Right. Let’s talk about something that keeps us in business – and not in a good way. You grab a pack of wipes from the supermarket. The packet says “flushable” in big letters. You use them, you flush them, done. No worries, right?
Wrong. Dead wrong.
We’ve been at this trade for over a dozen years, working all over West Auckland – Te Atatu, Massey, Henderson, the lot. And I’ve pulled more wipes out of drains than I care to remember. Here’s how it plays out: someone flushes wipes for months, maybe years. No drama. Then one morning the toilet backs up. The drain’s blocked. And the bill to fix it makes that pack of wipes look bloody expensive in hindsight.
Here’s the straight answer: those wipes are not flushable. Doesn’t matter if they’re the cheap ones, the eco ones, or the ones with the green tick. They’re bad news for your pipes, bad news for the wastewater system, and bad news for your back pocket.
Why “flushable” wipes aren’t actually flushable
Think about how toilet paper works. Drop a sheet in a bowl of water, give it a stir – it starts falling apart almost straight away. That’s by design. It’s meant to break down so it flows through the pipes and breaks up at the treatment plant.
Wipes don’t do that. They’re built from synthetic fibres that hold together when wet. That’s the whole point – you use one to wipe down a surface and it stays in one piece. Great for cleaning. Rotten for plumbing. Flush a wipe and it’ll travel through your pipes still in one piece. It catches on tree roots, snags on pipe joints, wraps around gunk already sitting in the line. And once one wipe grabs hold, the next one snags on that, then the next, and before long you’ve got a proper blockage on your hands.
That word “flushable” on the packet? All it means is the wipe will go down the S-bend when you hit the button. That’s it. It doesn’t mean it’ll make it to the treatment plant. It doesn’t mean it’ll break down. Consumer NZ have been saying this for years, and every plumber I know backs them up.
What about kitty litter?
While we’re at it – kitty litter. Another thing people flush that they absolutely shouldn’t. Cat litter is made to soak up liquid and clump solid. That’s the last thing you want happening inside your drain pipes. Even the “flushable” varieties are a gamble, especially in older houses where the pipes might already be half-narrowed from buildup or tree roots getting in.
If you’ve got a cat, bag the litter and chuck it in the bin. Simple as that. We’ve dealt with litter blockages where we had to dig up sections of pipe to sort it out. That’s a messy, expensive job – and it’s one you can dodge entirely.
The golden rule of flushing
Here’s what I tell every customer, every time: if it’s not toilet paper or bodily waste, it doesn’t go down the loo. That’s the whole rule. No exceptions.
Tampons, pads, wipes, dental floss, cotton buds, food scraps, kitty litter, cooking fat, nappies – bin, not bowl. The toilet isn’t a rubbish bin, and if you treat it like one it’ll catch up with you.
Look, most people aren’t being careless. The marketing on these products is genuinely misleading. When the packet says “flushable” in bold print, you’d take that at face value. Why wouldn’t you? But the bloke who turns up to unblock your drain will tell you a different story.
What to do if you’ve been flushing wipes
If you’ve been flushing wipes and nothing’s gone wrong yet – you’re lucky. Don’t push it. Stop now. Use toilet paper for what you can, and bin the rest.
If your toilet’s already draining slow, or you hear gurgling when you flush, or the water level climbs higher than usual before it settles – you’ve probably got a partial blockage forming. Don’t sit on it and hope for the best. A slow-draining toilet is your early warning. Deal with it before it turns into a full blockage – or worse, a burst pipe. We deal with leaking and burst pipes all the time, and trust me, you’d rather we clear the blockage now than fix a pipe that’s split because the pressure got too much.
Give us a bell and we’ll get a camera down there to see what’s going on. Clearing a partial blockage is a damn sight cheaper than dealing with a pipe that’s blown out.
The bottom line
Wipes are handy. Fair enough. But they don’t belong in your toilet. The packet might say flushable, but the plumber who’s pulling them out of your drain will tell you the real story – and the cost of that job makes a bin liner look like the cheapest thing you’ve ever bought.
Stick to the golden rule: toilet paper and bodily waste. Everything else goes in the bin. Your pipes will thank you, and so will your wallet.
Got a slow-draining toilet or reckon you’ve got a wipe blockage building up? Don’t wait for it to get worse. Call 022 321 2012 for a free quote. We’re based in Te Atatu South and cover all of West Auckland. We’ll sort it out before it turns into a bigger problem.