Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. Let's say your nose
Speaker 1: is running, so you run to the restroom for a tissue,
Speaker 1: and then realize that that familiar cardboard box is empty.
Speaker 1: What's a nasal drip sufferer to do? Unroll a bit
Speaker 1: of toilet paper instead. Of course, we may use tissues
Speaker 1: and toilet paper interchangeably sometimes, but the truth is there
Speaker 1: are some important differences between the two, and knowing what
Speaker 1: they are could save you some hassle in the long run.
Speaker 1: Toilet paper and facial tissue are both made up of
Speaker 1: paper pulp, and both are meant to be discarded after
Speaker 1: a single use, but most of their commonalities and there A.
Speaker 1: Facial tissue has a smoother surface than toilet paper, which
Speaker 1: makes it feel softer on the skin, and facial tissue
Speaker 1: is often imbued with lotions and scents designed to make
Speaker 1: the nose blowing experience more pleasant. While toilet tissue does
Speaker 1: not usually have those additions, it does have one important
Speaker 1: feature that facial tissue does not. Toilet paper easily dissolves
Speaker 1: in water. It takes just one to four minutes toilet
Speaker 1: papers quick dissolve qualities are engineered to help it pass
Speaker 1: through pipes or septic systems and to be processed by
Speaker 1: municipals se are treatment plants. In contrast, facial tissue is
Speaker 1: usually infused with a chemical binder that helps the tissue
Speaker 1: retain its shape. It has wet strength so that it
Speaker 1: doesn't disintegrate when exposed to whatever you're blowing out of
Speaker 1: your nose. While these properties come in handy for nose blowing,
Speaker 1: its ability to help tissue hold its shape is bad
Speaker 1: for pipes, septic systems, and water treatment plants. Facial tissues
Speaker 1: should not be flushed down a toilet because those tissues
Speaker 1: will not dissolve as readily as toilet paper, and because
Speaker 1: they can gum up the works. But it's not just
Speaker 1: facial tissues that wreak havoc once they're flushed down the
Speaker 1: toilet and out of sight. Everything from flushable wipes to
Speaker 1: dental floss has the potential to cause expensive problems at
Speaker 1: household pipes or at water treatment plants if they go
Speaker 1: down the drain. An experiment conducted by the City of Spokane, Washington,
Speaker 1: found that flushed dental floss Q tips, tampons, pads, and
Speaker 1: cat litter not only did not dissolve, but wrapped around
Speaker 1: the propeller that was agitating them in the water during testing.
Speaker 1: In a real life scenario, this translates into sewer treatment
Speaker 1: plant equipment breakdowns that can cost thousands of dollars. Spokane
Speaker 1: City workers also tested single ply, regular and plush toilet papers,
Speaker 1: facial tissue, and flushable wipes to see how well they
Speaker 1: dissolved in water. All of the toilet paper dissolved readily,
Speaker 1: with the plush toilet paper taking the longest to dissolve.
Speaker 1: The flushable wipes they remained completely intact despite being soaked
Speaker 1: in water and spun by that propeller. So what's the
Speaker 1: verdict for flushing toilet paper or facial tissue or anything else.
Speaker 1: Only toilet paper should go down the drain. And finally,
Speaker 1: one last consideration, if you are reaching for some toilet
Speaker 1: paper to blow your nose, can ssider whether that roll
Speaker 1: of toilet paper is shielded from the germs and bits
Speaker 1: of waste that can airsol eyes every time that toilet
Speaker 1: gets flushed. A tissue in a box, preferably not in
Speaker 1: the bathroom might be a safer bet in this case,
Speaker 1: and consider closing the toilet lit when you flush, Folks.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Laurie L. Dove and produced
Speaker 1: by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio's
Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of
Speaker 1: other non disposable topics, visit our home planet, how stuff
Speaker 1: Works dot com, and for more podcasts. For my heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.