# Don't flush tampons you moron! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 31, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180 "2010-08-31T20:52:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/41 "2010-09-01T14:09:23Z")
I just skimmed the thread, so I apologize if I overlooked someone’s post, but in fact the person who suggested that pads were better for women with heavy periods than tampons is _wrong_ - before I started using tampons, leaking through pads was a regular occurrence. Well, not leaking through them so much as leaking in the front or back - yes, even with the extra long size. Since I discovered tampons and started wearing them in combination with pads I’ve never had that issue. I don’t flush them though. Used to, too, because as mentioned earlier it said they were flush-able on the package. But after our plumber cited tampons in the pipes as the reason for the fact that our toilets kept stopping up and flooding the house, I stopped. If the folks who posted in this thread don’t want to have to replace their flooring or get their ceilings repaired, I suggest they follow my lead. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly sophisticated adult, able to deal with the fact that human animals have bodily functions, and that the casual discussion of those functions is not a big deal. > > And now, after reading this thread, I find myself wanting to crouch in a corner, like Barbra Streisand in _Nuts_. I’d like to thank you all for the reality check. > > Admins, can we have a Pit forum for girly-bits related subjects, please? Pretty please? Also, WOW, thanks for making me feel like my completely normal bodily functions are disgusting. You win a gold star today. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/42 "2010-09-01T14:12:29Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > So, what you’re saying is that to protect your delicate sensibilities, or avoid getting blood on your hands, or whatever the issue is, you refuse to dispose of your tampons in a manner that won’t involve some other human being having to unclog the plumbing. You’d force another human being to deal with raw sewage and your bloody tampon stuck down a pipe rather than wrap it up and ask where the garbage can is? Yes. And I make no excuses for not being totally 100% comfortable with period blood. It is the way of things. It’s simple. Put a garbage bin in the bathroom, if you are worried. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/43 "2010-09-01T14:14:34Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > So, what you’re saying is that to protect your delicate sensibilities, or avoid getting blood on your hands, or whatever the issue is, you refuse to dispose of your tampons in a manner that won’t involve some other human being having to unclog the plumbing. You’d force another human being to deal with raw sewage and your bloody tampon stuck down a pipe rather than wrap it up and ask where the garbage can is? > > I am completely baffled by that attitude. It strikes me as completely and totally self-centered and selfish. > > Won’t someone think of the plumbers? If we all stopped flushing tampons and condoms and kittens, wouldn’t that take away a big chunk of their business? Why do you hate plumbers? 😉 As someone said above, as long as I can help it, I try not to change my tampon in a strange place. And, some people may have issues with it, but in my whole tampon-wearing life, in every house and apartment I’ve lived in, we’ve never had to call a plumber for tampon clogs. The only plumber we ever had to call was to find out there was an old weeping willow root system that took out the toilet in my childhood house, and the only plunging we’ve had to do was for the kids, when they’ve used too much TP. I’m not some delicate flower - I’ve installed toilets myself. But, based on years and years of tampon flushing, I’ve not had a problem. Among my friends and loved ones, I don’t know of any raging plumbing clog problems. Maybe you’re used to shitty (ha!) plumbing, but I’ve been lucky enough not to have to deal with it. That makes it very hard to see the value in carrying plastic bags and moist towelettes, in addition to several extra tampons and pads, and going through some complicated process when I can flush them. I am always aware of the possibility of septic homes, and when I don’t feel comfortable enough to ask, I just don’t change anything. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/44 "2010-09-01T14:16:17Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > He needs a cite to prove that flushing tampons are bad? Are you kidding me? C’mon, **Guns** , even if you put on a show here, please stop flushing them. For the sake of people like my friends who have to unclog the toilets afterwards. ☹ If their system has a problem with tampons being flushed, _they need to make that clear_. I’ve said \*repeatedly \*that I don’t mind throwing them away _when it’s explicitly stated that the system can’t handle them_. Otherwise, if they’re too lazy to make a sign, I have no problem also taking the easy route and flushing my tampons instead of pitching them. If you’ve gotten the impression that I refuse to do anything \*but \*flush mine, that’s because \*\*gaffa \*\*is a fucking tard. > [@asterion](#): > > Wouldn’t it just be easier to switch to pads if your periods are that heavy? No. > [@johnpost](#): > > it seems like your sewerage district is too busy with street flooding and raw sewerage discharges that they didn’t get around to writing about tampons. The major problem right now is that the same big-ass tubes (technical term) handle raw sewage and runoff water, so when we get a big storm, everything overflows. Redesigning the system would be very expensive, so they’re dragging their heels over it. > [@gaffa](#): > > Have you considered the zip-lock bag mentioned previously? Treat it like dog shit [snip] Seems easy enough. You still haven’t answered whether you drop your epic shits in the garbage. