washable menstrual pads

[CatchTheFox]

ok, i am interested to know if people think this is gross or not. 10 years ago i wouldn't have even considered it, but now with 2 in cloth nappies, it's seems like a no-brainer.
or should i try a mooncup?

I use washable pads, I have a mooncup and would love to get on with it but it always leaks a bit in the same place. I find my periods seem lighter with washables and I actually feel cleaner. There's no smell with cloth either and it doesn't end up in a landfill or a beach. I think disposables are way more gross for that reason!
For out an about you can get little bags or a nappy wet bag for the used ones. When I'm at home I just rinse the blood out and chuck them in the wash basket.

Disposable pads are made mostly out of wood pulp, which is bleached white using chlorine compounds, which produce dioxins (a known carcinogen) :(

This page gives some interesting things to think about

www.plushpants.co.uk/category/Natural%20Woman/extra_cat/Menstrual%20Products.html

Also this site www.tamponalert.org.uk/akta/faq.htm

Last link now www.wen.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/environmenstrualweb1.pdf

I made the switch to cloth purely because it was more comfortable, but the more I read about it, the more uneasy I am about the contents of disposable pads and the more certain I am that I don't ever want to use them again :(

I use both moon c and reusable pads.

This: Also, disposable things were seen as the way of the future, never mind that no one gave any thought to green issues.

Same goods for loads of 'convenience foods' which we now know are v unhealthy.

Well I hope you lot are proud of yourselves, you just cost me money! I've been flirting with the idea of washables since reading 'Kissing the Hag' by Emma Restall Orr (pagan and lentil weaver, so shoot me...) and now I read the thread and get totally drawn in!
Have ordered a couple of different sizes of the Imse Vimse pads. Not sure I could use a mooncup, not comfortable with the idea of anything inside... Well, not everything, I have manged to conceive 3 children but you know what I mean!

I don't find them more bulky, well apart from the night time ones, I do find the dont bunch up in your knickers like disposables do.

I guess its just a mindset for so many years convienance and throw away has been seen as the best thing in so many different contexts and that was quite understandable when we did not have access to the type of home electricals that we do now.

But nowadays reusables are not the faff and effort they used to be.

I've just ordered some. I'm 2 weeks post natal and really suffering from having to wear pads. I've been toying with the idea of washables for a while now but am so uncomfy that it's given me the push I needed.

I hope you all get on with them :)

I may treat myself and get some more muff fluff too :)

I didn't know you could get cloth pads
I do use a mooncup tho.
I get tranexamic acid for my heavy periods, it is brilliant, stops the flooding.

They are brilliant.

If you are worried about the price, then make your own it is easyI made a bag full about 5 years ago and haven't bought any disposable towels since. (or tampons which I could never get on with) I am crap at sewing and had a ancient sewing machine at the time.

I used a pattern from the internet, but to be honest I adapted it by looking at the shape of disposables. For fabric I used old tshirts and towels and bought a couple of offcuts of flannelette.

It is so lovely to just miss that aisle at the supermarket.

Hippymama, do you mean you use cloth wipes for when you go to the toilet?

If out and about I wipe my mooncup with a piece of loo roll. Comes perfectly clean. And some of my cloth pads are white. No stains & some are 8 years old - just soak them in cold water with a bit of salt in until you wash them.

Some people do - a good friend of mine has 'family cloth' that they leave in the bathroom and gets washed daily.

I don't use them, but i do use reusable wipes though on my little ones bums and noses - its much easier than trying to pick out the disposable ones when changing a nappy.

Has anyone else noticed a difference when using disposable pads after they had children? Part of the reason I looked into them was because of the discomfort when using them, I feel hot and itchy and had to avoid the scented things like the plague. In the few days after having Dd2 I had to take off the pad and improvise with a wedge of cottonwool and a flannel it got that bad!

Is there such a thing as washable post-birth sanpro that can cope with lochia? I found the disposable stuff made me feel horrendously itchy and unclean last time, would love a better option.

tepid you could just use the ones designed for night time.

Or I found these specifically for post-partum

Am checking out the sea sponge currently.

No idea what is happening with my fanjo at the moment, but tried to insert my mooncup earlier and couldn't get it in. So (so, tmi coming here...) tried to insert a finger to guide it in, and couldn't get a finger tip in, was like things were swollen but not painful. Then had a huge cramp attack in my abdomen / cervix area (I mean crying in a heap on the floor, doing labour breathing techniques), and couldn't move my left leg for half hour without nearly screaming. This was before I'd even started bleeding properly :( So back to a crappy disposable pad that I have a few of in my handbag, as my fucking body tends to have a period whenever it fancies it.

Are sponges harder or easier to get in that a mooncup technique wise?

Tepid on the link that Hugo did the night angel ones are rather good they dry quite quickly won't give you the sweaty feeling and there one of the cheaper options I think only wall to wall are cheaper.

Sirboob.

As it happened before? If so I hope you've seen a docter, that sounds dreadful. Are you in less pain now?

The sponge is Easter to insert because its Squidgey and its position does not need to be precise like a cup

Sorry for overshare, bit out of it tonight I have PCOS, waiting for another lapraoscopy, so have horrible pain pretty much constantly. This particular problem has never happened before though, no. It was bad enough for me to consider going to A&E at one point, but they would say "Oh we see you have a lap. booked for four weeks time, off you go", possibly with a side of "So I gather you have a mental health condition", which is what happened when I was landed there waiting for a neuro appointment a while back.

Could we campaign for wash basins in all ladies' loos please? I would love to try a mooncup type thing but with 5 days a week at work I would never have the balls to try one.
Disposable pads for night sound like a great idea. I get so grumpy with sweaty bum in the morning every morning. Is so uncomfortable.

I've read about 'family cloth' before, Dee, and I am a complete eco warrior - did cloth nappies and wipes too, as well as sanpro and nipple things for myself, but the reusable family cloth is possibly a bit much for me! Maybe ok for front wiping!

NumericalMum it took me a few goes before I'd risk work, but its only the first day or 2 when I need to empty my menstrual cup during a working day, and on those occasions, I line up a few bits of loo paper, pour the blood down the loo, wipe the outside, and put back in, then wipe fingers (which are rarely messy) before leaving the cubicle.
afaik, its OK to not wash every time - for example when facilities don't allow.

Ooh that sounds feasible. Since I have had the coil I get a couple of days of really heavy flow. Super plus extra tampons in 3 hours. Would a mooncup cope?