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AIBU?

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Original poster

To wonder why more people don't use cloth sanitary pads?

596 replies

Bex107 · 03/12/2016 10:57

They have changed my life, and I'm so sad I didn't discover them sooner! When my periods came waltzing back just three months after DS arrived I couldn't bear the thought of tampons or plasticky towels, but I couldn't find anyone I knew who'd used cloth. They are bloody (!) wonderful, if you're considering it give them a go - I wish I'd had someone to tell me that!

OP posts:
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AnaG1ypta · 08/12/2016 21:48

I made my own. Well, I made them for DS1 initially as nappy boosters but we shared. I shared with DS2 as well. But now they're just mine! Considering I made them nearly 13 years ago from jumpers and brushed cotton sheets from charity shops I've got to be halfway to saving the planet singlehandedly?!

nichito · 08/12/2016 22:06

Lol at "they smell".

Errrr, no, they really don't. When you leak into a pair of knickers, they don't smell of a used sanitary towel, do they?

Used disposable sanitary towels really pong. I do have a good nose, but I can smell a used one from a good few feet away. I got into cloth pads via a woman who was possibly the only self-confessed external sanpro (i.e. pad rather than cup/tampon) user I had encountered that I couldn't smell when I sat right next to.

It is IME largely caused by (or certainly exacerbated by) the foul "perfume" they stick in the disposables. It reacts with the oxidised blood and is utterly boak-worthy.

Mindtrope · 08/12/2016 22:15

Most disposable sanitary towels don't contain perfume.

Why would a cloth one smell any less than a disposable towel?

BroomstickOfLove · 08/12/2016 22:32

I think it's down to sweat, too, like the difference between wearing a cotton or polyester shirt.

BroomstickOfLove · 08/12/2016 22:33

I do notice a smell difference between cloth and disposables, and the cloth ones are noticeably more pleasant.

Mindtrope · 08/12/2016 22:37

broomstick, I can't see why that would be that case.

Disposables are always going to be cleaner than cloth, as they will harbour almost no residual bacteria, And unless you boil cloth pads they will always have bacterial and fungal spores living in them.

NannyR · 08/12/2016 22:46

I also find a difference in the smell. If I wear a disposable pad when I'm expecting my period, I find that I need to change the "clean" towel during the day because of a sweaty, unpleasant smell that is very noticeable. This is with unperfumed towels (which are quite hard to get hold of). I don't get that same smell with a cloth pad or liner and can wear the same 'just in case' pad all day, it smells no worse than wearing a pair of knickers all day.

savagehk · 08/12/2016 22:50

In my experience used cloth pads really don't smell and disposables do. And moon cup blood doesn't smell to me, certainly nothing like a used tampon (which has quite a distinctive smell imo). I don't know why.
(My disposables were non scented Naturcare ones so not confusing scent either)
Since moving to a moon cup i find tampons really uncomfortable, as if they dry me out.

Embley · 08/12/2016 22:55

I use moon cups and clothing pads. I have a really heavy flow (change the moon cup every hour on worst days) my periods are so much easier to manage since I switched. I find the moon cup and cloth pads comfier, and they definitely don't smell! And I've never had a leak with them.

Embley · 08/12/2016 22:58

Also moon cups hold about 3 times as much as a superplus tampon

BroomstickOfLove · 08/12/2016 23:14

Mindtrope, it's like clothes. If you have a pair of cotton socks, they will, presumably, be harbouring bacteria and fungal spores in much the same way as a cloth pad would. If you put an ordinary cotton sock on your left foot, and then take the right sock and stick an Always Ultra pad down the inside of it so that your foot is in contact with it for the next couple of hours, and then go for a run, I suspect that the pad + sock would be sweatier and more smelly than the plain sock, because the foot with the pad would have sweated more and the sweat been trapped in the plastic backing (or whatever it is that makes artificial fibres stinkier than natural ones).

I'm not actually going to try that out, because I suspect that it would be a recipe for blisters.

Mindtrope · 09/12/2016 06:31

broomstick- but many of us like that waterproof backing.

And not many of us would wear the same disposable pad all day.
Yes a sock will harbour germs like a cotton pad, but my foot is not open to infection in the same way that a vagina is.
And some up thread tell me they wear cloth pads with a waterproof backing, so I don't see why that should smell less than a disposable pad if you were to leave it on all day.

TheKitchenWitch · 09/12/2016 07:23

Mine have arrived! Vair vair pretty.
Just have to wait for my period now, due any day.

