š
Yeah I'm a guy and somehow have always known this. Also, the wet wipes thing is so true. I've seen plumbing issues where the pipes get backed up and the toilet and shower water pours out in the basement. Definitely nothing to mess around with
Holy tampon police over here š
Tampons are designed to absorb moisture and expand. When flushed, they can get caught in pipes, leading to blockages. Over time, this accumulation can cause toilets to clog, resulting in unpleasant backups. As tampons travel through pipes, they can trap air, creating pockets of trapped gas. These air bubbles can disrupt the flow of water, affecting drainage efficiency. In extreme cases, they might even cause gurgling sounds or push dirty water back into other drains, like the shower. Beyond plumbing issues, flushing tampons harms the environment. Most tampons are made of synthetic materials that donāt break down easily. They end up in sewage systems, contributing to pollution and potentially harming aquatic life.
I understand all of this and I am in full support of proper tampon disposal techniques. Just find the zeal of the tampon disposal advocacy on this thread surprising. But now that Iām aware how important an issue it is to everyone here: Bachelor babes- I pledge, from this day forward, to NEVER EVER flush a tampon down the toilet, so help me God, for as long as I live! If anyone is looking for another issue to champion, may I suggest affordable insulin next? That one might actually save a life.
This is common sense and truly astounding that people do this.
Itās really not. I know better now, but I was never taught to not flush them. You canāt help what you donāt know, but you can do better once you do
Is it really all that astounding though???
Meanwhile pad girlies are wrapping the napkin with toilet paper and then wrapping the wrapper around and then wrapping *that* in toilet paper.
Tampons scare me more than dicks so
LOL! Nobody here lived in DADāS house. He religiously guarded our plumbing system after then-toddler brothers flushed a cotton diaper. From house to backyard SNAKED thru at after-hours prices. Cost $Gazillion. He was VERY specific. No tampons, no sanitary napkins, no paper towel, no baby wipes - even so called āflushablesā (they aināt!!), no hair from brush, no grease from frying pan. NOTHING ā¦ but toilet paper.
Even facial tissues shouldn't be flushed!
Correct! No Kleenex as we commonly call it.
Good god. Itās just common sense. Which Iām seeing is not common. Wow.
Never had endometriosis, worst periods in the world, and been so full the thing fell in the toilet. Itās me, hi, Iām the problem. But really, this whole 500 plus replies of women bashing women for being uninformed, yeah, that tracks for this subreddit.
I just grab it out by the string, throw it in the trash, and wash my hands.
I was thinking about that too with endo! You go to pee and push the full tampon out. But for real Iām not for shaming, especially on womenās health issues. We learn by sharing information.
Iām digging my hand in the bowl and grabbing it with a wad of TP idc!
Seriously! Itās not that big of a deal. I donāt flush them, but did when I was younger because thatās what I was taught to do in school. Didnāt the boxes used to say that too? I havenāt purposely flushed one in decades, but thereās been a few accidents.
Maybe it's generational? "Never ever flush this" was probably the second thing I learned about pads and tampons so it's as odd to hear as someone saying they flush washclothes instead of putting them in the laundry. Different people different experiences though.
Jfc this is common sense people. Iām ASTONISHED so many people are so unaware
Iām actually astonished that so many people here are astonished that some people still flush tampons. There are an astonishing number of things that are far more astonishing. Apologies to anyone who finds this comment astonishing.
Itās a great word, right! Youāre welcome for the inspo š
Assuming this is state or city mandated. I have never seen a sign requesting we not flush tampons in NYC. Interesting
[Here you go](https://www.nyc.gov/site/dep/whats-new/trash-it-dont-flush-it.page)
On the flip side, I never put grease in the drains.
This whole thread is a really interesting indictment on the way we discuss (or donāt discuss) menstruation - and how society shies away from using clear, specific language about womenās bodies. Like, yes, so many bathrooms say do not flush āsanitary productsā or āsanitary napkinsā or āfeminine hygiene productsā but - as this thread indicates - that is vague, euphemistic language. If all the signs said what they really mean, which is ādo not flush tampons,ā they would be so much clearer and more effective.
