If you’re having sex, using condoms is awesome. They are great at protecting you from potentially contracting STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) and keeping you from being a dad before you should be.

If you’ve been a reader here at HUSH you’ve learned how to use them correctly and how to overcome some of the pressures that keep other people from using them. Heck, you’ve even learned where to get them (for free!).

But what about when you’re done with the deed? What happens to your condom then? This is something not enough people talk about – and it’s getting some guys intro trouble.

These are the top four ways guys are getting caught with condoms in a way that they’re not so proud of. Keep using condoms, but learn from their mistakes on what they do with them when they’re done.

1. Hidden Treasure Between the Sheets. In the moment you’re so excited to have the chance to use the condom, you remember all the steps in checking it, taking it out and slipping it on that you toss the wrapper in any direction. But if someone else is cleaning your sheets they will come across this little piece of plastic. If this is your parents and they didn’t know you are having sex, this piece of evidence can and will be used against you in a totally awkward family talk. Wrap it up – just watch where you put the wrapper.
2. Flushing your Finished Product. Some guys are too scared to put a used condom in the trash in fears of being find out. They then mistakenly think they can just flush it down the toilet instead. WRONG. In the best scenarios, they don’t go down and now you have to fish it out by hand or here someone else shriek when they come across it. In the worst scenarios, an expensive plumber is called in and explains the clog to your parents.
3. Pocket Protection. It’s awesome that you’ve made the decision to keep a condom on you as someone who is sexually active (or even considering it). But if you are the one to leave things in your pocket and someone else does your laundry you will be found out. Only slightly embarrassing if your parents are cool with it, but surely a nightmare if they’re not.
4. Throwing it any which way. HUSH has heard waaaaay too many stories of guys finishing up and carelessly tossing their condoms out a window, into an alley, into the back seat, onto a curb, really anywhere. Gross. Not a single one of these stories has ended in anything less than the most embarrassing (and disgusting) discovery in their lives. Tie it up, throw it into a trash can, and avoid any of these awful interactions.