If it doesn’t float up, it will get stuck: what can be flushed down the toilet and what can’t?

In fact, using the toilet for other purposes is dangerous, and the list of items that you can get rid of this way is small. Many materials can cause clogs and even burst pipes. Let's figure out how to handle the toilet correctly and safely.

What can be flushed down the toilet - list

In fact, every person has at least once used a toilet as an alternative to a trash can. And although it is designed for the disposal of very specific waste, some items can still be washed away. Here is this small list:

• A bug or spider that you caught in the apartment. Getting rid of an uninvited guest in this way, although inhumane, is very fast.
• Dirty water after washing the floor and shoes. Pouring it down the toilet is much safer than pouring it into the sink.
• Dog and cat excrement. If your pet makes a mistake, you can easily throw the excrement into the toilet. In fact, dog and cat feces are not very different from human ones. As for worms, they simply do not survive in a sewer environment.

You can throw anything that dissolves well in water, as well as small-sized organic waste, into the toilet.

Controversial subjects

In fact, the question “what can be flushed down the toilet and what cannot?” still controversial. Discussions are especially frequent about the following 5 categories of waste:

1. Leftover food, missing food. “It’s not right to pour sour borscht into the trash can, after all,” housewives are indignant at the ban on using the toilet for food disposal. In fact, you can throw borscht down the toilet, as long as it is boneless. Hard bones, like dense foods, can cause blockages. If your leftovers are hard and thick, chop them up with a knife and dilute them with water, then throw them down the toilet.
2. Toilet paper. There's nothing worse than an overflowing bin of used paper. You can get rid of this unpleasant phenomenon forever if you throw toilet paper directly into the toilet. Nothing will happen if you don’t throw it too much and use the flush in a timely manner. It is best to use soft paper that dissolves quickly in water.
3. Paper napkins and disposable towels. To figure out whether they can be flushed down the toilet or not, conduct an experiment. Fill a bowl with water and throw a couple of napkins into it. After 2-3 hours, stir the water with a spoon. If napkins or towels remain unharmed, do not throw them into the toilet. And if they fall into pieces or dissolve, you can wash off the wipes.
4. Cat litter. In fact, you can flush the filler down the toilet, but not everyone can. The manufacturer indicates possible disposal methods on the packaging. As a rule, clumping (clay-based) and wood filler are allowed to be flushed down the toilet, but in small portions. Don't even think about emptying a full tray into the toilet!
5. Medicines. Opponents of flushing out expired, unwanted tablets insist they contain chemicals that are harmful to the environment. But if you take the same “Whiteness”, washing powders, dishwashing detergents, then there is much more chemistry in them than in a handful of tablets.

The ability to use a toilet to flush the above 5 products directly depends on the type of sewer system. If this is an apartment building sewer system or a local one, but with a short direct route and an active septic tank in the tank, then the risk of blockage is minimal. But with local sewerage, where pipes have a diameter of less than 10 cm or a length of more than 5 meters, you need to be extremely careful.

Items that definitely should not be flushed down the toilet

Non-degradable and large garbage should not be thrown into the toilet. In addition to the toilet elbow where it can get stuck, there is a grate in the basement that runs between the riser and the sewer outlet from the house. If a bag, rag or other similar object is wrapped around it, all the waste will begin to rise up.

What you should definitely not throw or pour into the toilet:

1. 1. Condoms. It’s like playing roulette - the first time the product can safely slip into the pipe and leave the apartment, but the second time it will catch on a rough wall and cause a blockage.
   2. Baby diapers and pads. Some of the most dangerous items for sewers. Firstly, they do not decompose. Secondly, they greatly increase in size and become across the pipe.
   3. Tampon. Although this hygiene item is smaller in size than a gasket, it is no less dangerous in terms of pipe clogging. Under no circumstances should you flush a tampon down the toilet. Throw it exclusively in the trash bin.
   4. Wet wipes. Unlike dry paper napkins, wet ones are made from moisture-resistant materials. In the pipe they easily cling to roughness and turn into a lump, which sooner or later makes itself felt.

1. Silica gel filler. It absorbs moisture better than wood, and also perfectly eliminates odors. However, silica gel greatly increases in size and, unlike sawdust, does not disintegrate or rot. Even a small portion flushed down the toilet can lead to severe blockage.
2. Construction waste, in particular cement. Fortunately, it rarely occurs to anyone to flush cement down the toilet. But such cases are known. The result of rash actions is very sad - the toilet not only gets clogged, but the sewer system of the entire entrance breaks down.
3. Hot liquid. If you pour something hot into the toilet, the ceramic will most likely burst.

So, it is best to use the toilet for its intended purpose - and nothing else. Although flushing toilet paper down the toilet is allowed in an apartment building, you also need to take into account the condition of the riser and the plumbing itself. If repairs have not been carried out for a long time, the holes in them may be much smaller than the original diameter of the pipes.