Can You Flush a Tampon?
“Discretely pocket-sized, 30% smaller, but same comfort and protection.” Before you could even name the brand, you probably know that this quick description is about a tampon – Playtex Sport to be exact! When it comes to tampons, maybe you’re going with Playtex, Tampax, or Kotex. You might use none of them, but if you wear tampons, you’ve probably asked the question, “Can you flush a tampon?” Can you?
A box of tampons tells you to change them every four to eight hours. Using the average between the two, you’d use four tampons a day if you changed every 6 hours. The average period lasts anywhere from three to five days, so most women are using around 12 to 20 tampons every period. Are they flushing them down the toilet? Are you?
If you look at the components of a tampon, you definitely assume they’re safe to be inserted into your body. Because of this, you’d probably think they’re safe for the toilet too, right? If you look at the Tampax website, they list all the materials needed to create the pad.
The most important part is the absorbent core, the part that actually remains in your body and the item that gets flushed. According to Tampax, their absorbent core is made from “cotton and/or rayon.” Seems harmless enough! The absorbent core also comes with a thin fabric around it.
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It’s made of “rayon and polyester” or “polyethylene and polypropylene.” While most of us are scrunching up our faces in confusion at those words, they’re safe for the body, so they’re safe for the toilet, right?
We’ve finally come full circle to our original question. Can you flush a tampon? While this isn’t a grammar class, let’s have a grammar lesson. Can you flush a tampon? You absolutely can! Should you flush a tampon? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
The way we phrased our original question is only a matter of ability. Can you flush a tampon? You surely could. All you’d have to do is drop it in the toilet and say goodbye as it flushes away. Should you flush them? No, my friends, you should not!
Flushing a tampon down the toilet seems like such an easy thing, especially when compared to pads. We’ve all rolled our pads into huge balls of toilet paper and tried to hide them in a trash bin discreetly. You might’ve switched to tampons because it was so easy to dispose of them.
Your days of flushing tampons should be yesterday! There’s a reason that bathroom stalls now have disposal bins for sanitary products. That’s because they don’t want you flushing pads and tampons down their toilets. While pads are a no-brainer, many people aren’t aware of the issues that come with flushing tampons.
While they seem so easy to get rid of, they’re not going anywhere! It might not happen after 1 or even 20 tampons, but eventually, they’ll clog up your drains! Cotton and rayon might be biodegradable, but polyester, the material coating your tampon surely isn’t! If you flush too many tampons down the toilet, don’t be surprised if you’ll need to call a plumber!
As if dealing with our periods wasn’t hard enough, we now have to worry about throwing out tampons. It’s not a big deal! Most bathroom stalls come equipped with a disposal bin. It also helps to remember that almost every single woman is in the same boat as you! We might not have our periods at the same time, but we’re all going through the struggle together.
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#tampons #womenshealth #periodproblems
