AIBU to not wear panty liners every day?

[Sammysees]

Tbh this is a complete new one for me. Was having a conversation with a friend yesterday who wears panty liners every day and has done since she was 15. I’d never heard of this before and told her so. She told me I was a manky minge and that everybody wore them. Is this true? Thoughts please ....

I will add my 2 pairs are day ones and clean pair at night. The 3rd pair is for gym days as i do sweat when working out 😂

Heaven forbid that women should be able to make the judgement about how best to meet the needs of their own medical conditions or deal with their own personal discomfort without being derided as the victims of marketing, or men's opinions...

"does anyone think the remaining liner users would choose to buy the things unless they had genuine cause to do so?"

Yes.

I have cloth pads that I use for periods, stress incontinence when I have a cold, and heavy discharge times. Wee Notions products were life-changing for me, they have a range of absorbency levels and sizes (I have light and medium in normal length and find them pretty lightweight and their poppers keep them in place pretty well). It's just more absorbent and comfortable than just wearing pants.

Before using them I might need to check my pants/trousers/where I had sat regularly and it was quite uncomfortable & embarrassing. I can see why people who use disposable menstrual products might use disposable products to deal with it rather than live like that though I find disposables really irritating too which is how I ended up finding cloth versions. I might not have found them otherwise.

For getting air, yeah, I go commando at night and when I can get away with it, I do greatly prefer boxers for comfort. Sadly my body doesn't always agree with that.

Another resounding success for the marketing industry. They didn't exist until a couple of decades ago and women were just fine without them.

True enough they're a relatively recent invention but I very much doubt women who have large amounts of discharge were 'fine' without them. They were more likely to use standard sanitary towels instead, or change their knickers more frequently. Bear in mind it was only a few decades ago that discussion of periods outside of a doctor's surgery or a hospital was largely considered taboo. It was even less likely women would talk about discharge and how they managed it. They'd just have to get on with it and probably felt isolated and embarrassed and/or worried. Going by this thread, I'm not sure current day attitudes are very much more enlightened in some quarters.

Hmm I wonder if there’d be a market for bamboo knickers (they absorb and hold more liquid than cotton) and maybe with an extra layer of bamboo fabric in the gusset?

Several bamboo ones available on Amazon.

I am in shock at the tone and judgement in this thread. People post without reading other answers, so it goes on and on showing appalling ignorance and lack of respect.

To the ecowarriors that blame panty liners users for destroying the planet: I hope you always use reusable pads, tampons, baby nappies, make-up removing discs, kitchen towel, kitchen serviettes, cotton buds, plasters, dental floss and interdental brushes.

I needed them when I was pregnant but otherwise I find the plastic of them makes me all sweaty.

Hmm I wonder if there’d be a market for bamboo knickers (they absorb and hold more liquid than cotton) and maybe with an extra layer of bamboo fabric in the gusset?

I'd buy those- I used to have some amazing sloggi undies that had a stretchy almost towelling gusset lining. They were amazing, very breathable but just absorbent enough for those moister days or very end of a period.

I have the mirena coil so I get a small amount of bloody discharge each month rather than a period and slightly absorbent undies would be perfect for that- I wouldn't want the thinx style undies for that as they'd be too thick and I think they have plasticy bits (PUL) in the gusset to stop leaks.

Modern knickers never feel substantial enough to me- every time I buy new ones they seem more and more flimsy. I like pants that hold you right in!

The mortification of the wet patch on seat at 13and then the one time the same after an interview when an adult means they are worn daily. Thanks to those for trying to make me feel shit but I don't. I won't allow strangers to do that. Some people just don't have the intelligence to realise that not every person is the same or having the same experiences as them.

I love how some people are saying "why would you wear these - just change your knickers" ok I'll just pack 5 pairs of knickers everyday and spend many minutes every time in the loo at work changing my pants when I could just wear 1 liner all day. All of you must really have no discharge at all - lucky you but you know what us super moist woman are also super fertile so yay for us! Also stop being rude. I will report any thread that comes up next saying "ewww" so pathetic from adult women.