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Clothes that fit - as opposed to being too small and fitting too tight - will not show a bulge when you’re wearing a pad. Translation: I wear ugly grandma pants, and so should you, you filthy harlot. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It says you can flush them on the box. Pit the manufacturers. QFT. > [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > You know what else is sold saying it’s flushable? These little toilet cleaner things. There is a plastic holder, you attach the allegedly flushable cleaning thing–which, in fairness, looks like a bunch of toilet paper glued together, with blue cleaning stuff on it–then you swish it around the bowl, then you release it and flush! > > And then, 10 days later, your plumbing clogs up. And when the plumber comes and snakes it out, you get accused of throwing feminine products in the toilet. Mine \*doesn’t \*say it’s flushable. Mine \*explicitly \*says that I should deposit it _in the garbage_. And the first time I used it and made the mistake of thinking I could flush it, my backing-up toilet quickly demonstrated that I was wrong (and caused me to look at the box and verify that yes, I just hadn’t actually bothered to read the instructions). You know what’s never caused my toilet to back up? Tampons. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/45 "2010-09-01T14:31:47Z")
As others have noted, I have always flushed tampons, because that’s what the box says you can do. One of the advantages of Tampax over Playtex was that the Playtex applicator wasn’t flushable. Now, if a particular bathroom has a sign saying not to flush feminine hygiene products, I always figured that they had noted an inability of that specific building’s plumbing to cope, and would wrap and trash. But it honestly hadn’t occurred to me until reading this thread that you shouldn’t flush in general. I also use the flushable toilet cleaning brushes. The whole point is that they’re flushable - it says so on the package! I’ve never had a problem with them. From now on, I’ll wrap & toss in any situation I suppose. But don’t blame everyone who flushes - it’s just following the instructions! ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/46 "2010-09-01T14:33:43Z")
My best friend often worries that her pad is showing through. I can never see any such thing, but she is certain so she switched to tampons. Made her feel better. I can’t imagine my pad is showing at all, and my pants are definitely always too tight. But, then again, I have ‘fat crotch’, so the pad doesn’t really matter. The people I know with heavier periods swear by a tampon, but for me, whose periods are light, a pad is fine. Change it often and there isn’t any odor (that I have noticed…yikes!) I agree with the poster that says that if the packaging says they are flushable, then you really should be pitting the company, gaffa. But this post is really to congratulate Guns on her first pitting! I haven’t had an official one yet, but, oh, I’ve got lots of threads and posts that I consider just as good, including being called a cunt on this board which is famous for banning that word. So yeah. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/47 "2010-09-01T14:39:01Z")
I can’t believe this is Guns’ first posting. Hell, I got pitted for a throwaway comment in an IMHO thread, and Guns is way snarkier than I am. 😉 If a woman sits right or you are sitting close to her, it is possible to tell if she is wearing a pad. Cross-legged on the floor? Absolutely, and it doesn’t have to be tight pants. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/48 "2010-09-01T14:41:37Z")
It just seems weird that **Shot** is so insistent on flushing unless told otherwise when it seems most logical that NOT flushing should be default. It takes so little effort not to flush them that I’m really not getting why anyone would. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/49 "2010-09-01T14:44:28Z")
Because there isn’t always a waste receptacle nearby (by which I mean within reach of the toilet). If there is, I use it. If there isn’t, I’m flushing. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/50 "2010-09-01T14:45:34Z")
If there’s one in the bathroom but not in the stall, you wouldn’t just take it out and throw it out? I mean, you have to throw the applicator out anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/51 "2010-09-01T14:52:01Z")
It IS different to wrap an applicator and bring it out of the stall then it is to wrap a tampon and bring it out of the stall. Seriously. Put a garbage can in the stall/bathroom. That’s all I ask. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/52 "2010-09-01T14:53:02Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I can’t believe this is Guns’ first posting. Hell, I got pitted for a throwaway comment in an IMHO thread, and Guns is way snarkier than I am. 😉 Guns serves up more snark before breakfast than you have in your entire life. I can’t imagine why you would be pitted, but congrats! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/53 "2010-09-01T14:54:35Z")
