Few are going to read the box.

Edited to ask is this facial tissue or personal wipes. I just looked at the boxes that I have and none mention this. Personal wipes all have plastic in them so they should never be tossed into the toilet.

I hadn't seen THAT. Good idea tho. I'm having renters sign a "Do not flush list". Just so we're ALL on the same page. My one renter, long gone, had a DIL flushing tampons "and" flushable wipes....and expecting ME to pay for the clean out.

Also when renters first move in, the OLD tenant has cleaned out the refrigerator and flushed everything. So the 1st flush won't work. Yep. Never knew people did THIS. All that pickle relish, pickles....down the toilet!

My latest tissue craze: I read an article saying you can't sanitize a cardboard tissue box. If someone has a cold they reach for the box, pull out a tissue and contaminate the box. Hhhhhhmmmmm......so she suggested using ceramic tissue box covers. You can even put them in the dishwasher or wipe with a clorox solution. I've just purchased several.....and they're cute!

That's why I don't keep a box of Kleenex in the bathroom, it makes it too easy for someone to use one and toss it in the toilet! You would think most people would know not to but....

Wondering if anyone has ever put a facial tissue in water to see how long it takes to start falling apart. For most it does not take very long.

Years ago Mom had someone in to fix her toilet. It was slow and other things, I can't remember what the issue was.

If she was in the bathroom and used a kleenex she'd drop it in the toilet instead of the waste basket. The plumber told her that kleenex should never be put in the toilet. That was news to me and her. Because of that, I never put them in the toilet, and of course she didn't either, afterwards.

"Also when renters first move in they clean out the refrigerator. Yep. Never knew people did THIS. All that pickle relish, pickles....down the toilet!"

You stock the refrigerator for new tenants???

Lindsay/Jasdip....no. They clean out the refrigerator when packing to leave....and the toilet is apparently where it ALL goes. Then the "new" tenant flushes the toilet and it's clogged.

“When I opened a new box I saw that the opening flap has a symbol indicating that you should not dispose of Kleenex in the toilet. ”

Did you actually see this or is it part of a viral meme going around?

if you saw it, was the symbol for the box or the product? I wish you would have taken a photo...

It's the usual "no-no" symbol -- circle with a diagonal line through it. In the circle is a drawing of a person dropping something that looks like two tissues into a toilet bowl. I'm looking at the opening tab on a new box of 85 Kleenex ultra soft tissues. (Maybe this only applies to the 'ultra soft' type?)

Years ago I saw a cleaner from a cleaning service I'd hired dumping our bathroom wastebasket into the toilet. She seemed amazed that I scolded her. (If I wanted that stuff in the toilet, why have wastebaskets in the bathroom?) Now I'm wondering if this is common in hotels, etc.

I recently read a household tips sort of column where the author (a plumber) advocated taking two 5-gallon buckets of water to the toilet on the highest level of the house and flushing while dumping both buckets into the bowl. He said this would flush the pipes. (Or, I suppose, result in a big MESS!)

I just looked at my supply of Kleenex (from BJ's) and yes, they have that symbol which I have never noticed, although I do know that Kleenex are not flushable. I hope this pic is easy to see, its the best I could get - any closer and its really blurry. Maddielee, it definitely is for the tissue and not the box and my box is for 210 tissues and they are regular, not ultra soft.

I wonder if they have those symbols on 'flushable' wipes.......an oxymoron if there ever was one.

A couple of years ago, on the front page of our paper was a sanitation worker holding up a still-intact where you can still see the design, of a wipe. They get clogged in the sewers and really make a mess. This was in the sewer, and was nowhere near dissolved, so they certainly aren't flushable.

This is news to me, so thanks for posting. I looked on the bottom of a Sams Club brand of tissue, and yep, there is a do not flush notice on the bottom.

You're also not supposed to flush dental floss. Paper products arrive at the water processing plant all strung together with dental floss.

Me too! I thought it was the same as toilet paper.

