# Dear Ladies: Dirty tampons DO NOT belong in the toilet **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 28, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905 "2009-05-28T04:31:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/81 "2009-05-29T14:35:41Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > No, chunky tomato soup. > > I think I’ll go with the cream of broccoli. Three words… Grape Jelly Clots :eek: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/82 "2009-05-29T14:51:54Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > Grape Jelly Clots :eek: That actually sounds pretty yummy. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/83 "2009-05-29T15:05:08Z")
> [@wolf-alice](#): > > And if you hold one to your ear you can hear Tori Amos! Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/84 "2009-05-29T16:49:16Z")
> [@Mr\_Buttons](#): > > I’m still here, just not sure where to chime back in. I wasn’t imagining this rant going to 2+ (probably 5+ by the end) pages. Never underestimate the popularity of toilet threads at the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/85 "2009-05-29T16:53:29Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > There are four toilets in the three-year-old office building I work in, and all four have been clogged at one time or another by TP. Not even ridiculous quantities- just one deuce’s worth. Ever have a toilet clogged by body waste? Ever have to untwist a hanger and use it to chop up the stuff so you can flush it? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/86 "2009-05-29T16:55:29Z")
> [@wolf-alice](#): > > And if you hold one to your ear you can hear Tori Amos! If you hear what sounds like the ocean, seek immediate medical help. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/87 "2009-05-30T03:38:00Z")
> [@Chopper9760](#): > > I was always taught not to flush tampons. My friend’s dad runs the local sewer district and says that they cause major problems. > > It’s not that hard to wrap them up and toss them, is it? I mean, on the off chance that the plumbing you’re using can’t handle flushable 'poons, why not err on the side of caution? For me, yes, it is. I happen to have a very heavy flow. By the time I pulled it out and tried to catch it before it hit the water…anyway, very messy. I’ve never lived or been (to my knowledge) anywhere that a tampon couldn’t be flushed. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/88 "2009-05-30T04:11:52Z")
> [@chique](#): > > The OP ain’t coming back, is he. He stayed on the same subject in the Pit and is on The" I Pit Beavers" thread. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/89 "2009-05-30T07:20:52Z")
> [@wolf-alice](#): > > And if you hold one to your ear you can hear Tori Amos! > > … In all seriousness though, I am totally Team Menstrual Cup. Back in my tampon-slinging days I might have heeded a polite sign about not flushing, but only if you’d made your lavatories functional - paper, some fragrance other than eau di latrine, a locking door, a seat and a bin would all go some way to increasing my menstrual co-operation. I never would have considered that I were doing something considered obnoxious had it not been pointed out. And enough space to maneuver. You forgot that bit. But otherwise, yeah, public restrooms can either enhance a customer’s goodwill towards a store, or totally destroy it. > [@tdn](#): > > That’s it. I am definitely off of lunch. Back when I still had a uterus, I regularly shed clots that were as wide or wider than even the largest tampon. They were also as long or longer. I had to resort to incontinence pads to catch and hold everything. Yeah, I had fibroids. This is why I had my uterus removed, along with my damned ovaries. I probably should have taken a pic of a few of my most impressive clots. They looked rather like chicken livers. ---
**Author:** ![Cattitude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Cattitude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cattitude)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/90 "2009-05-30T13:49:42Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Ever have a toilet clogged by body waste? Ever have to untwist a hanger and use it to chop up the stuff so you can flush it? Oh gawd am I dealing with this now. We just moved and this toilet does not like when anyone has had ample fiber. I don’t get it. Toilets are made to accept poo for crissakes. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/91 "2009-05-30T14:12:13Z")
[http://www.sanitarybins.com/](http://www.sanitarybins.com/) Do these not exist in the States? Remind me to schedule my trips to avoid the less fun section of my cycle! Here we have them in practically every toilet, including schools, offices, shopping malls, bars, restaurants, and public conveniences. Asking a woman to wrap her uterine lining and take it out of the stall with her is not going to meet with the approval of your patrons. Stinky disgusting open bins in the stall would lead me, for one, not to revisit your establishment. And you can add me to the list of women for whom, when my flow is heavy, wrapping it isn’t an option anyway in any realistic terms. I’ve been flushing since I started using them. Never had a problem at all, anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/92 "2009-05-30T16:17:46Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > [http://www.sanitarybins.com/](http://www.sanitarybins.com/) > > Do