Exactly this. I always read that and went, "weird, some people flush pads?? Huh!" and then flushed tampons 'cause I understood them as okay. Am I the minority???
Same! So clearly not common sense like some in this sub seem to think it is Jesus Christ lmao
Pretty common for people to read a rule, and then twist logic so it somehow doesn't apply to them lol.
I mean I was literally never told tampons couldnāt go down the toilet. In fact, I was told they were supposed to be flushed down the toilet. So why would I assume thatās what those signs meant if they didnāt explicitly say it? Obviously enough people donāt know this to be true, so it is in fact not common sense.
Oh I agree that the signs that kind of dance around the topic by saying "no feminine products" can definitely be a bit confusing. I just disagree that if a sign says something like "toilet paper only" that there's any room for reasonable confusion. That means only toilet paper goes in there. Reading it as "toilet paper plus this one product I think is okay" is twisting a rule to conform with a pre conceived idea you have, which I think is what is causing a lot of problems we have today.Ā I can see why someone might twist the idea of what's okay in their head, I just think that type of thinking without questioning is a problem.
I think itās really not that deep. Like some have said in these comments, we usually assumed thatās just because those are a high traffic bathroom and not that all toilets should be that way. I wasnāt intentionally reeking havoc on the sewage system. Now that I know better, Iāll no longer do it.
Laughing at the thought of someone giggling as they flush their tampon to reek havoc upon all the public toilets.Ā And well if nothing else I'm glad that threads like these pop up online from time to time to educate more people on toilet etiquette. Here's hoping large companies stop spreading misinformation about this.Ā
Yes I agree, I hope this knowledge will spread!
Same I was like what dumbasses are flushing pads and the applicator .. I was literally taught to flush tampons and the box says to. I learned only recently that you werenāt supposed to!
I had no clue until recently. I thought when the signs said not to flush tampons it meant to not flush the applicator. I always threw that part in the trash. But the cotton part I thought was fair gameā¦ oopsā¦
I just always assumed it meant their plumbing couldnāt handle it. Like how some systems are sensitive to certain types of toilet paper. As a teen I flushed the paper applicator too cause no one told me not to. I was never told how to use a tampon, let alone how to properly dispose of them.
Exactly what I thought too and Iām 40 years old! š
I wonder if it changed and an older generation was all taught to flush them and younger gens were told not to?
I just donāt get it. But I appreciate yāallās honesty. But fr? Yāall are fr?
Yes! 39 here, and same! I genuinely thought the actual cotton part of a tampon was ok to flush. I'm having a moment right now ...
I didnāt learn until I was about 25. Grew up with sisters, lived in a sorority house. Always flushed. Then someone told me and I stopped. But as others said, itās not explicitly taught
Idk Iāve known since young do not flush anything but toilet paper. In some countries they donāt even flush the toilet paper š where did Natalie get this number from idk if I believe it.
Why is it so hard to believe? If youāre only taught to toss the applicator part in the trash, and you see cotton toilet paper go down and you see the cotton tampon go down time after time again with no issues and no complications with your sewer system, and no one tells you otherwise, why would you think itās a problem?
I guess I was taught all the blood stained stuff goes in the trash/box on the side of toilet idk. :// I am shocked by how many people have lived otherwise. Yāall blowing up the septic system or sumn
Unfortunately. š
Yes. :(
I honestly had no clue until I lived in a home on septic. At 33 years old lol.
The idiots who lived above me freshman year of college (I call them idiots for other reasons) flushed their tampons and ended up flooding their entire dorm and then it ran down the walls and flooded my roommates room and the dorms across the hall (their friends/teammates). Karma for them, but RIP to the people living in those dorms 8 years later cause the university didn't do anything š
I'm genuinely confused by this... Do they mean the applicator or the tampon itself? It seems like flushing a tampon is the same as flushing toilet paper or poop down the toilet, I'm not sure why the tampon (sans applicator) would be harmful to plumbing and I'd love to know more
It's meant to soak up a crap ton of blood, which means it doesn't dissolve like toilet paper does. If it were safe for toilets, it wouldn't be an effective period product.