Do the shake test! Put toilet paper in a jar of water and shake. It turns in to a snow globe it just falls apart. Do the same thing with a Kleenex or any brand of tissue and it will not change! You can shake till your arm hurts and it will NOT fall apart. They should never be flushed. Especially in an rv or motorhome. Not on septic systems. So many people think it's the same as toilet paper, it's very different. Wipes fall in the same category.

Learned something new today. I don't flush Kleenex but didn't know you really weren't supposed to. What if you have a really big bug that needs to be disposed of? I make an exception for that!!!

catticus....."was shocked at the things some people toss in the toilet."

Like what, for example? (Am curious!)

I never have heard of this. Thanks

Well Janie (or Tonto), "Our work here is done." lol

(Remembering listening to the radio, when the Lone Ranger and his trusty companion could restore peace to the valley in 30 minutes.)

Okay, here's my tale of woe reflecting this topic: Our house has three levels and we are on our own septic. A few months ago, we had a terrible in-house flood in the lowest level (part finished basement and part not). Two inches of nasty contaminated water throughout, coming from clogged septic line. The half-bath in the basement is/was below ground level of the septic tank and had an impeller pump type toilet to send the waste up to the septic tank, which was where the flood was coming from. Plumber said the flooding was due to a "soft clog" -- those supposedly-flushable wipes! Had no idea they are NOT flushable.

Major mess, lost a bunch of stuff/furniture. Could have been worse. God bless RotoRooter -- they were fantastic dealing with the situation. Took five days for them to remove all contaminated stuff, siphon all the water from the four rooms down there, sanitize everything and used 14 huge industrial fans and dehumidifiers that ran for three days until everything passed inspection. Unfortunately, the interior walls were compromised, so they had to cut out all of them from the flooring to two-feet height.

Moral? Don't flush wipes (or tissues!). All bathrooms now have nice sleek little step-on trash containers for disposal of those!!! Never something I want to experience ever again....

Don't flush wipes, tissues, tampons - literally don't flush anything other than human waste and toilet paper. If one is on a septic system, buy the kind of toilet paper that is quite thin and nearly biodegrades in ones hand.

Do people really not know this?

Flushing bugs in a tissue must be an exception. I mean......one little tissue once in a great while couldn't be a real problem, could it? Yikes! I mean if you didn't kill the bug all the way dead, it could crawl out of the wastebasket and scare you all over again!

https://youtu.be/ug24OeexJz4

Use toilet paper for the bug!

I have a catch/release policy. I catch them with a tissue or paper towel, then bring them outside.

Dispose of the tissue/paper towel in the trash,

The wipes say "flushable"....they are NOT! That's what I found out.

Corn meal expands when introduced to water. It had mealy bugs in it so they didn't want to put it in the trash....imagine what it did to my toilet? This is something renters do when cleaning out the kitchen.....

I'd vote for a mandatory trip to a sewage treatment plant for all school kids. It's bad enough to be disconnected from where your food comes from, without also believing that the rules of nature are suspended when you flush something down a drain.

I never knew that. I just checked a box of tissue I had in the closet, generic Wal-Mart brand....picture of toilet with an slash through it. I never noticed that before.

Rhizo, here's some of it.

From the Director of Environmental Services for our city:

Here are just a few of the materials that are bad for our sewer system and should never be placed down the drain or toilet: • Flushable Wipes (one of the top contributors to sewer back-ups and aren’t actually “flushable”) • Cleaning wipes for kitchen, cars, etc. • Feminine Hygiene Products • Cotton Balls/Swabs • Medication • Cigarette Butts • Hair or Cosmetics • Latex or Rubber • Bandages/Bandage Wrappings • Paper Towels/Napkins • Paints, Solvents, Sealants, and Thinners.

Picture shows what these products can do to one of our pump stations. This cost you $5,400 to clear.

I just remembered that I flushed a good-sized fur-ball this morning, compliments of Roxie. Hers are always quite large, and sausage-like. I'll be sure not to do that in the future.

I use Puffs tissues and there is no warning on the box. But we are on a septic system and we don't put anything down the toilet but single ply TP.

