Honestly
Measham, United Kingdom
Today, I had to teach my mother that tampons do not belong in the toilet. FML
Collection
Black Friday
70% off something you didn't need, a stampede and a cart that crashes at checkout. Thanks, Black Friday.
Same thing different taste
jannister
Bad Blankenburg, Germany
Today, my mom threw my tampons in the garbage and said that from now on, I'll be buying pads instead. Turns out she read a scare story going around by email that all the local teens are soaking their tampons in alcohol and inserting them anally to secretly get drunk. FML
Evaki1
Greece
Today, I had to explain to my little brother that my tampons weren't ear plugs. FML
Anonymous
Flushed
Today, and once a week for the past three weeks, I had to tell some house guests to stop flushing things like Q-tips and tampons down my apartment's toilet. My preteen siblings? No, my 45-year-old mom and her similarly-aged boyfriend. FML
powsser
United States
Today, my roommate got mad at me for putting away the tampons that were sitting on her desk. She rebelled by hanging hundreds of tampons dyed red from every surface in our dorm room. I discovered this while giving my mom her first tour of the place. FML
bloodyfreakinawful
Seabrook, United States
Today, in class, I reached into my bag to pull out a tampon, which I hid under my sleeve so I could make a quick escape to the restroom. My teacher yelled at me, because she thought I'd taken out my phone. I then had to prove myself by showing the tampon to the whole class. FML
woah
United States
Today, my boyfriend asked me how women could urinate with a tampon in. FML
Anonymous
Denmark
Today, I decided to make the switch from pads to tampons. My boyfriend ended up having to show me how to apply them. FML
Anonymous
Mountain View, United States
Today, at a public restroom, I caught my extremely eco-friendly daughter, who was on her period, looking through the trash. When I asked why, she said, "Because I'm looking for pads to use. It'll mean less garbage." I then had to lecture her in the public restroom about health and hygiene. FML
Anonymous
Open door policy
Today, my mom yelled at me for not pooping with the bathroom door open like the rest of the family. FML
Anonymous
Ring of fire
Today, I learned the hard way that I'm allergic to a particular brand of tampon. FML
Top comments
tash901 31
Most tampons can now be flushed, just not the applicator or the wrapping, bearing in mind the type of toilet and water systems you have.
ChristinePi 36
In America, some tampons can be put in the toilet now. However if you have a septic tank or live in an apartment complex with many people it's advised not to because it won't break down quick enough and may clog your toilet.
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Comments (28)
evilplatypus 39
My father is a plumber and I've asked him about this. He says if your plumbing is less than 50 years old (and not septic) it shouldn't cause any problems.
KingAdrock 16
I'm assuming your father only sees things from the residential side, in which case I'm sure it appears fine. Except the issue is while it's not likely to cause problems on YOUR end, flushed tampons and other products that don't quickly break down in water accumulate and clog sewers, making life horrible for the folks at your water treatment plant. Honestly the ONLY things that should ever be flushed is bodily waste and toilet paper.
SKYstlimit 11
that's not true unless you have a toilet macerator or a personal tank on your house only pads must go in the bin, 90% of toilets in the UK accept them and the fact you don't know that is disturbing, who told you they didn't? if you're just going off the fact there are bins in public Loos they're for pads and applicators/ wrappers etc.
Nysha 17
I haven't given a rat's ass whether or not the in-home plumbing can cope, ever since my friend, who is a sewage engineer, told me that the gross job they give to newbies is scraping used pads and tampons out of the filters by hand. I just can't do that to someone.
evilplatypus 39
They work in sewage. What the HELL were they expecting?
hrv_143 3
I used to... until there was a clog in our line somewhere and it backed up onto the sidewalk thru the sewer grate. Not sure who was more embarrassed by the awkward convo about no longer flushing used tampons following the back-up - my dad or me.
blackrose1996 11
You can flush a tampon just not a pad tampons are fine
ambeerr 14
If you have relatively new pipes then tampons can be flushed. My mums house has really old pipes and the pipes get clogged when one gets flushed down.
cantfixme36 28
In Canada, most sewer systems can handle the tampon itself. Honestly I didn't even know some people didn't flush them until I was older. You can flush the absorbent part, just not the applicator
onceuponatime456 16
You had to "teach" your mother? How arrogant of you. Tampons can go in the toilet, smart-ass, now apologize to your mother for being such a twerp!
seyeran 9
My husband works in wastewater treatment and seriously PLEASE DON'T FLUSH TAMPONS! Like a previous comment said, they really do cause problems at treatment centers and have to be removed prior to anything else. Most things that are called "flushable" are only that, flushable. They don't break down in the water and clog things up down the line.
Moonelo9 14
actually they can...