Kimberly-Clark Australia, Pental Limited and Pental Products Pty Ltd will face the Federal Court over allegations they independently made false or misleading representations about so-called "flushable" wipes they marketed and supplied in Australia.

The proceedings were brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Monday, in relation to Kimberly-Clark's Kleenex Cottonelle Flushable Cleansing Cloths and Pental's White King Power Clean Flushable Toilet Wipes, also called Flushable Bathroom Power Wipes.

The consumer watchdog has alleged use of advertising terms such as "flushable", "able to be flushed in the toilet", and "designed ... [to] disintegrate in the sewage system" led consumers to believe the products had similar characteristics to toilet paper, when this was not the case.

"This is a major matter for us, and the allegations we are making are extremely serious," said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.