What can you flush down the toilet? Tea leaves? Bones? Rats?

[anonymoose]

Shit!

In that case why is there so often one still lying there from a previous user?

[Hofmann]

They didn't get it in the center?

Anyway, my tea leaves go in the sink. Small pieces of food too. Eliminate by turning on the faucet and flipping the switch and it all gets chopped up.

[Brian US]

So is it mainly the squatting toilets you are not suppose to flush toilet paper as I sometimes see the signs against it. Should the new apartment buildings be fine with western style toilets? Just don't want to come home one day with an inch of water on the floor.

[abcdefg]

So is it mainly the squatting toilets you are not suppose to flush toilet paper as I sometimes see the signs against it.

Nope. The admonition applies to both types. It isn't the shape of the receptacle that counts, it's the pipes and plumbing "infrastructure."

Should the new apartment buildings be fine with western style toilets?

You should ask the landlord. Generally speaking, the answer is "no."

Just don't want to come home one day with an inch of water on the floor.

This can definitely happen. I experienced it last year. It was due to a kitchen problem, but the result was the same.

[anwenjie]

I'm shocked at what goes down a US toilet. You guys don't have waste bins?

[Prodigal Son]

I'm shocked at what goes down a US toilet. You guys don't have waste bins?

it's a luxury to have the toilet option

[bluetortilla]

I just found a rat in my kitchen and scared him out the 2nd story window. Now I'm freaked out about the toilet. Kind of wish it was a squatter!

[Touchstone57]

So far I have seen very few rats in China, compared to the several rats per week that I saw in the UK. This either means there are not as many rats in China, or that Shanghai rats are a highly sophisticated bunch that never get seen and spend their time on more worthwhile pursuits. 

 

My neighbours don't even bother flushing their junk, they just throw it out of the windows. There are often vegetables and bits of food flying past my window it is quite the sight. Recently there was a complaint put up in my building stating that someone's car had been damaged by the debris (vegetables and rice).and that it was being investigated by the police. Imagine having your car damaged by someone else's leftovers? 

[anonymoose]

My neighbours don't even bother flushing their junk, they just throw it out of the windows.

 

Yes!

 

But I've seen lots of rats too. I had several in the previous apartment that I rented.

[trisha2766]

When we were at the Crown Plaza in Henan, zhengzhou we were told not to put toilet paper in the toilet too.  Because the sewer infrastructure is bad at the outskirts of the town.  We weren't sure if we heard right though, so we ended up flushing it anyway for the most part.  Eventually I just flushed the more 'messy' bits of toilet paper, just small amounts at a time flushing in between and put the less gross paper in the wastebasket.  Of course we had someone taking out our trash everyday so we didn't have to deal with that.   Real nice hotel though. 

[Demonic_Duck]

The toilet in my apartment has been "blocked" twice. By "blocked" I mean very slow drainage of water from the bowl, and one of my housemates calling a plumber, though we didn't try simply using a plunger or "Mr. Muscle"-style unblocking liquid.

 

Thing is, my housemates are adamant that it's flushing toilet paper which is causing the problem. I'm unwilling to put shitty paper in the bin if at all possible, mainly because it's a bit disgusting. I'm also a little sceptical that a few sheets of thin paper now and again is more likely to cause blockages than flushing big old logs of human waste. Does it really make that much of a difference?

[imron]

I'm unwilling to put shitty paper in the bin if at all possible, mainly because it's a bit disgusting. I'm also a little sceptical that a few sheets of thin paper now and again is more likely to cause blockages than flushing big old logs of human waste. Does it really make that much of a difference?

Yes it does.  Don't put your toilet paper down the loo.  Putting it in the bin is fine once you get used to it.

[Demonic_Duck]

Fair enough.

[roddy]

Plumber? I did some impressive blockages in my time, but never anything a flush-and-bucket-of-water combo couldn't sort out. You want to keep the bowl full as long as possible, so you get sustained pressure on the blockage. If that fails, kettle of hot water and whatever cleaning fluids you have to hand. Don't mix 'em unless you're sure you won't gas yourself though. Last resort is the mop plunger.

 

Hard to say if toilet paper might be a problem without knowing the size of your pipes and how much you're putting down there. Personally, I associated blockages with particularly large deposits at the Bank of Toilet, rather than the deposit slips.

[Demonic_Duck]

Not sure about the size of the pipes, but I'm talking about a few sheets, not a huge wad.

[realmayo]

I propose this classy topic as a mandatory Newcomer-friendly topics topic.

[roddy]

Are we talking twice since 2012, or twice since you moved in last week. If it's a frequent problem then - well, you probably want to stop putting something down there, and there's only a couple of choices. Otherwise, I'd keep doing as you will and deal with the problem as and when it arises. 

 

Personally I'd rather spend a little extra time unblocking the thing on the rare occasions it gets blocked, than have a basket of used toilet paper in my house. But if it's happening a lot your cost-benefit analysis changes. 

 

Oh, and flush early, flush often!

[Demonic_Duck]

Twice since September '13. I shall invest in a plunger and see if a little elbow grease won't sort out the problem if it happens again.

[roddy]

I could live with that, if I could unblock it myself. Careful with the plunger though, the usual ones don't form a tight enough seal on a toilet bowl pipe. The mop technique I link to above works well. 

[Nathan Mao]

 

Putting it in the bin is fine once you get used to it.

I don't think I could ever get used to that.

打死了我也不会习惯。