Women’s Magazine Archive

“This, Believe it or not, is How to Throw Away Our New Sanitary Napkin,” Modess, 1972.

Companies struggled for years to create a truly “flushable” pad, as that seemed to be the easiest, most private way for women to dispose of used menstrual products. Even later efforts to develop a flushable pad, like the Modess Flush-able, failed. The pads clogged plumbing, and women often flushed non-biodegradable materials such as pad wrappers and tampon applicators.