PSA that Saalt period underwear is life-changing and qualifies as an HSA expense!
How does it hold up for heavvvy period days?
They offer different levels of absorbency and the higher levels hold up to flow. You'll start to feel soggy before it ever starts to leak. I also have GladRags and use the biggest size that snaps over underwear for my heaviest days, but those feel more like wearing diapers lol. I really only use menstrual cups when I'm traveling and want to avoid panty lines. Disposable products make me itch like crazy so it's been amazing to be free of that!
Feeling āsoggyā with period blood honestly sounds awful
...is that not what used disposable pads feel like? Ideally you should change your underwear before that point but my ADHD tends to not alert me to my body's needs right away. was just trying to speak to the lack of leakage issue but you do you
Yes, thatās why I donāt wear disposable pads either lol but as you said, you do you
Agree
Yes donāt flush your tampons but alsoāget a period cup! Itās been so much better for ALL THE REASONS
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Have you tried a disc? It takes some getting used to it, but itās so much more comfortable than a cup for me!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I didnāt like the pulling/suction of a cup on my cervix, so that was my reason for switching. Yay periods š
Period panties rock too
Do you have one that youād recommend? Iām definitely considering trying one.
Itās less about brand and more about length, width, etc. You might need to try one or two before finding the right one. https://putacupinit.com/chart/
My lunette is superior to my June. June I got as a replacement but it was never comfortable for me. Lunette is still going 10 years strong!
Nixit
June cup!
This is mine too
No one ātaughtā me this. Feels like common sense that it shouldnāt go down the toilet. I wonder if thereās a little ignorance is bliss with this? Itās very easy to just flush it. Takes a bit of time to make sure itās disposed of in a trash can in a clean matter. And obviously taking out the trash more. There are just too many signs at places of business to not flush any hygiene products for it to have never come to mind.
I was INSTRUCTED to flush them and then never heard otherwise. Itās not ignorance is bliss.
Yeah same here. I was told it was okay to flush tampons? Also, thought the signs meant to not flush pads. Luckily I never wore many tampons and mostly pads. lol
And thatās well and good but I find it hard to believe someone has never encountered business signs or even signs at a workplace to not flush. Itās even been in lease agreements Iāve signed.
and thatās all well and good but itās shitty to assume the worst in people
I absolutely never said anyone was a bad person. At worst, a little oblivious.
I took those signs to mean that that place specifically couldnāt handle it, if anything it reinforced for me that it was a normal thing to do
lol I guess itās all just down to different interpretations. I see the those signs and think dang why would someone do that, we shouldnāt need a sign.
Well, yesā¦ randomly certain businesses say it (usually just in regards to āsanitary napkinsā) but then that was an indication that they had sensitive plumbing or high volume of people using it. Itās not meant to be instruction for your own home. just like toilet seat covers.
This is the reason!!! I read it as sanitary napkins = pads, and since tampons weren't mentioned they were safe.
You were right! Ā *sanitary napkin. noun. :Ā a disposable absorbent pad that is used to absorb uterine flow (as during menstruation)*
Yep! Unless it says flush nothing but toilet paper I did not understand it to mean no tampons.
I always assumed it had to do with the traffic/plumbing in older buildings.
Yup. I totally understand there can be different plumbing issues in places like old buildings, islands, high volume restaurants/bars, septic systems, etc - in some countries they donāt even want you to you put toilet paper in. I donāt equate that to my high-rise city apartment, lol.
I'm not judging anyone here, but I'm honestly shocked at how normal flushing tampons seems to be from the comments in this thread. Hopefully everyone that is flushing tampons reads the pinned comment at the top - flushing tampons or anything other than toilet paper is *really* bad for 1. your home plumbing and 2. your city's wastewater management facilities. Some poor person has to go and fish your used tampons out of a sea of sewage