Not my website! Just a cool thing I encountered. I no longer have periods, but when I did, my flow was incredibly heavy and I spent a lot of money on pads (and of course threw away hundreds of them). I know reusable pads aren’t an option for everybody, but they’re definitely a great way to reduce waste! Of course, another good option would be buying menstrual underwear etc, but as someone who sews I thought I’d share this for other people who sew <3
(Also you can do cute patterns!)
A few fun facts:
- Cotton cloth pads smell better because they allow moisture to evaporate (rather than it being trapped in by plastic)
- You can wash them by hand or just rinse them to throw in with the rest of your clothes
- Research estimates that people who menstruate use about 11,400 pads in their lifetime
Hope this is helpful for someone!
Sorry for my ignorance (gay cis dude, I don’t do a lot of interacting with menstruation), but would you expect these to stain? Like is this the type of thing you’d buy/make once and then use forever, or is it more reusable in the short term then replace? My understanding was that blood is a pain to get out of clothes, but I assume the people making these are a lot more educated than I am on the topic lol.
These seem really exciting if people who can use them are happy with them and they’re reusable tbh, cuz I’ve personally always thought tax dollars should pay for or at least subsidize the cost of pads/tampons/etc for those who need them but am uncomfortable with the idea of the state sponsoring wasteful (like literally in that they create a lot of waste) industries in general. Again this is very much not a subject I have stakes in and my uneducated opinion is of the absolute least concern here lmao, but I’d really appreciate if anyone wants to tell me if this is as great as it sounds
My understanding is they’d likely stain, but they’re also likely properly sterilized and cleaned between uses. In the end it’s dyed with blood the same way it was died with whatever compound made it the color it was before. The important thing is cleanliness which is preserved despite the color.
that’s what I was thinking! I wouldn’t really care what color my pads are as long as I’m sure that they’re clean.
Plus you could make some in black!
An antimicrobial material like.hemp might be a good choice
Peroxide followed by washing in cold water with soap is the most effective way to remove blood stains but it can weaken the fabric if you use it every time. Washing as soon as possible, always in cold, even if you’re just using whatever hand soap is available, will get it safely clean. The dryer or hot water would not only stress the fabric it would make bloodstains permanent.
is that doable for pads tho? trying to empathize with the situation of feeling some leakage and having to rush to the bathroom to handwash and then put the probably still cold and not fully dry back down my pants, and really not loving how that would feel for vagina-havers in general lol. even aside from the sensory nightmare that sounds like, it just seems really disruptive to anybody trying to study/work/whatever in a way that i at least have the impression pads were meant to avoid, no? really appreciate the answer to my question tho, even if it raised a bunch more 😂
Yeah no not like that!
As with any pads you’d carry a spare or two, in case the first one gets soaked through, and that’s also why a waterproof outer liner is important. Depending where you are, you could probably wash/rinse it and then roll it up in the carry pouch until you go home. Or even without washing it although that’s not ideal.
When a reusable pad is full you just put a fresh one on, wash the dirty one, and let it dry on its own. If you’re out you just put it in a plastic baggie for washing when you get back home. Putting a wet one down your pants would be horrible, haha