There are only 3 things that should go down your loo, the three ‘Ps’:

•    Pee
•    Poo
•    Paper

These are the only 3 things that will flush away and travel through the drain and sewer system without any problems to be treated at your local sewage treatment plant.

What not to flush
Here are some other things that never actually 'flush away', they may go down the toilet but you really don't want them blocking your drains:

•    Nappies

•    Wipes

•    Tissues

•    Female sanitary products

•    Cotton buds

•    Cotton Wool balls and pads

 

Wipes
There are now quite a few wipes that you can use: face wipes, baby wipes, bottom wipes and some or all of these will advertise that they are ‘flushable’. You may be able to flush them away down the toilet and they may go into the sewer system BUT they do not break down and melt away like toilet paper does.

All wipes (whether they say they are flushable or not) have an element of plastic in them to make them retain their shape as you use them… so they won’t change when you put them in water, they won’t change when you agitate them, they won’t change when you put them down your drain. They also tend to catch on things and clump together, if they form a blockage in the drain the things they’re blocking are the 3 Ps.

Don’t believe it?

 

Why not try the ‘Shakey Challenge’ with children?
•    Get 2 medium sized clear bottles and fill them with tap water
•    In one put 2 -3 sheets of  toilet paper
•    In the other bottle put a wipe (flushable or not)
•    Then put the caps on and shake the bottles – really shake them

And what do you get……?

The bottle that has the toilet paper in will have little pieces of paper that are gradually dissolving into the water

The bottle with the wipe in? It will still have the wipe inside it, complete and unaffected by the water, your shaking or anything else you want to do with it.
 

Blocked drains
A blocked drain is not only unpleasant, with the smell and the overflow of sewage into your home but also costly.  If you share a drain with your neighbour do you want to be the one calling round to explain they can’t use their toilet because you’ve blocked the drains?  If their drains overflow because of your action you may also be liable to cover their costs – an insurance nightmare.

Clearing a drain is a specialist job and may not be able to be done immediately – can you cross your legs and do without a toilet for very long?

So to remind you, toilets love the 3 Ps: Pee, Poo and Paper.
Toilets hate everything else, they need to go into your recycling and waste bins.