Washable sanitary pads - icky / not icky?

[isaidno]

While surfing sites for washable nappies I keep coming across washable sanitary towels.

I am interested, but wonder if they are really any good.

Can anyone recommend any?

I have considered a mooncup, but not convinced about that either...

Can I ask what you do if you use washable pads and need to change one while at work or out and about?

Do you end up with a handbag full of bloody towels to take home on the Tube? Do you use those perfumed little nappy bags?

I think it is the transporting of used towels that I would find icky.

Thanks BlueD - wow - it looks too good to be true. Hope it's ok for swimming - has anyone got any experience of using it whilst swimming? Is it uncomfortable to put in? (I don't even like putting in tampons so this is important for me!)

Not icky at all, fab. So much more comfy than plasticky sweaty Always pads. Mooncup is good too.

You can fold them up neatly and wrap them anything you like.

I have a little Liberty print drawstring bag , which is lined with plastic (like a tiny wash bag). I don't know what it was originally designed for, but it's ideal!

I really really love my mooncup, honestly you will find people are evangelical about them
fine for swimming
very very clean.
I am not sure about if you are not keen on putting a tapmon in though, because you do need to use the same manouevre (sp?)

i've started experimenting with dd's bamboo boosters - mostly cos didn't have anything else in house - first period in around 2 years and couldn't remember where I'd stored everything. they worked really well, I was impressed
be careful with mooncups if you've got a coil fitted. anecdotal stories of the suction pulling the coil out. happened to my sis, don't know if cos of mooncup or not though

My solution (& it's the same with nappies tbh) is - disposables for out & about, washables at home. Every time I don't use a disp. nappy or pad/tampon, I'm being ever so slightly more ethical & saving a few p. I figure that it all adds up!

Not sure there'd me much point if you carried them home in nappy bags: also, would indeed be v icky in handbag!

Morocco, also started off using nappy boosters - then started filling stuffables with any old towel squares, & decided they could reasonably be expected to multitask...

Thank you for this thread, I've been starting to think of what I'm going to use when I get back to 'normal' - they sound great.

I use washable pads. For icky health reasons I've had to use a pad almost continuously for six months and believe me, even "eco" paper ones make you uncomfortable after that length of time. Fabric ones are soft and don't hurt one's tender nether regions.

If you are worried about staining choose a patterned fabric.

I tried a mooncup for my last period. It worked fine once it was in but all that stuffing in and trying to dig it out made me quite distressed (more than one attempt needed). Will it get better?

Far far worse than a tampon in terms of application and removal, I thought.

not at all icky.i use fairy hammocks.so much nicer than disposables.

I use washables - I think I got them from treehuggermums.

They wash clean fine at 30 degrees. I soak them in a lidded bucket, rinse them before washing and chuck them in with the rest of the coloured wash.

The bit I do find rather icky is the smell tbh and I definitely make a point of trying not to touch them when I rinse them out.

Other than that I think mine are fab

The ones that are topped with fleece stain far less easily than ones topped with flannel IME.
Also, I have heavy periods and find that if I don't use ones with a PUL layer, I get leaks. I will be trying a mooncup whenever my periods return.( Hopefully not for a while, exclusively bfing at the moment!)

i did always think 'ugh, gross, why why why?'

but motherhood has cured me of any dignity squeamishness i had

i now have a mooncup (which i am having a bit of an issue with, but love the concept in general; the not drying you out thing is really really good.) and washable liners.

the washable liners, i wouldnt use on their own simply coz i just dont like pads, feel icky. my liners are great, theyre black so no staining and minkee so really soft. yummy. have heard that you can get wool backed ones too which are more breathable.

have recently discovered 'instead', a kind of mooncup thats disposable, you wear it higher up and apparently you can have blood-free sex with it in. am waiting for period to arrive to test them out.

right then girls, have a new top tip for you all from a website I just googled
apparently you can recycle the water you soak your pads in by watering your houseplants with it - good for nutrients apparently
not entirely sure how I feel about that

I saw that advice before, morocco and my first thought was that if my neighours saw me emptying bloody water over my plants they would probably call the police!

I use a mooncup, though on the last day or two I use washable pantiliners. These are great - comfy, soft, very absorbant, no leaks and NO SMELL! No matter how clean I was, with disposable pads there always seemed to be an odour. Not with cloth though! They are brilliant, and certainly not "icky". I rinse them under the cold tap and this gets 90% off. Then, I sprinkle a bit of salt on the stain and bung them in the washer. Ta-dah - no stains, just clean.
I got mine from www.angeltots.co.uk and also some from www.lunawolf.co.uk. Also got some for my daughter for when she starts her periods. She thinks they are great, comfier than the disposable sort (she's had a little dry run shall we say!) and so much prettier.
I now feel completely self sufficient! I will never have to line the pockets of Procter & Gamble again!

Thanks everyone. My baby is due in 3 weeks, and then I plan to bf for 12 mths or so. When my periods eventually return I will look into getting a couple of pads and poss a mooncup.

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somewhere there must surely be instructions for making washable sanpro, surely? I bet our grannies (great grannies) knew how!

washables are much better in my experience than disposables. morrocco - i do the plant watering thing and it does seem to be good for the plants! just soak them in cold water in a jar/small bowl under the sink to keep out of view for that day then wring them out and bung them in the washing machine. patterned fabrics put to rest any worries about stains but if you have white ones you just hang them in sunlight to whiten them. i've got red ones with thomas the tank engine on them that i made sickly enough! was the only red shade of flannel i could buy at the time! not hard to make if you're of the sewing kind. just a round disc with a gusset shaped layer in the middle - so you can make it as many layers as you like depending on how heavy your period is and then a dome on each side to button it under your knickers. ok thats enough revealing of self!

I have used washable pads for a couple of years now and I have built up a nice selection!
Even trained my bh to rinse them out for me!!

The only time I ever saw reusable towels was when we were in Bulgaria 1974, (a third world country at the time) and thought it was rather degrading. They were hanging out of a hotel window to dry.

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