Because of shipping costs I'm trying to find good US brands for my daughter. I used the same GladRags for like 15 years. Things have changed a bit since I bought them lol. I read that synthetic fabric can smell and we want a really simple wash routine, so I'm thinking either all cotton or maybe just fleece backed? I don't think we want pul, and no bamboo. Suggestions? Thanks!

After lots of searching, I’m thinking about getting some of these https://okocreations.ca/en for my newly menstruating preteen. They even have a style tailored to a smaller body. Has anyone used Oko Creations? What were your thoughts? There are only two mentions (both positive) in this sub. Thank you.

Hey there!! I’m looking for some good recs since I’m hoping to switch from disposable pads. I’ve tried some underwear but my cycle is so heavy that it just doesn’t work out.

I’m looking for something that can handle an extremely heavy flow, I need to change my pad every hour or two during that first few days. For context, post partum diapers are the only things that really work for me for a longer period of time and even those I have to change often.

I've wanted to try out reusable cloth pads for a while now, and I'm ready to make the investment! My question is that I'm looking at either cotton or bamboo for the fabric, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on each fabric, the pros and cons, and if you have a preference.

For myself, I've been using a menstrual disc for over a year and I love it, especially since I have a very heavy flow with a copper IUD. The disc catches most of my flow, but I wear a panty liner or light pad to catch any leaks. I think it would also be good to have 1-2 more heavy pads just as a backup or for a night where I don't feel like wearing the disc.

I'm in the USA, so please feel free to share any brand recommendations if you have any favs. Thanks!

The mods were kind enough to let me share this here. 😁

We’re running a giveaway on Instagram this week and this felt like the right community to share it with. One winner gets a starter kit of reusable period pads and snap-free, adhesive-free reusable liners, plus a dry kit with drying accessories.

If you’re on Instagram, hope to see you there: https://www.instagram.com/p/DaQLmJmEchz/?igsh=MW9oeTAwcTYyOHpoMQ==

Closes at 7 AM PDT on July 7 🩸

are there aby brands selling interlabial pads in India which i can access online?

I’m temporarily living with my parents and they’ve been fighting them for years. At the end of my period I went to wash my pads only to discover the moths had made it into them 😭 😭 there were even eggs 🤢 and I can’t even run them through the wash on hot

So far it's very comfy! The outer layers are cotton double gauze and the absorbent layer is two pieces of linen, all from my fabric scrap bag.

update SO much more comfortable over the hours than disposable. This alone has me planning how many more to sew!

Please help me figure out which direction to go in with a natural fiber line. I have conventional pads and organic cotton pads with PUL, but I’ve had several customers ask about non-PUL and/or wool options. Seems like everyone has a different idea of what natural fiber pads means. I cloth diapered my son so I know that wool can be fantastic at soaking up liquid without leaking it out, but not everyone likes wool, and there are lots of different options. I see that a lot of people just want natural fibers, but are people really ok with an all-cotton pad leaking through?

Lately, I have started to use ILP Interlabial Pad (disposable). As a non frequent peeing person, it was quite comfortable for me because I am irritated by the wetness between labia and my regular pads didn't help much.

But i checked with my sister and some of friends. They were very uncomfortable with the usage of ILP. They didn't even want to try it.

I wonder why!

By the way I am from India where Menstrual Cups/Tampons are still not effectively used/ considered uncomfortable.

question is what do you guys think about ILP ?

Hello everyone! I made the switch to reusable pads they've been fantastic! The only thing is on my 2nd day, (which is my heaviest.) I leak out of the wing of these pads quite fast and quite often, i try to keep up on changing them but I still end up leaking, at least a little. And I realized why i'm leaking so much is because the way i'm bleeding, I bleed directly on the center left of the pad which then makes me leak from the wing of the pad. So I was wondering if there was any different styles of pads or fabric types that would help me not leak so much. Any recommendations would be highly appreciated! :)

I can’t seem to find a good waterproof fabric anywhere that isn’t those table vinyl covers. I want a breathable pad so it isn’t smelly after a few hours. As of now I have a top layer of 90% cotton 10% polyester towel which I’ll double stack for the inside then I’ll add the waterproof layer and lastly a cotton cover. Should I tweak anything? I wanted a towel as the top layer so the blood wouldn’t leak back and instead be caught in the fibers.

I am wanting to make the change to reusable pads but I’m not sure where to buy/what to buy/how many of things to buy! I’m seeing a lot of “twin packs” but I would have assumed you’d need more than that for a five day period? I want to shop as sustainable as possible and avoid any synthetic products if possible. TIA!

Ive been making my own cloth panty liners for a couple years now and finally brave enough to make pads as well. The ones I made for myself are pretty great so far.

My sister wants me to make her some as well but she has a heavy flow, I have a regular flow so I'm not really sure how to accommodate her flow. I thought about a possible waterproof sort of material backing to avoid leaking?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely, a low income mom trying to live a less toxic life and spread the life style ✨️

I started using cloth pads regularly about a month ago and I love them, but I’m struggling with my wash routine. At first, I followed the wash routine recommended by the company that makes the cloth pads (regular warm wash with natural detergent) and that didn’t cut it so I started this routine

1. rinse in cold water until water runs clear after I change it
   
2. soak in oxygen bleach for an hour
   
3. Normal warm wash with enzyme based detergent and a scoop of oxygen bleach with washcloths and clothes for agitation
   
4. Second normal warm wash with washcloths and clothes for agitation.
   
5. Dried on low

They are still coming out smelling like old period blood and I can’t figure out why. I even tried washing on hot (not recommended by the pad brand) and they still had that smell. I guess I’m just wondering what everyone does for their wash routine. I feel like I’m wasting so much water. I cloth diaper my son and I’ve never had issues with smells so I’m not sure why this is worse.

