How To Discreetly Dispose Of A Menstrual Pad–Updated

Menstrual pads are necessary for a woman’s life, and knowing how to discreetly dispose of a menstrual pad is essential. Want to know how to do it? Keep reading. 

Why dispose of it in a certain way 

The blunt truth is no one wants to come in contact with your blood. A lot of diseases, like Hepatitis, are passed through blood.

Handling this ‘process’ is your business.  If you are old enough to have a cycle, you are old enough to take care of this situation.  

Side note: Don’t ever flush these down the toilet! The reason is that menstrual pads are absorbent. They are made to absorb liquid. If you put these things down a toilet, they will expand and stop up the toilet. 

Anyone who has had to unclog a toilet or contact a plumber to unclog a toilet will tell you this is not fun.  I have a story that a friend told me.

Storytime of how not to dispose of menstrual pads

A guy she knew lived in a duplex.  He lived on one side, and a lady lived on the other.

One day his toilet started backing up, and he asked his neighbor if her toilet was backing up too. It was. Since it was his duplex, he called a plumber to come out and find out what was going on.

While there, the plumber snaked the guy’s toilet and found nothing. Then the plumber snaked the neighbor’s toilet, and found something interesting.

He pulled out a plastic bag, and inside were used menstrual pads.  For whatever reason, his neighbor had flushed the bag down the toilet. Still don’t understand why.

Anyway, this situation shows why menstrual pads should never be flushed down the toilet. So please don’t do it!

How to dispose of a menstrual pad discreetly

When I first started my cycle, my mom sat me down and showed me how to dispose of a menstrual pad–I feel–correctly. Done this way, the contents stay in and no one knows what it is. Which to me is a win-win. I don’t like folks knowing when I’m on my period!

1. First of all, seperate the pad from your panties. All the pads I have used have a sticky strip on the back of the pad, so the pad can be placed inside the panty and not move. I do remember my grandmother showing me a belt she used to use, so it you use that or something else just get the pad away from whatever you use to keep it in place.

2. Fold the pad in half or tri-fold like in the photo below.

3. Take toilet paper and wrap it around the folded pad four or five times. Or until it can no longer be seen. Wrap it all around the pad.

4. When finished wrapping, it should look like a wad of toilet paper. Like in the photo below.

This way it will be hard for anyone to tell what it is. 

5a. If in a public bathroom, there will be a box hanging on either side of the toilet and you just drop the wrapped-up pad in there.

5b. If you’re in someone’s home, there may be a trash can and you can drop it in there. 

5c. Now if you’re somewhere and you don’t see a trash can, this is where wrapping up the pad comes into play. Just slip it into your pocket or purse and throw it away when you find a trash can.

I know this may seem disgusting for people, but I have done it. Just make sure you wrap it up real good.

The takeaway

Menstrual pads are necessary for a woman’s life, and it is essential to know how to discreetly dispose of them.

Folding them and then wrapping them four or five times in toilet paper it will hide what it is. To anyone looking, it will look like a wad of toilet tissue. Then it can be thrown into a trash can, or slipped into your purse and thrown away later when you find a trash can.

Just saying.

If you have a story about when a pad was flushed down the toilet and what happened afterwards, please put it in the comment section. Also, if you have any tips or comments, please add those too. I’d love to read them.