BroomstickOfLove · 09/12/2016 07:30

I don't think that anyone wear a cotton pad all day - they aren't that much better than disposables! I wouldn't wear either one for long, unless it was as back-up for a tampon or cup.

I have never heard of anyone developing an infection from using a cloth pad, while I know of many people who experience thrush or irritation from disposables.

There seems to be a suggestion from some people that cloth pads are smelly and unhygienic, whereas most people who use them find that the opposite is the case.

I don't hate disposable pads - I have an emergency pack in my bathroom which I am happy to use if I need them. they have their advantages: they are slimmer and easier to carry around, they show less under very clingy clothes, they are much cheaper in terms of initial purchase cost, they don't require any ongoing maintenance, as you just throw them away once used, and they are so lightweight that they can be barely noticeable.

But as a general rule, I prefer cloth. They are a one-time purchase, so I don't need to keep buying them or worry about running out. They seem to leak less when I use them, and be more absorbent. They feel more pleasant on my skin, and less sweaty. I like the way they look.

Overall, I find using them more pleasant than using a disposable pad. It's not a huge difference, but over time the pleasantness and cost savings add up to make the small difference a significant one.

Mindtrope · 09/12/2016 07:33

I wear a disposable pad when I'm expecting my period, I find that I need to change the "clean" towel during the day because of a sweaty, unpleasant smell

. I don't get that same smell with a cloth pad or liner and can wear the same 'just in case' pad all day,

Clearly some people expect to wear the same pad all day.

BroomstickOfLove · 09/12/2016 07:38

But that's not when they are actually bleeding on the pad, and is just the same as wearing the same pair of knickers all day. I think that the PUL lining is possibly breathable. I do agree that when wearing a cloth pad as a panty liner, it feels and smells the same as cotton underwear, whereas a disposable pad doesn't.

Mindtrope · 09/12/2016 07:45

PUL is Polyurethane, a type of plastic -water proof, and the same plastic film that is used in disposable pads.

deeedeee · 09/12/2016 07:51

Mind trope, do you always repeatedly argue that theoretical assumptions are superior to empirical evidence?

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 09/12/2016 08:39

It's a very long thread and I haven't read it all but what puts me off these re-usable pads is CLOTS. I get those sometimes, big, gloopy ones. The idea of putting a pad with clots in/on it into the washing machine makes me feel very squeamish.

Randonneur · 09/12/2016 09:15

And unless you boil cloth pads they will always have bacterial and fungal spores living in them.

Non-bio powder has bleaching agents that get rid of this. I mentioned the waterproof backing - it's pul which is waterproof but breathable.

We moved recently and I couldn't find my mooncup or cloth pads so used disposables and tampons (I need both). They definitely smelt worse in my experience.

I don't care what anyone else does in their pants but I find it weird that some people feel able to tell me how disgusting cloth pads are without ever using them.

FizzBombBathTime · 09/12/2016 09:36

Non-bio powder has bleaching
agents that get rid of this.

Bio powder/gel is better for removing protein based stains as it contains enzymes. Also it contains better rinsers so there is no/less residue left on the clothes after a wash. You can wash things with bio at lower temperatures and still get decent stain removal.

Mindtrope · 09/12/2016 10:00

Bio powder does not kill microbes.

TaraCarter · 09/12/2016 10:19

But for a cotton wool tampon to be drawing blood from the uterine lining it would have to travel the distance of the cervix. I honestly can't see how a tampon, sitting in the vagina maybe not even up against the cervix, can have an effect on blood flow inside the uterus.

Osmosis/diffusion.
It's incredibly effective. In this case, a dry absorbent object pressed to one side of an open aperture seems a very plausible distance for it . Did you ever do the experiment of dipping a dry paper kitchen towel in a cup of water and seeing how long it took the water to travel the length of the towel?

Perhaps especially plausible to me, as I've always thought my period finishes more quickly if I do use tampons. (It may be relevant here that I don't generally have cramps.)

Mindtrope · 09/12/2016 10:54

Tara I think that's capillary action you are describing rather than osmosis.

Sparrowlegs248 · 09/12/2016 12:19

I get an unpleasant smell with a disposable, even when not on my period. I always assumed it was due to the plasticky make up of them. I don't get the smell with a cloth pad.

If I was expecting a period and used a disposable I would change it several times a day. A cloth pad could be worn all day, with no smell or sweatiness, only changing if period arrived. (to change for a thicker pad)