How is it different? I use tampons and I don’t really see a difference. Usually I just put the applicator in the wrapper of the new tampon and toss it out if there’s no bin in the stall. I’ve heard women go on about how it’s so messy and hard to wrap up a tampon but I’ve wrapped up saturated tampons, and it’s really not rocket science. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/54 "2010-09-01T15:00:24Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > One of the advantages of Tampax over Playtex was that the Playtex applicator wasn’t flushable. Tampax \*applicators \*are flushable? :dubious: Now \*those \*I’ll pitch–even the cardboard ones. 'Cause to me, there’s a huge difference between “blob of cotton” and “solid tube.” > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > But this post is really to congratulate Guns on her first pitting! Thank you, thank you! Bows all around. > [@Anaamika](#): > > I can’t believe this is Guns’ first posting. Right?! > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > It just seems weird that **Shot** is so insistent on flushing unless told otherwise when it seems most logical that NOT flushing should be default. It takes so little effort not to flush them that I’m really not getting why anyone would. Flushing is the most clean, hygenic, and efficient option. Throwing away the tampon means (a) wasting a bunch of toilet paper to wrap it up and (b) disposing of bodily waste fluids in a receptacle where they’re probably going to sit for at least a few hours, if not days. And that’s if there’s a can–which \*usually \*there is, but not always. When I think of someone throwing away a tampon, I think of Phil Hartman’s anal-retentive chef sketch from SNL. It’s a waste of time when it’s not necessary. Which, as far as I’m concerned, it’s _not_, unless you take \*five fucking seconds \*(or less than that, if you average out the time it takes to make a sign across the total number of women who will read it) to tell me that your system can’t handle tampons. > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Guns serves up more snark before breakfast than you have in your entire life. Man, if I were the signature-having type… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/55 "2010-09-01T15:03:45Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > > [@Anaamika](#): > > > > I can’t believe this is Guns’ first posting. Hell, I got pitted for a throwaway comment in an IMHO thread, and Guns is way snarkier than I am. 😉 > > Guns serves up more snark before breakfast than you have in your entire life. I can’t imagine why you would be pitted, but congrats! I try not to be snarky on this website. 🙂 Really, I try to limit my snarkiness in general - it just isn’t my way. I was pitted for saying “organized religion is worse than organized crime”, in an IMO thread. And I didn’t see it for like three days - so by then the Pitting was just about over. As for the flushing, whatever. I am simply not going to carry my bloody tampon out of the stall/bathroom. You can rant and rave and complain all you want. I am just not going to do it. I try and be a good human being and work with the Earth and all that but I certainly do have my limits, and you’ve come upon one of them…you want me not to flush? Make sure I have a garbage right there. Also, make sure it’s not overflowing. Luckily most of the time there are those metal bins stuck to the walls right inside the stall. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/56 "2010-09-01T15:08:43Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Look, if your jeans [don’t fit like this](http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/NationalWholesale/9854_main?$Product$), you are clearly a skank-ass ho who paints her jeans on, ok? You, ma’am, are hilarious. > [@Anaamika](#): > > I can’t believe this is Guns’ first posting. Hell, I got pitted for a throwaway comment in an IMHO thread, and Guns is way snarkier than I am. 😉 That’s 'cause bitches was _scared_! And they should have been. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/57 "2010-09-01T15:12:08Z")
Yay, \*\*MOL \*\*is here! If I ever win a Pulitzer, I’m hoping this is what the award ceremony will be like. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/58 "2010-09-01T15:26:35Z")
Man, I was all excited when I heard **Guns** had her first pitting. Then I discovered it was the thread whose title I’d been studiously avoiding the past several days. You suck, **gaffa**. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/59 "2010-09-01T15:32:51Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > How is it different? I use tampons and I don’t really see a difference. Usually I just put the applicator in the wrapper of the new tampon and toss it out if there’s no bin in the stall. I’ve heard women go on about how it’s so messy and hard to wrap up a tampon but I’ve wrapped up saturated tampons, and it’s really not rocket science. I use Tampax, with a cardboard applicator, which gets flushed along with the tampon. It’s thin-ish cardboard, and starts getting mushy the minute you get it wet. What about women who use OB? Nothing there to throw away at all. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/60 "2010-09-01T15:35:07Z")
OK, but for women who do have a plastic applicator, I don’t see the big difference. When they’re all wrapped up in tiny bundles, there’s no difference. If anything, the tampon looks smaller when it’s wrapped than the hard plastic applicator. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180.md?page=4)