these not exist in the States? Remind me to schedule my trips to avoid the less fun section of my cycle! Here we have them in practically every toilet, including schools, offices, shopping malls, bars, restaurants, and public conveniences. Asking a woman to wrap her uterine lining and take it out of the stall with her is not going to meet with the approval of your patrons. Stinky disgusting open bins in the stall would lead me, for one, not to revisit your establishment. And you can add me to the list of women for whom, when my flow is heavy, wrapping it isn’t an option anyway in any realistic terms. I’ve been flushing since I started using them. Never had a problem at all, anywhere. Most places do have disposals in the stalls, but not quite like those. It’s usually just a metal trash container stuck to the side of the stall . But in general, yes, there’s some sort of disposal mechanism in stalls. The only time I’ve seen the bins in your link was at Red Lobster. Hee. It confused me for a second. And while I’m writing, I guess I could tell my embarrassing bin story. I was in elementary school and I had just started having periods, so I was even more self-conscious. I noticed through one cycle that the bin seemed to never be taken out, so I gathered my courage and went to talk to the janitor. Then a nosy teacher intercepted us, and I was trying to drop hints for her to go away because I was so embarrassed to be saying anything, but she just wouldn’t get the damn hint so I blurted out ‘canyoupleasechangethepaddisposalpleasethanks’ and ran away. Same annoying teacher wouldn’t believe my classmate when she said she had a stomachache and wanted to go home. She kept on nagging until classmate yelled out ‘I HAVE CRAMPS’ and teacher promptly shut up and let her go home. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/93 "2009-05-30T22:10:08Z")
> [@Telperien](#): > > A tampon isn’t a stopper, but then you wouldn’t know that, being a man. The first thing they teach you in spy school is, when making a hit on New Year’s Eve, time your silenced gunshot with a tampon being removed to mask the sound. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/94 "2009-05-31T04:26:21Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > Another solution: use a menstrual cup!! No waste! Many of us have been proselytizing for menstrual cups here for years, and they really are leaps and bounds better than pads and tampons - and the tampon/toilet clog thing is just another good reason to use cups. I see you could not resist the urge to evangelize. I’ve been fighting that same urge this entire thread. My menstrual cup changed my life. It’s the best thing ever (at least for me.) I hope more people get the guts to at least try it out (you get your money back if you hate it!) No leaks, no waste, nothing to buy, nothing to forget, nothing that smells, only worry about it twice a day…it’s awesome. When I was in college, our resident advisor showed us a tampon that had been in a jar of water since the 70s. Not even a little bit degraded. She warned us that the pipes would eventually flood, and any floods caused by tampons would result in a huge fine. So that made me a wrapper. I have a heavy flow and it was never really a problems, once you get used to it. I mean, if my hand got a bit dirty, I’d just wash it. Better me than some plumber. I agree a polite and amusing sign would go a long ways towards helping this problem. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/95 "2009-06-01T15:35:24Z")
> [@Cattitude](#): > > Oh gawd am I dealing with this now. We just moved and this toilet does not like when anyone has had ample fiber. I don’t get it. Toilets are made to accept poo for crissakes. I think everyone should take a test dump before they sign on the dotted line. Bad plumbing is just the WORST. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/96 "2009-06-01T17:07:52Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I think everyone should take a test dump before they sign on the dotted line. Bad plumbing is just the WORST. Good call. I do do (heh) a test flush, but not with a full load. I despise my current toilet for this issue. ---
**Author:** ![hroark2112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6a8cbe/32.png) [@hroark2112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hroark2112)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/97 "2009-06-01T21:25:38Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > The first thing they teach you in spy school is, when making a hit on New Year’s Eve, time your silenced gunshot with a tampon being removed to mask the sound. \ You owe me a new keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/98 "2009-06-01T22:54:26Z")
well, my toilet went crazy yesterday afternoon the plumber he said, don’t ever flush a tampoon ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/99 "2009-06-02T14:17:08Z")
You know, I was having a liquid lunch on Sunday afternoon, and I saw this delightful [little sign](http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e266/WryOnRye/Eli.jpg)in the bathroom. It reminded me of this place, so I decided to snap a photo. Bet it’s doing a wonderful job. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905/100 "2009-06-02T14:54:14Z")
How do they know Eli was the one flushing tampons? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-ladies-dirty-tampons-do-not-belong-in-the-toilet/497905.md?page=6)