Can you flush wipes

Flushing baby wipes can lead to a variety of plumbing issues and quickly impact the safety and comfort of your home, which is why it is so incredibly important to never flush baby wipes down the toilet. The experienced team at your local Mr. Here are some common child-related items that should only be disposed of in a waste basket:. Do not attempt to dissolve baby wipes in your toilet.

Wipes are designed to be durable, which means it takes a long time for them to break down in water. Their durability means they do a great job of keeping your baby clean, but it also makes them unsuitable for flushing. Toilet paper is truly the only item, in addition to bodily fluids, that can be flushed, as toilet paper is specially designed to break up easily and quickly after being flushed down the toilet.

This specific design was created with your plumbing and home in mind. Fatbergs are just one example of plumbing issues caused by flushing inappropriate items, like wipes. Kinney, a master plumber with Jersey Plumbing Service in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, has spent countless hours dredging up wet wipes from blocked sewers.

He and his crew often spend three or four hours snaking one sewer, using a cable to drag up soggy clumps of wipes, pulling the wipes off the end and then sticking the cable back down into the muck. These days, wet wipes are everywhere , from baby wipes to cleaning wipes to pre-moistened towelettes meant for bathroom use. They completely block the sewer and then people get a backup and they call a plumber.

Here is toilet paper and a wipe from over a year ago. The wipe is still whole after a year! As we expected, they came up with these large masses of wipes in their first two loads, with more to come. Rousse argues that flushable wipes are often unfairly blamed for the problems caused when people flush non-flushable kinds, such as baby wipes, disinfecting wipes and makeup-removing wipes.

They get caught in the equipment, and someone has to fish them out! Rousse maintains that his organization's GD4 test is more effective. But Rousse argues that wipes manufacturers can be trusted to adhere to flushability guidelines because they know consumers expect them to be honest.

A secondary problem with flushable wipes is that they are similar in function and appearance to wipe products that are especially designed to be disposed of in the trash rather than the toilet. Baby wipes or facial wipes, for example, are not even marketed as flushable and may contain logos or notices on the packaging that warn consumers not to flush. However, consumers who have heard of flushable wipes may simply assume that because non-flushable wipes look similar, they can be flushed.

This will prevent costly clogs and environmentally damaging overflows at your local sewage system. In fact, it would be best to avoid disposable wipes completely since they produce waste that should end up in a landfill, and more sustainable alternatives such as your normal dissolves-quickly-in-water toilet paper made of unbleached recycled paper exist.

But if you can't let go of your wipes, make sure they are properly disposed of — in the trash. What other product labels can you think of to watch out for? Share them in the comments below. RTS Recyclebank partners with cities and brands to reward residents for helping to make their communities cleaner, greener places. Join Us Sign In. Forgot Your Password? Sign In with Facebook. Almost done! Send me new rewards, ways to earn points, and info about my recycling as it happens. Just get in touch with me once a month.

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