# 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:** 6
**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, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/101 "2010-09-01T14:44:53Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > You’d be surprised. Sure modern places do tend to have ample trash cans (each stall, out by the door, etc), but every so often you’ll either be in a lower rent place that has no trash cans OR the trash cans in the stall are overflowing with other women’s menstrual waste. Exactly. Further proof that people who don’t menstruate have no fucking business telling me \*in a general sense \*how I should or should not dispose of \*theoretically flushable \*waste. > [@johnpost](#): > > you mean giving yourself injections. that could be some ick the first couple times Yes, I mean giving myself injections. Do you have any appreciation for how hard it is to overcome millions of years of programming that are all screaming at you \*not \*to stab yourself with sharp things? And not just stabbing myself, but then injecting a drug that _burned like a motherfucker_. > [@](#): > > modern people are such wimps about life’s icks and inconvenience. You go ahead and start disposing of your raw sewage in the street again. Let me know how that cholera works out for you. > [@Magiver](#): > > > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > > I’ve had _a couple_ of people tell me that \*some \*systems can’t handle it. I have yet to see any evidence that this is a universal problem. I live in a relatively new building in a big city. > > Who? Cite their plumbing expertise. I’m confused. You’re asking me for cites of the experience of the people who’re telling me I’m wrong? Isn’t that \*your \*job? > [@](#): > > Human waste breaks down quickly in water. But not instantly. So if you feel a big shit coming on, do you drop it in the trash to keep it from potentially clogging the toilet? Because, after all, there’s a \*chance \*it could happen. Just like there’s a chance my tampons _could_, somewhere down the line, snag on something and cause a clog. ---
**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, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/102 "2010-09-01T14:46:58Z")
Does it matter if the people telling you what the best thing to do can or can’t menstruate? Either way the facts are the same. ---
**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, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/103 "2010-09-01T15:04:24Z")
It matters when someone telling me how “easy” their option is has no practical experience in the matter. ---
**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, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/104 "2010-09-01T16:32:13Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Does it matter if the people telling you what the best thing to do can or can’t menstruate? Either way the facts are the same. > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > It matters when someone telling me how “easy” their option is has no practical experience in the matter. Yeah, from the plumbing perspective, I fully respect their experience here. You’ve all certainly made me rethink my flushing, for sure. That said, you don’t really notice how bad the facilities are in so many bathrooms until you’re holding the tippy top end of a bloodied tampon string between two finger nails, searching frantically for the trash can in the stall, only to find none. Apparently, my period gives me the super power to exclusively find all of the trashcanless bathrooms in the world. Only when I’m on my period, though. So, someone who doesn’t have to deal with this probably doesn’t notice the lack of facilities. I think that’s all she was saying. ---
**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 1, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/105 "2010-09-01T16:38:41Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > > > You’d be surprised. Sure modern places do tend to have ample trash cans (each stall, out by the door, etc), but every so often you’ll either be in a lower rent place that has no trash cans OR the trash cans in the stall are overflowing with other women’s menstrual waste. > > Exactly. Further proof that people who don’t menstruate have no fucking business telling me \*in a general sense \*how I should or should not dispose of \*theoretically flushable \*waste. I’ve been menstruating for 35 years (well, not _continuously_, you know what I mean). Don’t flush your fucking tampons. They may not cause an immediate clog, but sooner or later one (maybe several, maybe most) of the ones you flush WILL cause a clog. This will necessitate some other human being dealing with raw sewage and blood to fix the problem. Do you think it’s OK to impose that on someone else? So, as a 35 year veteran of the monthly bleeds, I’m telling you to wrap that shit up and DON’T throw it down the toilet. Put it in the little bin or can next to the toilet. If there isn’t a little bin next to the toilet then wrap that shit up extra good and put it in the nearest trash receptacle. Or use a ziplock. (I actually hadn’t though of a ziplock baggie before… but that’s a _damn_ good idea. Seal it up and there won’t be an odor problem. I’m going to start carrying a couple for just that purpose. Would work for pads, too) I mean, damn woman, if YOU can’t handle your own menstrual blood where the hell do you justify imposing that burden on some hapless unclogger of toilets? > [@](#): > > You go ahead and start disposing of your raw sewage in the street again. Let me know how that cholera works out for you. Yet you feel it’s entirely OK to risk plumbing clogs that will require someone else to dig through your shit and blood by hand. And you think it’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Buttons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr\_Buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Buttons)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/106 "2010-09-01T17:23:32Z")
Here’s a pit thread I made a little over a year ago, before we upgraded our toilets/sewer system at work, about this problem. Much like this one, there was heated opinions from both sides. [Dear Ladies: Dirty tampons DO NOT belong in the toilet](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=519131) ---
