# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/101 "2010-09-01T22:58:50Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > It strikes me that anyone who’s concerned for their plumbing should have a waste receptacle next to the toilet. What the fuck difference would that make? The person being pitted, and others like her, have explicitly said they would _not_ use a trash can, they _have_ to flush the tampon because they’re periods are just too icky and menstrual blood might get on their fingers for a few seconds before they can wash it off. Having an alternative option for disposal isn’t even an issue for them, they’d ignore it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/102 "2010-09-01T23:10:31Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > > [@DianaG](#): > > > > It strikes me that anyone who’s concerned for their plumbing should have a waste receptacle next to the toilet. > > What the fuck difference would that make? The person being pitted, and others like her, have explicitly said they would _not_ use a trash can, they _have_ to flush the tampon because they’re periods are just too icky and menstrual blood might get on their fingers for a few seconds before they can wash it off. Having an alternative option for disposal isn’t even an issue for them, they’d ignore it anyway. No, like one or two people said that. Even the subject of the pitting said she’d throw it in the trash if the establishment indicated that request. The rest of us all agreed that as long as there are sufficient places for disposal, we’ll be happy to do it. Shit, even though I was a flusher because the package said so (but admittedly rethinking that), I’d still chuck it in a can if it was there. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/103 "2010-09-02T00:24:08Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > > > One of the modern marvels of science is pads (and diapers). When I was 15, pads were fat, puffy montrosities that allowed your period to sit on top and look back at ya. Nowadays, pads are whispy slips that literally _ **suck** _ up your period through a space age ‘dry weave’ and when you go to change your pad, it is dry to the touch and appears ‘clean’ on top!! Very thin and absorbent. I don’t know how they do it. > > Witch craft. > > Ok, maybe I’m just being judgmental and making assumptions about women who, in reality, really do just have fat crotches (ain’t nothing wrong with that). I suppose I just assumed if there was a fat square on their hoot, it was a pad. I still think that, of course, but I’ll be more open minded in the future :). Nope, I use regular pads, and you cannot tell. Even the overnights (which only wear – duh, overnight – aren’t any thicker – they just cover more area) Plastic applicators? Eeeep!!! I tried those once, and they pinched like HELL. Just as an aside, I remember when I was in high school (I graduated in '96), our school nurse stocked the dispensors with the REALLY old-fashioned kind of pads. You know, the ones with the safety pins and needed a “belt” to use them? I found that out the hardway my first week there. Stupid nurse. :rolleyes: ---
**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 2, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/104 "2010-09-02T00:30:29Z")
Plastic applicators pinch you? What exactly are they pinching? I think I’ve only use cardboard applicators once and I don’t remember how it was. But you’d think plastic would slide in much more easily than cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/105 "2010-09-02T00:32:54Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Plastic applicators pinch you? What exactly are they pinching? I think I’ve only use cardboard applicators once and I don’t remember how it was. But you’d think plastic would slide in much more easily than cardboard. Well I haven’t used tampons in years, so maybe I wasn’t using them right. But obviously, they pinched my vaginal region. I was just a teenager when I tried to use those ones. Ever after if I used a tampon, it was a cardboard applicator. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/106 "2010-09-02T00:50:45Z")
I prefer the cardboard because of the shape of the tampon itself - the ones that “flower open” usually make me feel like maybe they opened too much when I take them out. I actually wear the ultra long, night time pads during the day. I get so paranoid about leaks that they rarely get more than a spot, but they make me feel safe. Wow - we have 3 and 4 page threads about douching and tampons! Go Doper Girls! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/107 "2010-09-02T02:22:40Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > > Plastic applicators pinch you? What exactly are they pinching? I think I’ve only use cardboard applicators once and I don’t remember how it was. But you’d think plastic would slide in much more easily than cardboard. > > Well I haven’t used tampons in years, so maybe I wasn’t using them right. But obviously, they pinched my vaginal region. I was just a teenager when I tried to use those ones. Ever after if I used a tampon, it was a cardboard applicator. No, I’ve had that too - it’s the little slits at the top. I prefer cardboard for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/108 "2010-09-02T03:35:43Z")
Man, your aim must suck. 😛 I flushed 'em in high school because my best friend pointed out to me where it said you totally could, but Mom set me straight. For a while I just didn’t flush them at home, but nowadays I mostly just pull, wrap, throw away. It’s just that you have to be aware. Dudes don’t memorize their workplace bathrooms so that they know which stall’s garbage can got knocked off and never replaced, which bathroom is ALWAYS ALWAYS out of toilet paper, which is closest to the sink for rapid embarrassed handwashing. Men don’t understand waiting until the rest of the bathroom is empty so you can wash off the hands that look like you were gutting chickens. To this day I believe that women who faint at the sight of blood are damn well faking it. You’d get concussions every month. Pads: it kind of depends. On really heavy days, tampons make me cramp unbelievably, but blood gets EVERYWHERE. Even wearing the wonderful long pads with wings, if it’s a really bad day. So: supplemented with a tampon changed every three hours, give or take, unless I want to be preoccupied with my coochie all day long. ---
