Are flushable wipes flushable?
No! And if you don’t read another word in this article, we’ve done our job.
If you can’t flush a flushable wipe, why can they call themselves ‘flushable’?
Marketing lingo gets these products off on a technicality. While you ‘can’ flush them down the toilet, it doesn’t mean you should. The same logic applies to “can I jump into shark-infested waters?” Yes, but not safely.
Once the toilet accepts the wipe and whisks it away from sight, that wipe needs to get through some twists and turns in your drainage line and still travel the long sewer lateral between your home and the city connection. It could get stuck in a P-trap at the base of the toilet, or in the U-trap that keeps sewer line gasses out of the home. Anywhere along the way, it might clump with fatty oils, soap scum, toilet paper, and solid waste, creating a blockage that can quickly back up or burst a sewer line – a big plumbing emergency.
Why aren’t flushable wipes flushable?
The very thing that makes a baby wipe, makeup wipe, or cleaning wipe such a good product – durable microfibers – makes it a bad fit for a sewer line.
If you’re curious – fill one big bowl or three little bowls full of water. Place one sheet of toilet paper, one sheet of paper towel, and one flushable wipe in the water. Start your timer!
Within seconds, you’ll see the toilet paper dissolve. Within minutes, the paper towel will pretty much break apart too. Now keep that timer running, but feel free to get about your day, and your week. That wipe isn’t dissolving anytime soon.
What happens if I flush a wipe by accident?
Try steadily flushing the toilet a few times – the momentum from the flush may move the wipe through the system. Pouring clean hot water down the drain can also help. If the wipe gets caught right in the toilet P-trap, a home snaking kit might pull it back, just as a home plunger can push it forward. Don’t plunge too hard, as you might burst the pipe.
If you need professional help, ACE Plumbing and Rooter can snake the drain and remove all debris that could be slowing your line.
So bottom line – the safest thing to do is dispose of your flushable wipes in the garbage. And if you’re traveling in shark infested waters, we suggest you stay in the boat.