**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, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/107 "2010-09-01T17:44:11Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > So, someone who doesn’t have to deal with this probably doesn’t notice the lack of facilities. I think that’s all she was saying. Exactly. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Don’t flush your fucking tampons. They may not cause an immediate clog, but sooner or later one (maybe several, maybe most) of the ones you flush WILL cause a clog. Don’t fucking breathe. It may not cause cancer immediately, but sooner or later (maybe one breath later, maybe several) you WILL inhale enough second-hand smoke to give you cancer. See, look, \*I \*can make ridiculous, unsupported statements of opinion as fact, too! > [@](#): > > This will necessitate some other human being dealing with raw sewage and blood to fix the problem. Do you think it’s OK to impose that on someone else? When their job description is dealing with raw sewage? Uh, yeah, I do think it’s okay for them to do their jobs. \*You \*don’t seem to have any problem making \*people who empty garbage cans \*deal with your used tampons. > [@](#): > > I mean, damn woman, if YOU can’t handle your own menstrual blood There you go with that strawman again. > [@](#): > > where the hell do you justify imposing that burden on some hapless unclogger of toilets If someone knows that their toilet is easily clogged, where do \*they \*get off bitching at me for not telling me they have shitty equipment? Onus is _on them_. I’m not at fault for assuming that their systems are _functioning as intended_. If you and your grandma come over to my house for a visit, and I offer her a glass of water while you’re out of the room and she aspirates it, are you going to scream at me for not mixing it with a thickener first even though \*you \*never told me she couldn’t handle something as simple as swallowing water? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/108 "2010-09-01T18:15:58Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > But not instantly. So if you feel a big shit coming on, do you drop it in the trash to keep it from potentially clogging the toilet? Because, after all, there’s a \*chance \*it could happen. Just like there’s a chance my tampons _could_, somewhere > > down the line, snag on something and cause a clog. Actually, human waste is pulled apart in the flushing process. If you’ve ever had to deal with tree roots in your drain line you would get to experience it first hand. My basement drain is 30 feet away from the clean-out. If it backs up from the street I can see whatever floats by after the roots are cleaned out. What clogs a sewer is fibrous material catching on corroded pipes or depositing at hard bends. Hair, paper towels, cigarette butts, and tampons are all fibrous things that create clogs. A tampon is something like a year’s worth of drain hair in a single flush. You shouldn’t need a warning by other people not to throw such things in their toilet just as you wouldn’t need a warning not to throw paper towels in the toilet. ---
**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, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/109 "2010-09-01T18:24:59Z")
If tampons get caught in tree roots in your drain line, the problem is… wait for it… _tree roots in your fucking drain line_. If you drive into a massive pothole and your GPS device falls off the dash, do you get annoyed at your GPS or the pothole? :rolleyes: ---
**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, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/110 "2010-09-01T19:01:04Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > This will necessitate some other human being dealing with raw sewage and blood to fix the problem. Do you think it’s OK to impose that on someone else?.. > > …I mean, damn woman, if YOU can’t handle your own menstrual blood where the hell do you justify imposing that burden on some hapless unclogger of toilets? Ok, I don’t even wear tampons, but I have heard this sentiment in enough of these threads that I have to say something. Plumbing is a profession. It is not an undignified job that someone is stamped with at birth. If someone who has chosen plumbing as his profession can’t deal with ‘raw sewage and blood’ being “imposed” upon him, then he should rethink his profession. Also, I do notice…and I’m not saying I’m offended, because I’m not, but I do find it interesting when I notice…some posters really emphasizing, ‘no one wants to see your _ **filthy** _ tampon’ or 'if you don’t want to deal with your \*\*\*disgusting \*\*\*blood, what makes you think someone wants to clean your _ **gross** _ tampons out of the pipes" Is that some kind of attempt to _shame_ a woman into not flushing her tampons? If they aren’t meant to be flushed, then the wording on the packaging should be changed, and engineers and plumbers and everyone here can all educate eachother on what would be the best thing going forward, if one is so inclined to modify their behavior. I bet we can get that done without resorting to trying to shame women for things that hold no shame. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/111 "2010-09-01T19:09:26Z")
Oddly enough, my entire company was just sent a train wreck of an email from the head of Facilities. It was all about bathroom etiquette and probably deserves a thread of its own. Anyway, one of the bullet points was as follows, “people are flushing the personal hygiene products down the toilet which end up plugging the sewer causing the toilets to overflow resulting in a huge mess and a healthy plumbing bill for clearing the pipes. The latter happens quite often.” This is in a newer building. Later in the email they acknowledge that they need to provide larger trash cans for this as well as paper towels on the floor issue. ---
**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, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/112 "2010-09-01T19:09:29Z")
Now, **Nzinga** , you \*know \*your woman-parts are filthy, disgusting, and ungodly. Now go cry in shame until God decides to grant you a beautiful, healthy, clean penis. ---
