# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**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, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/21 "2004-12-13T21:36:25Z")
> [@Tabithina](#): > > 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.** As they have shown in commercial after commercial. (bolding mine) ---
**Author:** ![Mirth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Mirth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/22 "2004-12-14T00:44:54Z")
Hmm. Someone really should get them to change the information on the tampon boxes. I’m surprised no one has sued the tampon companies for the cost of plumbing repairs. Thanks for setting me straight on this issue everyone. Ya learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/23 "2004-12-14T02:09:41Z")
Sorry, I couldn’t resist the temptation to quote a little F.Z. (from the song “Flakes”): Well, the toilet went crazy Yesterday afternoon The plumber he says Never flush a tampoon! This great information Cost me half a week’s pay And the toilet blew up Later on the next day-ay-eee-ay Blew up the next day WOO-OOO Humbly submitted Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/24 "2004-12-14T02:23:09Z")
> [@Tabithina](#): > > Thankfully, I guess, there are usually rinsed white by the time our plumber deals with them. The six (!) my plumber fished out of our sewer pipe after we had houseguests a couple of weekends ago were rinsed brown, not white. As was everything else in the pipe, much of which I got a really good look at when it came up into our tub. I’m seriously considering making up a sign to post prominently in the bathroom when we have female guests. Come to think of it, if our adult friends don’t know enough to wrap and toss them instead of flushing, I suppose I should post a sign for the edification of my adolescent daughters’ friends. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/25 "2004-12-14T02:59:40Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > 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. Does that mean raw sewage seems out of the cracks in the pipes that the tree roots make? If so–eww! ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/26 "2004-12-14T05:20:50Z")
> [@easy e](#): > > Does that mean raw sewage seems out of the cracks in the pipes that the tree roots make? If so–eww! Actually, it is the other way around. Old sewer pipe often has cracks in it from age and installation problems. The sewage leaks out into the surrounding ground. It’s not really very eww because it is below ground and you never see it. But when a tree root happens to grow into that area, it gets all those yummy nutrients and branches out like mad. It grows and grows until it happens to grow into the crack. Once inside the crack… WOW! Nutrient rich water! So the single root that found the crack rapidly grows, enlarges the crack, and eventually blocks the pipe. Modern plastic sewer mains are much more water tight and have far fewer problems with roots. Sorry. Carry on with the discussion of tampons. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/27 "2004-12-14T09:48:55Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > I’m seriously considering making up a sign to post prominently in the bathroom when we have female guests. Come to think of it, if our adult friends don’t know enough to wrap and toss them instead of flushing, I suppose I should post a sign for the edification of my adolescent daughters’ friends. Yeah, I mean, I’ve been using tampons for years and this is the first time I’ve heard that they’re not flushable! The packages say that after you pull that sucker out, you can flush it. I always read the directions on what is flushable and what is not. I know that plastic applicators are not flushable. If there’s a cardboard applicator and the package says “flushable applicator”, I flush it. ---
**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 14, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/28 "2004-12-14T13:47:08Z")
I work in rental property management. We have such a sign in our downstairs visitor’s bathroom, and it is also a standard clause in our lease amendment–do not flush paper towels, napkins, baby wipes, sanitary napkins or tampons. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/29 "2004-12-14T13:53:08Z")
I once went on a tour of a sewage treatment works (school science classes can be fun sometimes 😃 )…one of the things explained in detail was what happens when tampons, condoms etc. arrive at the plant. They’re caught by a metal grating, which frequently has to be lifted out and these foreign objects have to be _untangled by hand_. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/30 "2004-12-14T13:53:59Z")
I think they mean “flushable” as in “if there is no other way of disposing of this you may flush it” rather than “should be disposed of by flushing”. My pet peeve with all-male households is that there is often no rubbish bin in the bathroom. If you have women visitors, it’s one of the little things you can do to make their lives easier. Nothing like trying to smuggle a used sanitary towel from the bathroom to the kitchen bin without being seen to ruin a girls evening. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575/31 "2004-12-14T14:02:51Z")
I just checked the Tampax website, and they irresponsibly recommend flushing, “as the tampon is biodegradable”. (If that’s the case, the compost heap is the best place for it! 😛 ) I guess they’re trying to pander to their market, at the expense of giving the best advice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets-and-tampons/279575.md?page=1)