**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 2, 2010, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/109 "2010-09-02T05:53:52Z")
> [@torie](#): > > I have no frame of reference for how heavy my period is compared to others, but I think mine is pretty hardcore and I do ok with a pad. Granted, I’m changing it every 3 hours on the first couple of days, but they work ok for me. A pad that you change every three hours isn’t that heavy, compared to some of the women here, who do shit like one to two of the heaviest tampons backed up with one of the heaviest/longest pads and \*still \*change that shit _every hour_. (It usually comes up in discussions about things like hysterectomies and endometrial ablation.) > [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > The person being pitted, and others like her, have explicitly said they would _not_ use a trash can Are you retarded, or just illiterate? Here’s a whole string of quotes for you: > [@To flush or not to flush... your tampons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/62): > > If you have a septic tank and/or pipes that can’t handle them, it’s \*your job \*to warn me, at which point I’ll politely dispose of them in whatever way you request (by default, wrapped in toilet paper and deposited in the trash). > [@To flush or not to flush... your tampons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/66): > > In an emergency situation, I treat them like tampons–if I’m asked to dispose of those in a wastebin, I do the same with anything else that isn’t toilet paper or bodily wastes. > [@To flush or not to flush... your tampons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/75): > > Anybody who doesn’t want me to flush my tampon menstrual waste had damn well better request it. > [@To flush or not to flush... your tampons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/81): > > I said that because they don’t break down like toilet paper, _they should be treated like tampons_–i.e., pitched in the garbage if there’s a notice not to flush anything other than bodily wastes and TP, or flushed if there isn’t one. […] If a sewer system can’t handle anything but bodily wastes and TP, they need to make that clear _for that system_. Otherwise, I’m flushing reasonable things like tampons, small amounts of tissue or paper towels in an emergency, etc. > [@To flush or not to flush... your tampons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/84): > > And, like I’ve said repeatedly, I have no problem disposing of my tampons in the trash _if you explicitly tell me it’s a problem for that area_. > [@To flush or not to flush... your tampons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/116): > > Anyone who continues to flush tampons in a bathroom where (a) they’ve been told, either personally or through signage, that the toilet/plumbing/septic tank can’t handle tampons and (b) there is a receptacle provided to dispose of them in is being very rude. And here’s another highly relevant one you probably missed: > [@To flush or not to flush... your tampons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/132): > > You know what I just did? I called the [Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District](http://v3.mmsd.com/ContactUs.aspx). I was connected to a very nice man there named Bill Graffin (414-225-2077 is his direct dial, he tells me) who was kind enough to speak with me for a few minutes and answer my questions. I told him that I was having a debate with someone as to whether or not “flushable” tampons are actually flushable, or whether they will cause clogs or damage the system in some way. His response–and I quote–was that they are “not an issue.” **Not. An. Issue.** For the local systems, he said, maybe, and in the laterals, but \*our \*sewers are bigger and deeper and they cause no problems there. > > So I’m going to go \*right on ahead \*gleefully flushing my tampons at any location that doesn’t make the minimal amount of effort necessary to inform me if \*their \*toilets and/or connection to the main lines (laterals) can’t handle tampons. That’s right, bitch. You just got fucking _owned_. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/110 "2010-09-02T13:20:14Z")
Oh. **Little Plastic Ninja** is a _girl_ ninja. Right! Anyway: > [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > To this day I believe that women who faint at the sight of blood are damn well faking it. You’d get concussions every month. Not true. There is an incredibly vast difference in the type and flow of blood. Blood coming from my vagina - whatever. Last month I chopped a chunk off my thumb with the motherfucking food processor blade - I had just gotten the damn thing, and was washing the blade after my first use, and seriously, it just touched my thumb and a small chunk was lopped off. It bled and bled and bled and I admit feeling a little light-headed seeing all of that blood pouring out of me. There wasn’t even an opening to the wound, just a piece of skin, missing. It’s the essential difference between period=normal and blood gushing from open wound=not normal, something’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/111 "2010-09-02T17:57:30Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > > [@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. Hmm. Well, under the circumstances, I guess there’s only one thing I can say to that. I apologize, **Electric Warrior**. While I did have my tongue in my cheek when I wrote that post, I was also aware of the possibility that the post would come across as insensitive and loutish. And I went ahead and posted it anyway. It turns out that I did come across as insensitive and loutish, and I sincerely regret that. Please let this be the end of the matter between you and me. I will endeavor to exercise more restraint in the future. ---