**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, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/113 "2010-09-01T19:10:42Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Anyway, one of the bullet points was as follows, “people are flushing the personal hygiene products down the toilet which end up plugging the sewer causing the toilets to overflow resulting in a huge mess and a healthy plumbing bill for clearing the pipes. The latter happens quite often.” Soooo… What’s your point? Pads, wrappers, and non-flushable tampon applicators are all “personal hygiene products” that all reasonable people agree shouldn’t be flushed. There’s no reason to assume he’s talking about tampons. ---
**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, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/114 "2010-09-01T19:10:58Z")
Well, if the person honestly doesn’t know better, that’s one thing. But the women like **Sateryn** who have been told and whose attitude is basically, “I just feel like flushing them because it’s easier” just strike me as really self centered. ---
**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, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/115 "2010-09-01T19:15:29Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Now, **Nzinga** , you \*know \*your woman-parts are filthy, disgusting, and ungodly. Now go cry in shame until God decides to grant you a beautiful, healthy, clean penis. I think we all know who to really blame for this: that stupid bitch, Eve. I mean, in the Heavenly Garden, our girlie bits were clean and wonderful and shot out rainbows. Then that stupid bitch ate the apple and that’s why we have cramps and painful childbirths and blood clots the size of Thanksgiving turkeys (if the douching thread is to be believed). ---
**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, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/116 "2010-09-01T19:18:31Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > But the women like **Sateryn** who have been told and whose attitude is basically, “I just feel like flushing them because it’s easier” just strike me as really self centered. 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. We’re in 100% agreement there. What \*I \*object to is the insistence that the onus is on \*me \*to not flush my tampons _anywhere_, as opposed to \*on the people responsible for the maintenance of a system \*to \*tell \*me when it’s not okay to flush something ostensibly flushable. To make another analogy, if I were to forget to tell someone that I’m a vegequarian\* and they served me meat, I’d be kind of an asshole to get pissed off at \*them \*for not guessing that I didn’t adhere to a standard diet. Your average person in the U.S. eats meat, and a modern toilet and sewer system in the U.S. can accomodate tampons. \*Lacto-ovo vegetarian + fish. ---
**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, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/117 "2010-09-01T19:24:31Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > What \*I \*object to is the insistence that the onus is on \*me \*to not flush my tampons _anywhere_, as opposed to \*on the people responsible for the maintenance of a system \*to \*tell \*me when it’s not okay to flush something ostensibly flushable. To this end, I’ve been a few places that have signs up asking patrons not to even flush toilet paper, because their system is too old /crappy (ha!) to handle it. In those situations, I don’t glare at the sign, tell it to fuck off, and flush my TP anyway-- I throw it in the trash like they ask. But, if there was no sign, I’d assume it was ok to flush my TP because that’s what I’ve always done. It probably says on the TP to flush it, too. I think that’s where a lot of folks are coming from with tampons. ---
**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, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/118 "2010-09-01T19:26:01Z")
But if people here with experience of plumbing are saying that tampons are designed to absorb and get bigger in water, instead of breaking apart, then don’t you think that maybe the default should just be to throw them out? That seems like the safest alternative to me. ---
**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, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/119 "2010-09-01T19:32:56Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > But if people here with experience of plumbing are saying that tampons are designed to absorb and get bigger in water, instead of breaking apart, then don’t you think that maybe the default should just be to throw them out? That seems like the safest alternative to me. I said the discussion in these threads has made me reconsider flushing. Idk what else you want from me. . . 😕 I suppose I can build a time machine and go back and right all of my flushing wrongs, but it’ll take a while to get that off the ground. Look, I’m simply explaining possible reasoning for the other side that makes sense to me. I see the points both sides are making and to me, what **Shot** is saying does make some sense- businesses/etc. should let people know if there’s something peculiar about their plumbing (hell, I’ve even been in businesses that are VERY CLEAR via sign that it’s not ok to take a big dump, because their system can’t handle it- in such situations, I hope you guys are bringing Ziplocks to bag up your shit. It’s only the adult thing to do, planning ahead and what not). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/120 "2010-09-01T19:44:33Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > [@hajario](#): > > > > Anyway, one of the bullet points was as follows, “people are flushing the personal hygiene products down the toilet which end up plugging the sewer causing the toilets to overflow resulting in a huge mess and a healthy plumbing bill for clearing the pipes. The latter happens quite often.” > > Soooo… What’s your point? Pads, wrappers, and non-flushable tampon applicators are all “personal hygiene products” that all reasonable people agree shouldn’t be flushed. There’s no reason to assume he’s talking about tampons. I don’t have a point. It’s just an anecdote. I got the email today and had been following this thread so I thought that I’d share. Other points in the email were about not peeing on the seat, washing your hands, not having conversations with people trying to do their business and a few other things. I took the quoted part mean that he’s talking about tampons. For all I know there are signs in the Ladies Room that are more specific but I haven’t spent any time in there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915.md?page=7)