# To flush or not to flush... your tampons **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915 "2010-08-29T20:54:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [August 30, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/41 "2010-08-30T15:01:58Z")
Why do I click on threads like this? Why? ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/42 "2010-08-30T15:17:17Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Why do I click on threads like this? Why? Because you are flushed with excitement! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/43 "2010-08-30T15:44:36Z")
I WISH I only had to open a septic tank cover. Our only access, until the plumber installed an outside cleanout last week (which I hope I never have to try out) was by opening the sewage pipe in the basement with several buckets lined up to catch the sewage that gushes out after the toilet backs up, which you don’t find out about until things have backed up for hours or days because the liquid waste is usually able to filter through the tampon blockage for quite some time before the solids back up far enough to cause spewing out of the pipe fittings. My plumber has a lakefront house. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/44 "2010-08-30T16:43:40Z")
I really, really do not understand. First, I have been flushing tampons for 25 years and have never clogged a toilet. So I’m pretty :dubious: about these clogged toilet stories. That _includes_ the four years I lived in my grandfather’s 150 year-old farm house. I’ve been flushing tampons in my 65 year old house for the last seven years, not one clogged toilet. Not once. For one thing, the damn boxes clearly say: You can flush tampons. For another thing, if my poop manages to clear the chute and never clogs up, and a wad of toilet paper can clear the chute and not clog up… how is a tiny little tampon supposed to be a clogging item? It’s much smaller than my poop. Is this only applicable to people on septic tank systems? What if you have city plumbing and no well/septic tank? ---
**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:** [August 30, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/45 "2010-08-30T16:50:13Z")
Tampons are built to be super absorbent, anyway. Where on the box does it say flushable? Mine says nothing either way. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/46 "2010-08-30T16:54:00Z")
From my Playtex instructions: 6: Removal: Relax your muscles. Try getting into the position you used during insertion. Gently pull down on the strings. The tampon should slide out easily. Flush the used tampon or place in an appropriate waste container. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/47 "2010-08-30T16:59:42Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > For one thing, the damn boxes clearly say: You can flush tampons. Actually, as has been pointed out multiple times, not all tampon boxes say that. While the ones that state “flushable” _might_ be OK with any given plumbing system, the ones that remain silent on the subject might not be flushable at all. > [@](#): > > For another thing, if my poop manages to clear the chute and never clogs up, and a wad of toilet paper can clear the chute and not clog up… how is a tiny little tampon supposed to be a clogging item? It’s much smaller than my poop. Poop tends to break up easily - tampons made of artificial fibers not so much. Poop caught in the pipes will be worn away by water fairly quickly - tampons made of artificial fibers not so much. And finally, poop is extruded into its final size, and due to breaking up/wearing away only get smaller. Tampons, however, are designed to EXPAND and thus they get bigger. Thus, even monster poops can clear the plumbing, but tampons may not. > [@](#): > > Is this only applicable to people on septic tank systems? What if you have city plumbing and no well/septic tank? Not all city systems can handle tampons either - old plumbing in a city house could have a problem with it, especially cast iron pipes with rough interiors or pipes with decades of mineral deposits or other gunge put down the pipes (I helped snake out one house that had a HUGE problem generated by grease and coffee grounds.) ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/48 "2010-08-30T17:00:49Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I own a house that is nearly 50 years old. Until I replaced all of the old galvanized drainage plumbing with plastic a few months ago, you would have caused me a serious problem if you got tampons in my plumbing. You really want to avoid it in an older house. 50 years is now considered an “older house?” I mean, my house if 50 years old and while it’s not “new,” I wouldn’t consider it “old.” 100 years old, yes, that’s an old house. But in the grand scheme of housing, it’s not that old. Prior to reading this, I always flushed. Every roommate I’ve had as an adult was male, and I always figured that it would be uber gross for them to see it in the trash. Plus, I grew up flushing them. But now, especially because I have an “old” house at 50, I’m re-thinking it. I don’t flush pads, obviously, so I guess if I wrap up the tampons like I wrap up the pads, I guess it won’t be as squicky for my husband and brother. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/49 "2010-08-30T17:04:41Z")
Wouldn’t wrapping them up be the obvious choice? Are those of you thinking it’s gross to toss them out picturing bloody things in the trash? I’d never not wrap. Even in my house. No one wants to look and see blood. It just looks like TP in the trash. As pleasant as can be without little bows on them! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/50 "2010-08-30T17:09:58Z")
It’ll affect people with a septic tank more than those on city plumbing due to the fact that they don’t degrade. Eventually they’ll build up, requiring the tank to need pumping out that much sooner. They can also get into the leech field pipes, clogging those up, which results in ponding. (Ponding is where sewage water from a septic system gathers in one spot in the ground soil in such quantities that evaporation, plant absorption, and soil absorption can’t handle it all.) Many city pipes are over 50 years old, and made of cast iron. One city up north somewhere, I forget which at the moment, has sewage pipes so old they’re made out of hollowed out trees. At this point they have corroded, cracked, and even have roots growing in them. Tampons can catch on rust, cracks, and roots. When one catches, it makes it more likely that others will, eventually leading to clogs, and in worst case scenarios, broken sewage pipes. As for your poop fitting, poop is soft, squishy, and breaks down quickly, provided it doesn’t dry out first. The water and swirling action in a flush toilet helps a lot to break it down as it goes down the pipe. Same for toilet paper, though to much of that can clog a pipe too. Tampons won’t always clog a pipe or toilet, but when they do it can get expensive, requiring anything from a simple snaking, to the use of a backhoe and replacing a section of pipe. Much easier just to toss em and not risk it. As for what the box says, they can put anything on the box they want. It’s not like they’ll pay a plumber if one does clog a pipe, now will they? ---