**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 2, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/112 "2010-09-02T18:04:21Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I apologize, **Electric Warrior**. While I did have my tongue in my cheek when I wrote that post, I was also aware of the possibility that the post would come across as insensitive and loutish. And I went ahead and posted it anyway. It turns out that I did come across as insensitive and loutish, and I sincerely regret that. > > Please let this be the end of the matter between you and me. I will endeavor to exercise more restraint in the future. Man, I’ve always been a sucker for a well-worded, classy-ass apology. I mean, you said nothing to offend me, but that apology was butter smooth. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/113 "2010-09-02T18:08:19Z")
I appreciate your kind words, **Nzinga, Seated**. 🙂 ---
**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 2, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/114 "2010-09-02T18:58:47Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > While I did have my tongue in my cheek when I wrote that post, I was also aware of the possibility that the post would come across as insensitive and loutish. And I went ahead and posted it anyway. It turns out that I did come across as insensitive and loutish, and I sincerely regret that. _Seriously?_ Get the hell out of my Pit. Joking. … _Maybe_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/115 "2010-09-03T04:44:10Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > And now, after reading this thread, I find myself wanting to crouch in a corner, like Barbra Streisand in _Nuts_. I had the same reaction after I clicked on the ugly grandma pants link. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/116 "2010-09-03T05:47:23Z")
> [@bathsheba](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > And now, after reading this thread, I find myself wanting to crouch in a corner, like Barbra Streisand in _Nuts_. > > I had the same reaction after I clicked on the ugly grandma pants link. I _wear_ ugly grandma pants, and I thought those were hideous. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/117 "2010-09-04T17:33:06Z")
Maybe this belongs in the “which things are better in Europe” thread, but I just checked and the leaflet that came with my OB tampons (normal, without applicator) states: “Please dispose used tampons with household waste and do not flush”. I cannot remember any public establishment in Europe being with a bin, unless perhaps the loo at a nightclub or festival at 3 a.m. I can manage some kind of understanding for the flushers if there’s no bin, though I personally still wouldn’t flush. However, if there _is_ a bin but you’re so worried about your own bodily fluids that you can’t even manage to get a tampon from your vagina into a nearby bin, honestly, that’s a bit ridiculous. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/118 "2010-09-04T19:46:40Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > Maybe this belongs in the “which things are better in Europe” thread, but I just checked and the leaflet that came with my OB tampons (normal, without applicator) states: > > “Please dispose used tampons with household waste and do not flush”. > > I cannot remember any public establishment in Europe being with a bin, unless perhaps the loo at a nightclub or festival at 3 a.m. > > I can manage some kind of understanding for the flushers if there’s no bin, though I personally still wouldn’t flush. However, if there _is_ a bin but you’re so worried about your own bodily fluids that you can’t even manage to get a tampon from your vagina into a nearby bin, honestly, that’s a bit ridiculous. Have you seen what comes out of me? THAT’s ridiculous. There is no way for me to make it from A to B without creating a complete mess! Not even kidding. I can’t be the only one, can I? Picture trying to carry a wet t-bag across the kitchen…and then multiply it by…well, a LOT! Oh, and don’t wring it out, first. Then imagine the consistency/tenacity of blot and clots. I could try to make it to that little bin, but it would not be pretty; and toilet paper is not sufficient to clean up the mess I’d make. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/119 "2010-09-04T19:58:11Z")
But say, as it does in Europe, that it said Do Not Flush on the packaging. And suppose that, since it says that, it does clog up the pipes. Would you still refuse to put it in a bin which is _inside the cubicle_?\* And pipes be damned? \*I’ve realised my post was slightly badly phrased. Ridiculousness only applies in the scenario where bin is inside the cubicle, no walking required. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180/120 "2010-09-05T01:21:05Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > Maybe this belongs in the “which things are better in Europe” thread, but I just checked and the leaflet that came with my OB tampons (normal, without applicator) states: > > “Please dispose used tampons with household waste and do not flush”. > > I cannot remember any public establishment in Europe being with a bin, unless perhaps the loo at a nightclub or festival at 3 a.m. The thing is, I’ve lived in the US for over 45 years now and I’m having trouble recalling being in a public toilet _without_ a bin of some sort. Aside from remote rural airstrips and the few occasions I’ve been forced to use _men’s_ toilets I can’t recall that happening. Sometimes the bin is placed so as to be out of direct view when one is seated, but searching around usually reveals the location. The one occasion I can distinctly remember no bin was in a squat toilet _in Europe_. Fortunately, I was not riding the rag at the time. I don’t know where these places are that don’t have bins in the stalls. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-flush-tampons-you-moron/552180.md?page=7)