The brands I have are Luckypads (PUL with cotton top), Sacredspiralcreations( bamboo core, cotton top, PUL) and Gladrags (cotton)

I got some new moon pads like 2 months ago but I keep bleeding from the side of them. I also bought some cheap Amazon ones that have full side coverage and I dont bleed through those. I wanna know if I can like sew on additional wings or something so that they cover more?

I realise this has been discussed in this sub before sorry but I'm a bit confused about the process 😓

I've got some pads that are a few years old now. I wash them out after use but lately I've begun to notice a faint smell, so I felt that a deep clean was in order. How exactly do I go about doing this?

I've seen a few people mention using oxyclean, but I can't get this in Australia (or at least haven't found anywhere I can).

Thanks for your help.

i’ve been thinking of buying some Tree Hugger reusable pads but was wondering if anyone has a picture they could show of their packaging? i was hoping to have a discreet packaging option for when it’s delivered but didn’t see an option on the website so i was wondering what the packaging would look like

Hello I am from the uk and thinking of switching to cloth pads, anyone from the uk have hood brand recommendations for a heavy flow and high likelihood leaking at night? Would be much appreciated.

I’m changing over from regular pads/tampons to a reusable option. I previously bought period undies but didn’t find them comfortable, and I’m concerned about polyester, PFAs and other toxins. So I stopped using them. There doesn’t seem to be as much hype around reusable pads with most women saying they prefer period undies, and less options out there, why is this?

I recently bought these cloth pads off of Amazon and washed them by hand before using. anyways, I tried them out yesterday and the pad didnt absorb any blood, i had the patterned side against my skin. am I bleeding on the wrong side? i would add a pic but I cant figure out how.

Pads brand:

Cotton - ImseVimse

Synthetic - Charlie Banana

I've been using these pads for six years; they're perfectly white and still extremely absorbent.

How I wash them:

I rinse them with water (not hot) and use solid Marseille soap (https://www.winnis.it/prodotto/sapone-di-marsiglia/), I rinse them again until the water runs clear.

The whole process takes about two minutes, often less. If the stains are stubborn, especially on cotton ones, I leave them wet with soap for a few hours.

I let them dry on the clothesline until the next washing machine cycle.

I wash the pads at 60 degrees with the sheets and towels.

I dry them in the dryer or hang them to dry.

If I'm not home after changing the pad, I fold the used one in the wet bag and clean it when I get home.

At first it might seem like a long and boring process but it isn't and I wouldn't go back to disposable ones.

The photo doesn't show all the ones I have, I also have the smaller ones and two pairs of absorbent panties that I recently bought.

So I am thinking of switching to Soft Taco Reuseables because I also noticed (along with some other Redditors) that Period Aisle's pads aren't that great (they have moved their manufacturing outside of Canada to Sri Lanka and I have a lot of their pads, and I always thought their Luna Pads were much better than Period Aisle).

I'm curious about Soft Taco but I see that they use polyester to make their pads (polyester releases tons of microplastics and takes hundreds of years to biodegrade).

Are there any other Canadian brands that make exceptional pads that are eco-friendly or might I have too many high expectations? :/ (still might try Soft Taco but if there's something that doesn't use polyester, I'll shift to that). TIA!

EDIT: Has anyone tried Tree Hugger Cloth Pads?

Hi! I’ve been making cloth pads for a while and I’m starting to explore creating a new line using TENCEL fabric. Before I go too far with it, I really want to learn from people who actually use cloth pads regularly.

I’d love to hear your experiences, good or bad.

A few things I’m especially curious about:

What size pad do you reach for the most (and why)?

Do you care if they have serged edges or do you prefer sewn in seams?

Do you prefer thinner pads or more absorbent/bulkier ones?

What’s your biggest annoyance with cloth pads?

If you could design your perfect cloth pad, what would it be like?

Thanks so much, I really appreciate any insight 💛

I'm not affiliated with any brands just wanted to leave a post about my purchases in case anyone was looking at buying these brands. (Also I don't have the reddit app and I'm using my phone so the formatting might be a bit wonky.)

The brand Hannah- I thought this brand seems quite expensive so I decided to buy it when they had a BOGO free deal on sets. I got the art collection that had 3 small/3 medium/3 overnight and then another set that I don't currently see on their site (must be out of stock) it contained the super ultra size as well as others. It was a big purchase but got me free shipping and was overall not a bad price per pad when I broke it down. I highly recommend the overnight and super ultra of this brand if you have issues when heavy bleeding or leaking at night. I used to have to wake up multiple times a night on day 2-3 to change disposable pads and haven't had to at all with these. The first time I used them I felt like it scrunched my underwear weird but I found if I just flatten the pad some after snapping it's fine. I would definitely recommend if you have the money to splurge on the BOGO sets otherwise the individual pads are $$$.

Tree hugger- I purchased my wet bags (one to hang in my bathroom and a dual pocket smaller one for my purse) and love both. I purchased 3 or 4 cotton pads from them. They are sewn well, snaps work well . I personally just don't like the thin rectangular shape. I only wear them during the day on my lightest day and feel like they can give me a bit of a wedgie.

Stitches and Grace (S&G)- homemade pads similar to what you see on etsy. I feel like the quality of material and stitching is just as good as tree hugger. I prefer S&G because it has more of the traditional pad shape where it is bigger/rounded on the end and only narrow where you snap in the middle. I only bought a few since I had already purchased from the other sites. They have a bunch of sizes, different prints, not too expensive. I would definitely recommend.