If you have a septic system, make sure your toilet paper is marked septic safe. Some of the very thick plush brands are not and do not break down easily in the tank.

London's sewer system is regularly clogged by giant accumulations of "flushable" wipes like the one pictured in catticusmockingbird's post but the size of Kombi vans or larger. In addition there are sections of the Thames shore paved in a several layers deep covering of "flushable" wipes.

They're not flushable folks!

DH has always said to not flush Kleenex, I didn't really know he had good reason ;0) And I don't typically flush them, except as above, when they are the closest thing within reach and I've grabbed a bug. I have a Costco package of the desk sized square packages and just looked. Yes, there is that little symbol on the box that I had never seen, never noticed.

Ai Yi Yi...I just bought and left a quantity of flushable wipes for my mother in her assisted living apartment. I did not know flushable wipes are not flushable. I suppose housekeeping will see it and will hopefully know.

I just purchased an 8 box package of Puffs and the symbol is not on them. Nor is it on any of the other packages of Kleenex brand that I am currently using purchased probably in February. Wondering when it started being used.

There has been a few stories in the news of late about city pipes and clogs and suggestions as to what should and should not go down the sewer. The stories always are told from the perspective of OF COURSE one shouldn't...but unless one has lived where there is a private well/sewer system I am sure most never gave it a thought. I think it was stretched to the limits with disposable baby wipes. From there we morphed into "flush-able personal hygiene wipes" now paper towels in the bathroom are all the rage. We are a disposable society and then SHOCKED when our oceans/landfills/sewers are full of garbage. Malls at Christmas especially give me pause. Where does all this merchandise end up--in the end?

I was unaware that Kleenex should not be flushed (although I have never done this), but my younger brother said he has known this for many years and was told this by our mother. Growing up in rural central Texas, we had our own wells (our GGF was a water witcher and dug many productive artesian wells on our property and for the town) and were on a septic system.

In Costa Rica, all the hotels had signs in the bathrooms saying not to put toilet paper in the toilet, and they all had trash cans next to the toilet where one was supposed to put used toilet paper. To me, this was a bit extreme - perhaps their toilet paper was made the same way that Kleenex is, but that is not necessary.

I think the manufacturers of the so-called "flush-able personal hygiene wipes" should be financially liable for ALL costs incurred by municipalities that are caused by people flushing their product. If the very name of a product suggests that it can and should be used in a manner that is unsuitable, the companies should change the name of face liability for the financial consequences to others.

Lars, in much of Asia hand some parts of Europe) you can’t flush toilet paper because the pipes are too narrow and clog easily. They were installed a long time ago when people washed their bits rather than used toilet paper, so narrow pipes weren’t so much of an issue.

The symbol is not on any of the boxes of "Kleenex" 8-pack, nor on any of the 8-pack "No Name" brand tissue boxes that I bought either. Umm...I wonder why the discrepancy.

When I was a kid (40+ years ago) we were told not to flush any facial tissue, tampons, paper towels, etc. I have seen multiple news stories and articles on not flushing those supposedly flushable wipes, too - I'm surprised there are people out there who don't know this. Several municipalities near me have had massive clogs and expensive repairs.

I was in South America last week and most toilets had a sign indicating we shouldn't flush toilet paper. Their plumbing systems just can't handle it.

I looked at a Kirkland brand box of tissues at my hair salon today. The 'no-flush' symbol is on the box itself, not just the tear-away flap that's discarded after you open the box. When I mentioned this, only half the women in the salon knew they should not flush anything but human waste and toilet paper.

I checked my Kleenex boxes, I have 3 different brands and none of them have the no-flush label.

However, one brand has an expiry date: Unlimited,

AND the material is 100% Cullulose. Yikes! No wonder they don't dissolve.

jasdip is it Cullulose or Cellulose? Cellulose is simply wood fiber which does not dissolve what does happen is that the fibers in water will separate from each other. After they separate they will compost being small that biological process should happen quickly.

Maifleur, ooops I didn't notice my typo. Yes it's cellulose. In my mind that is a plasticized material not dissolvable at all, thanks for the clarification.