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Mellu · 08-25-2008, 06:52 PM

For those of you who think a cup is a radical idea, it's not. It's been around for decades. Also, just to squick out the Sensitive Sallies here even more, I use cloth reusable pads! Aggggh! THE HORROR!

What do you think our grandmothers used before Always made Dri-Weave? There is a HUGE community of cloth pad users, websites and manufacturers everywhere. I LOVE IT and will NEVER EVER go back to EVIL, BLEACHED, CRACKLY, EXPENSIVE disposable pads. Ugh. Using cloth has liberated me in so many ways, and has made my heavy flows every month so much less horrible.

How does it work?
You buy a supply of pads you like or make your own. Many of you might have heard of Lunapads, but I buy really fancy ones from a seller on Etsy named "County Cloth Creations." She makes super soft, super absorbent pads from high-quality materials that feature wings that snap into place.

During your flow, pack a supply and a small waterproof nylon 'wet bag' - I use a small LeSportSac makeup bag.

You soak 'em just like regular pads. When it's time to change: if you're out and about or at work, roll it up and stuff into your wet bag. Take home, dump into a bucket of cold water to soak (just like cloth diapers). If you're at home, just put the used ones right into the cold water soaking bucket. Let soak for a day or so. Dump bloody water into houseplants (my plants have NEVER grown so fast or looked so healthy) and wash pads in washing machine or by hand and dry them in the dryer or hang up to dry. They do not stain if you get them into the cold water to soak within a reasonable time. After soaking, I toss 'em right in with the rest of my laundry and call it a day.

EW! GROSS!
In fact, QUITE the opposite. Cloth pads BREATHE. Disposable pads DO NOT. Most disposables use plastic as a barrier, which traps the bacteria in the pad, along with your moisture and warmth, and that is what creates ODOR. Cloth pads breathe and are nice and cool. Also, disposables CHAFE like hell, and are LOUD in the bathroom! Cloth pads are soft on the lady bits and make no noise at all. Carrying a wet bag around in your purse isn't that bad. It's no one's business but your own, and it's no grosser than half the bacteria-encrusted makeup, tissues, money, keys, and cell phone you already have in there anyway. The pads I buy are innovatively constructed to roll up inside themselves and snap shut, bloody-side in. No one's the wiser, and it's never messy.

I am 100% against using internal protection, but that's just me. I don't think anything belongs up there but a weenie and a baby, but again, that's me. That's why I use cloth pads. I walk by the feminine products department now like it's some foreign land! Google 'cloth menstrual pads' and you'll be shocked at what a huge community there is. Consider trying it. It really makes my period much more personal and much more "my own." There is a very private, feminine sense of ritual involved in taking care of yourself and washing your pads that was lost when Kotex came along. Your period is not some gross thing you have to ball up into plastic and throw away like it's dirty.

And, just so you know, I'm not some hippy-dippy-nonsense chick. I'm pretty normal, active, and actually kinda conservative!

08-25-2008, 06:52 PM	#96 (permalink)
Mellu Upright	For those of you who think a cup is a radical idea, it's not. It's been around for decades. Also, just to squick out the Sensitive Sallies here even more, I use cloth reusable pads! Aggggh! THE HORROR! What do you think our grandmothers used before Always made Dri-Weave? There is a HUGE community of cloth pad users, websites and manufacturers everywhere. I LOVE IT and will NEVER EVER go back to EVIL, BLEACHED, CRACKLY, EXPENSIVE disposable pads. Ugh. Using cloth has liberated me in so many ways, and has made my heavy flows every month so much less horrible. How does it work? You buy a supply of pads you like or make your own. Many of you might have heard of Lunapads, but I buy really fancy ones from a seller on Etsy named "County Cloth Creations." She makes super soft, super absorbent pads from high-quality materials that feature wings that snap into place. During your flow, pack a supply and a small waterproof nylon 'wet bag' - I use a small LeSportSac makeup bag. You soak 'em just like regular pads. When it's time to change: if you're out and about or at work, roll it up and stuff into your wet bag. Take home, dump into a bucket of cold water to soak (just like cloth diapers). If you're at home, just put the used ones right into the cold water soaking bucket. Let soak for a day or so. Dump bloody water into houseplants (my plants have NEVER grown so fast or looked so healthy) and wash pads in washing machine or by hand and dry them in the dryer or hang up to dry. They do not stain if you get them into the cold water to soak within a reasonable time. After soaking, I toss 'em right in with the rest of my laundry and call it a day. EW! GROSS! In fact, QUITE the opposite. Cloth pads BREATHE. Disposable pads DO NOT. Most disposables use plastic as a barrier, which traps the bacteria in the pad, along with your moisture and warmth, and that is what creates ODOR. Cloth pads breathe and are nice and cool. Also, disposables CHAFE like hell, and are LOUD in the bathroom! Cloth pads are soft on the lady bits and make no noise at all. Carrying a wet bag around in your purse isn't that bad. It's no one's business but your own, and it's no grosser than half the bacteria-encrusted makeup, tissues, money, keys, and cell phone you already have in there anyway. The pads I buy are innovatively constructed to roll up inside themselves and snap shut, bloody-side in. No one's the wiser, and it's never messy. I am 100% against using internal protection, but that's just me. I don't think anything belongs up there but a weenie and a baby, but again, that's me. That's why I use cloth pads. I walk by the feminine products department now like it's some foreign land! Google 'cloth menstrual pads' and you'll be shocked at what a huge community there is. Consider trying it. It really makes my period much more personal and much more "my own." There is a very private, feminine sense of ritual involved in taking care of yourself and washing your pads that was lost when Kotex came along. Your period is not some gross thing you have to ball up into plastic and throw away like it's dirty. And, just so you know, I'm not some hippy-dippy-nonsense chick. I'm pretty normal, active, and actually kinda conservative!