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/51 "2010-08-30T17:21:28Z")
Growing up with a well/septic system, and now living with the same system, there is NO flushing of tampons, pads, etc. My daughters are taught to wrap them up well and dispose of them neatly (close the bathroom door, too, becuase that darn beagle pup is nosy). My aunt used to live in a rickety old house, and we weren’t allowed to even flush toilet paper at her house. (Talk about nasty smells…) ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/52 "2010-08-30T17:28:58Z")
Oh dear, definitely wrap them in some toilet paper before plunking them in the trash. And if your hands get a little blood on them…well, my hands probably already have blood on them, which is why I make a habit of, you know, washing them. The process of having the plumber come and de-clog the drains due to the tampon-flushing habits of a previous inhabitant is painful enough that I really only have to live through it once. Also, gross. About nine hundred times grosser than just wrapping them and pitching them once a day. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/53 "2010-08-30T17:32:52Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I really, really do not understand. > > First, I have been flushing tampons for 25 years and have never clogged a toilet. So I’m pretty :dubious: about these clogged toilet stories. That _includes_ the four years I lived in my grandfather’s 150 year-old farm house. I’ve been flushing tampons in my 65 year old house for the last seven years, not one clogged toilet. Not once. > > For one thing, the damn boxes clearly say: You can flush tampons. > > For another thing, if my poop manages to clear the chute and never clogs up, and a wad of toilet paper can clear the chute and not clog up… how is a tiny little tampon supposed to be a clogging item? It’s much smaller than my poop. > > Is this only applicable to people on septic tank systems? What if you have city plumbing and no well/septic tank? Where do you think they go? Just because you can flush it doesn’t mean that it disappears into the ether. At some point in the sanitation process, they have to be disposed of. They simply do not degrade. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/54 "2010-08-30T17:55:42Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I really, really do not understand. Maybe you can take a tampon and drop it in a glass full of water and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/55 "2010-08-30T18:31:06Z")
If I’m in a public restroom it gets flushed. But at a private residence, I never flush. I wrap them in paper towels and toss 'em in a ziploc baggie. I’ll even bring supplies with me and “pack out” if I visit someone’s home to throw away at my house because I would feel wrong throwing something like that out in someone else’s trash. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/56 "2010-08-30T18:46:11Z")
Male here. I would have never thought to flush a tampon. I thought only toilet paper gets flushed. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/57 "2010-08-30T19:05:58Z")
My brother is a Master Plumber and flushed tampons bought his home. And he still does not want you to flush the damn things. I’ve worked with him cutting out old cast iron sewage lines, and you would not believe how rough the interior of one of those pipes is. It is amazing that anything gets through them at all. If the smell is such a huge issue, keep a box of cheap zip-lock sandwich bags in the bathroom and put each used tampon in one. I live in a basement apartment much of the time, and cannot store my garbage outside due to opossums and my neighbor’s cat. So I have to keep all the garbage inside until garbage day. So all soft organic matter goes down the disposal, food wrappers and containers get rinsed before going in the garbage or recycling and hard organic matter like chicken bones get put in zip-lock bags. Tampons are far more absorbent then they need to be to do the job then need to do. A Dutch engineer won an award for devising a quick temporary fix for leaks in dikes - he used tampons. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/58 "2010-08-30T19:13:44Z")
260 year old house with a septic tank so no flushing at the **Surly** household. I also inform any female guests of the rule. Yeah, they’re nasty in the trash but I wrap them well, the can has a lid and I empty frequently during that week. As an aside, I bought a jumbo package of cheap, generic panty liners that turned out to be useless, so lately I’ve been using them as wrapping material, which helps prevent leakage/smell. They work so well that I’m debating on whether to buy another package when this one is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/59 "2010-08-30T19:24:19Z")
> [@Mauvaise](#): > > If I’m in a public restroom it gets flushed. But at a private residence, I never flush. I’m afraid this sounds like you’re saying that you know problems that neither you nor your friends would care for might ensue, but so long as some nameless restaurant maintenance guy is the one who has to suffer, that’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/60 "2010-08-30T19:43:04Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > We have a septic tank. If you come to visit and are menstruating, take your tampons with you when you leave. Or postpone your visit. 😃 Okay, I hope you’re joking. Everyone: If there is any any chance at all that a pre-menopause female may visit your home, restaurant, office, whatever, PLEASE provide a proper bin, in the bathroom (in the cubicle where applicable), with a lid ideally. I seriously hate that people do not think to do this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915.md?page=4)