I think short of a large-scale survey of panty-liner use, we can't really know if most users are victims of marketing of just under-provided-for in terms of discharge.

I shouldn't imagine most of them find their own bodies "disgusting", more likely just inconvenient in terms of modern day clothing and activity levels. Maybe there actually should be (sustainable) products marketed specifically for this purpose, if it's something women want and are repurposing sanitary supplies for? I don't know, it's interesting to think about.

I would definitely have said yes to a thicker gusset pre-dc, back when this may have been a consideration for me.

For those of you with a lot of discharge, would it be worth wearing THINX knickers?

Period knickers cost a bomb! And there isn't exactly the variety of styles you can get by just wearing your favourite undies with a liner I shouldn't think.

Yuck no. My mother made me wear them as a teen because she always wore one. Once I hit my 20s and moved out of home I stopped wearing them... mainly because the thought of getting intimate with some guy and then he pulls down my knickers and finds a liner. Eek!

So maybe a few women have excessive discharge, but not most. I have learnt since being on MN that there are plenty of women that have obsessive hygiene habits, eg. those that wash towels after every use, use disposable toilet brushes and bleach the toilet after every use, change their bed sheets daily, shower for 45 minutes, etc. etc. Therefore, I fully believe that there are lots of women out there that needlessly wear pantyliners because they believe it makes them 'cleaner', but in reality is just wasteful.

@MrTrebus bit of a low blow to anyone struggling with fertility??

And BS anyway, Iv never worn a pantyliner and can go without undies if needs be and pregnant with my third

Do women really have so much vaginal mucus/discharge that it not only soaks their underwear but seeps through to make a visible stain on the back of their skirt/trousers?

I'm in my late 50s so these products weren't really around when I was a young woman.

I realise that women are different but not only have I never had difficulties of this type but none of my female friends - though quite outspoken re periods - have ever spoken to me about having difficulties of this kind.

I never have. I only realised recently that some people wear them all the time. I just change my underwear more often.

This thread is horrible to read. So many nasty comments about women having normal, healthy discharge. Would it be acceptable for those who need liners to turn round and make nasty comments to those who don't about having dried up old minges? No, didn't think so.

Of course some women.need them. But this thread is about whether all women should wear one all the time, and whether it is unclean not to. The only reason Some people think this is because they have been sold the idea by advertisers. No shame in that-we are all victims of consumerism! The only reason I'm not a victim of this particular one is that I come from the pre panty liner era, so have only ever used one when I had thrush or unusually heavy discharge for some other reason. And it is an important issue because the damage to the environment is mind boggling-we really should be thinking before we use resources we don't need to.

I would need about 6 pairs of period knickers, and I dont have £300 to spend on them.

I'm not stupid, or gullible, or a victim of marketing. I dont think I smell. But I do know when I've left a damp patch on a chair, or when my period is so heavy my Super Plus tampon has leaked after an hour, and I'm the one that has to wash my knickers.

Fucking hell, Pandora. Obviously, seeing as people have said they do. JFC.

Im not super fertile either. Secondary infertility, peri since my early 30s after a Clomid baby, so yay for that assumption too.

Stop making women feel shite, if you choose to use liners that's your personal decision and nobody else's as for having a leaky vagina yep I'm normal and a human being thanks

I don’t. Doesn’t make sense to me. But then everyone isn’t me. If some women feel fresher with a daily panty liner then fine whatever. Rude to call you minging tho?? I would suggest washables—they do panty liner-esque washables right? So much less wastage and better cost wise in the long run.

Oh, I have a leaky fanj some days. But pants contain it. Then I wash the pants. I thought that was what most people did. If I have heavy period I use sanitary towels

Well kind of but I just call them pants.