Disposable wipes marketed as “flushable” still pose a blockage threat to household plumbing, a consumer advocacy group has found after extensive testing.



Consumer group Choice has tested Kleenex wipes – which the company claims can be disposed of in the toilet – and found that doing so can pose significant problems to pipes.

Kleenex’s Cottonelle CleanRipple Flushable Wipes are billed as delivering a “shower fresh feeling” and suitable for use in properly maintained sewerage systems and commercial septic systems.

Though the new wipes disintegrated more than similar products previously released by Kleenex, Choice found they could still cause blockages in the first several metres of pipe on a consumer’s property.

Tom Godfrey, a Choice spokesman, accused Kleenex of having “a grubby obsession” with attempting to convince consumers their wipes could be flushed without impact.

Last year Choice busted Kleenex’s claim that its Kids Cottonelle Flushable Cleaning Cloths disintegrated like toilet paper, instead finding the wipes held together “after hours of testing”.

Though the CleanRipple line was a step in the right direction, the product still posed problems, said Godfrey.

“If toilet paper is the standard of flushability to which a ‘flushable’ wipe should confirm, Kleenex CleanRipple Flushable Wipes cannot be considered entirely safe to flush ...



“Kleenex claims that their old and new wipes meet guidelines for flushability but these guidelines were written by industry, for industry.”

Choice is asking consumers – or “flush busters” – to boycott the products to encourage major manufacturers and retailers to clean up their acts.

But a spokeswoman for Kimberly-Clark, the manufacturers of Kleenex, said in a statement that it was “disappointed” with Choice’s claims, and questioned the basis on which they were made.



Kimberly-Clark said the new wipes met widely-accepted guidelines informed by a seven-step testing process for a wipe’s ability to decompose and flow through municipal sewer pumps. The spokeswoman said Kleenex had “worked closely” with Sydney Water and the Water Services Association of Australia on its products.

“Choice also fails to acknowledge the significant efforts, in conjunction with wastewater authorities, to understand and address what is a complex issue.”

Kimberly-Clark was involved in the development of a new global technical standard for flushable products.

According to Choice, Australia’s water service providers estimate that clearing blockages caused by wet wipes costs $15m a year – notwithstanding what Godfrey called “Kleenex’s renewed push to get us all flushing wipes”.



The group carried out an investigation into similar products in November last year, which found one in four Sydney residents was flushing wet wipes. Sydney Water removed more than 1,000 tonnes of wet wipes materials from its wastewaster system in two years.

Consumers, local councils and water services organisations around the world are struggling with the cost of removing so-called “fatbergs” – congealed lumps of fat, sanitary items, wet wipes and other deposits that do not break down like toilet paper – from sewage systems.

One such lump that was removed from a sewer in Chelsea, west London, last year was 40 metres long and weighed 10 tonnes.