# Toilets and tampons **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2004, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575 "2004-12-13T09:40:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mirth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Mirth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/1 "2004-12-13T09:40:35Z")
I noticed today, a particularly emphatic sign in a public restroom that requested women not to flush ANY feminine hygeine products down the toilet. I have seen these signs before and always assumed that they meant not to flush pads, wrappers, and applicators. But is it possible they really mean not to flush ANY feminine hygeine products down the toilet? Plumbers, is there a reason why the cotton/string portion of the tampon should not be flushed? ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/2 "2004-12-13T10:04:22Z")
Yes. They clog up the pipes, and end up in rivers, lakes and the sea. Just put it in the bin…at least then it can go to a landfill site and biodegrade, or an incinerator and be burnt. ---
**Author:** ![oh\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b38774/32.png) [@oh\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oh_s)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/3 "2004-12-13T11:42:38Z")
> [@Mirth](#): > > I noticed today, a particularly emphatic sign in a public restroom that requested women not to flush ANY feminine hygeine products down the toilet. I have seen these signs before and always assumed that they meant not to flush pads, wrappers, and applicators. But is it possible they really mean not to flush ANY feminine hygeine products down the toilet? > > Plumbers, is there a reason why the cotton/string portion of the tampon should not be flushed? ``` Yes they can choke the system, yes it is also an environmental issue and yes they cause grief at the treatment works, But disposalable nappies are the absolute No1 way to stuff the system, (yes It happens a lot). It might pay you to learn how to use an electric eel you'll save a fortune. ``` ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/4 "2004-12-13T13:21:03Z")
> [@Mirth](#): > > I noticed today, a particularly emphatic sign in a public restroom that requested women not to flush ANY feminine hygeine products down the toilet. I have seen these signs before and always assumed that they meant not to flush pads, wrappers, and applicators. But is it possible they really mean not to flush ANY feminine hygeine products down the toilet? > Plumbers, is there a reason why the cotton/string portion of the tampon should not be flushed? All personal hygeine products cause problems for your own plumbing and/or for the centralized waste disposal facilitys. Every thing coming in has to be reduced to a slurry for effective treatment. String, plastic sheeting, and wads of cotton like material are difficult to chop up. Such stuff is usually caught on a bar grate for removal. Proper disposal at the source simplifies operations for all involved in disposal. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/5 "2004-12-13T13:37:15Z")
Tampons expand. If the string catches on the pipe, they expand to a size that causes a really nasty blockage and a really messy toilet backup. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/6 "2004-12-13T14:01:24Z")
> [@oh&s](#): > > It might pay you to learn how to use an electric eel you’ll save a fortune. This is so bizarre, it cannot pass without elaboration. Tell us more! ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/7 "2004-12-13T14:12:53Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > This is so bizarre, it cannot pass without elaboration. Tell us more! Even more Bizzaro! The electric eel replaces the manual or hand snake. Easier and faster. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/8 "2004-12-13T14:23:06Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > Even more Bizzaro! > The electric eel replaces the manual or hand snake. Easier and faster. :smack: I didn’t answer the question. An electric eel is a motorized version of the plumbers snake. Snakes may be a very long spring with a spiral hook on the end or a flat steel tape. Either one is pushed into the blocked pipe to attempt removal or loosening the obstruction so the waste water can flow freely. Have you heard of “Rotor Rooter?” They clean out tree roots that have grown into the sewer pipe and form a mass of roots. There are also hydraulic snakes that use high pressure water to clear obstructions and flush out the pipes. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/9 "2004-12-13T14:40:01Z")
I once had to pay a plumber to unstuff the toilet at my office. He told me there was a nest of white rats. Took me a while, but I figured it out. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/10 "2004-12-13T15:08:54Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > The electric eel replaces the manual or hand snake. Whew! I thought it replaced the tampon! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/11 "2004-12-13T15:44:45Z")
If these are so bad on American plumbing, why do the packages say that they are flushable? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/12 "2004-12-13T17:49:15Z")
> [@LorieSmurf](#): > > If these are so bad on American plumbing, why do the packages say that they are flushable? I have no reliable cite, but I would suspect the powerful Plumbers’ Lobby is behind this. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/13 "2004-12-13T17:56:31Z")
> [@LorieSmurf](#): > > If these are so bad on American plumbing, why do the packages say that they are flushable? There may be a new product on the market ala the flushable toilet scrub brush, made of a disintegrable paper? material. The warning is for the benefit of those who may be using non-flushable products. It’s not the plumbers either. The more calls the merrier (profitable) for them1 ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/14 "2004-12-13T18:27:59Z")
I was talking to a Civil Engineering troop the other day. He’s a plumber on the enlisted payroll. He said that tampons are the number one thing that causes toilet clogs. I asked him if he brought along a little aquarium net to fish the plugs out. He said yes. :eek: Be considerate. Don’t flush your plugs. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/15 "2004-12-13T18:35:20Z")
A plumber once told me not to flush dental floss. Said that the string tends to wind up around the paper, etc. and can cause lots of problems. From that info, I take it that the main problem with flushing tampons is the problem with the strings. (Boy, it’s hard to enter this conversation without some sort of wise-ass comment) xo C. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/16 "2004-12-13T18:50:02Z")
The “tree roots” mentioned by a previous poster are a pretty good reason not to flush anything that doesn’t biodegrade very quickly. Tree roots will easily penetrate the old clay sewer pipes and act as a strainer. At a previous house, I was upstream (sewer pipe-wise) from a house containing three or four women occupants. The feminine products got tangled up in tree roots and caused a blockage, resulting in geyser-like activity in all the plumbing fixtures upstream of the block. ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/17 "2004-12-13T19:37:56Z")
Landlady here. Tampons are our absolute number one cause of sewer line trouble! They get tangled up in tree roots, or just expand, blocking the pipe. Thankfully, I guess, there are usually rinsed white by the time our plumber deals with them. But they are most certainly NOT flushable, no matter what the box says. As an aside, the last time I was up in my hometown of Racine, WI, and went down to a beach on the shores of Lake Michigan to take a walk, there were hundreds of pink or white plastic applicators littering the sand. The beach was close to the wastewater treatment plant. Ewww… Flushing dental floss is also a big no-no, as has been previously noted here. Regards, Kris ---
**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:** [December 13, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/18 "2004-12-13T20:02:33Z")
So many plastic tampon applications wash up on the Jersey shore that they are known as “plastic seashells.” ---
**Author:** ![oh\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b38774/32.png) [@oh\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oh_s)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/19 "2004-12-13T20:10:42Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > This is so bizarre, it cannot pass without elaboration. Tell us more! ``` An electric eel is the tool used to unblock a sewage choke without digging up the yard. There is also a drain snake. Who does your maintenance? ``` ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/20 "2004-12-13T21:23:32Z")
> [@oh&s](#): > > An electric eel is the tool used to unblock a sewage choke without digging up the yard. There is also a drain snake. Who does your maintenance? As I said before: > [@](#): > > Whew! I thought it replaced the tampon! :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575.md?page=2)