Cloth sanitary towel recommendations

[danceswithdeath]

So I am ready for the change!

I hardly wear tampons anymore due to my endometriosis, they usually hurt. I much prefer towels now. But I'm thinking about our world a bit more now that I am older.

There are SO many brands out there.

I also need it to be cost efficient too.

I need ones that will hold for my heavy period. Also night ones too!

Advice and recommendations are welcome please!

Bloom and Nora are amazing, would highly recommend. They're surprisingly absorbent too, even in small sizes.

Thank you! I have seen them actually.

I know it's pretty hard to say, but how many should I be ordering? And I'm aware I'll be changing them more than throw away towels @martingoresnipplechain ?

I never got on with tampons either, they gave me terrible cramps. I now use a moon cup, which is incredibly comfortable and even on really heavy days doesn't leak. I do have to empty it every few hours on those days though. I then have a few bloom and nora pads for night. Having used this combo for about a year, I wonder why I endured such horrible periods before! I hate to be the "use a moon cup" wanker on a thread, but here I am!!

@danceswithdeath I initially bought a 'trial' pack which contained four pads of varying absorbencies. Once I figured out which ones worked for me I then bought four more in the sizes I most often used. Having eight has worked pretty well for me, but I do pop them through the wash daily as I hate the idea of stressing about not having enough when out and about etc. I think the company itself actually recommends having 8 - 12 pads depending on flow, based on washing every other day.

I have actually found that I have to change them less than I did when I used disposables. You don't seem to get the horrible 'wet' and heavy feeling of them (not sure how else to explain it!) as I think they wick the moisture away much more efficiently. Contrary to popular assumptions, I've also not found them to have any odour.

I think I will get round to trying a mooncup in the near future so I have a reusable option for when I want to go swimming but the pads work so well for general day to day use that I would recommend them to anybody.

I've tried several brands and my favourites are the imse vimse ones. I use the longer night towels as I need the extra length, they absorb loads but are not thick and bulky. I have six (two packs of three), ideally I could do with two or three more, I also have a few smaller towels for lighter flow.
I have a small lidded bucket under the sink that I soak the pads in when they've been used, then when I'm doing a load of laundry I put them in the machine on a short, cold rinse cycle, before adding the rest of the laundry and washing as normal.

NannyR do you mind me asking which side of the patterned one gets bloody?
TIA