Scented sanitary towels

[HavingALittleBabyToolshed]

Nearly every week I see a thread started on MN about scented sanitary towels and almost every single day I see them referred to on some thread or other.
At work we see a lot of women, who whilst they come in with something far more serious, are also impacted by thrush, itching and various other irritations because of highly scented plastics worn against the skin.

When I have my period I try to use my mooncup or reusable towels but sometimes (if I come on unexpectedly at work or out and about) I’ll buy pads which 9/10 cause me irritation because of scent.
The whole sanitary protection aisle stinks of this weird part floral/part talc stench which means you cannot discern which brand does or doesn’t smell.
Some are even marked “perfume free” but perfume free does not mean scent free.

This has such an impact on young girls who are largely reliant on what their parents buy, on women and girls on low incomes who don’t have the money to shell out on large one time spends for mooncup and anyway let’s face it they aren’t really for young girls just starting their periods and feeling overwhelmed or something every woman feels comfortable with.

Why on earth to brands like Always, Bodyform etc. feel the need to floral our fannies? Why are our periods so disgusting and revolting to them?
Are they in bed with vagisil etc.?

I truly believe this is something we should tackle as feminists because it is bonkers.

I have an awful reaction to scented towels what concerns me is, I donate towels for girls/women in other countries where sanitary protection is not widely available, what if one of these girls/woman have a similar reaction. Do I now only donate scent free and what do I do with all the packets of scented ones I have bought by mistake?

Someone did write to (Always?) about this and got a cut and paste email back. It basically went;
''We did market research asking if women valued 'freshness' during their period. Thank you for your interest and here's a list of our products.''

They must think we don't know how market research works.

I’d never really noticed the perfume in sanitary towels, but then a couple of years ago I was at the pub with a friend and she spilt something down her leg, can’t remember what. Neither of us had any tissues so I gave her a sanitary towel, told her to wet it and wipe herself off. It stank, and we could both smell it for the rest of the evening.

Sanitary towels smell awful, and when mixed with sweat and menstrual blood they stink. I’ve started using a moon cup, but still use pads because I’m very heavy, so might look at getting some reusables.

Thanks Vix I’ll have a look

I meant to post as I bought bodyform the other day and did not need to double check with a theatrical sniff in the "feminine hygiene" aisle.

Cos the bloody legends have put "Perfume Free" on the front, in visible lettering.

Well done Bodyform.

I now use a mix of reusable and supermarket own brand pads. It's actually saved us money as supermarket own brands - in our case tesco are a lot cheaper.

Doing same of DD1 - giving her choice - will be gettig her some of those pants with inbuilt pads at some point as well.

I'm hoping the supermarekt ones don't follow the main brands and do this.

I don't understand why they are doing it - i'd still be using always products if they hadn't.

I used to use Bodyform and did so without any problems for a decade or two. Then a couple of years ago I had a massive allergic reaction that left me really rather unwell.

I emailed the company to ask what had changed in their formulation and got a very snotty response about how they are not required by law to list ingredients and wouldn’t be answering my question due to ‘issues of corporate sensitivity’.

I used the organic ones from boots for a while but they only stock them in the biggest stores, tried a cup (got contact dermatitis internally - never again!) and then started using the new ‘Always Sensitive’ ones - think they’ve changed the glue though because i’ve had a reaction to them recently too.

Now I resort to cut up flannel in massive sturdy knickers, and a few washable ones. Keep thinking I should buy some more but I find out if I’ll need an oophorectomy on the 6th of September so I’m waiting until after then.

Since having a baby I can no longer use tampons and it feels like a lottery every time I buy sanitary towels. If I avoid the awful pong then I still seem to end up with something plasticky. Can we please have a list of unscented and not plasticky towels. I have one pair of absorbent knickers that I am too scared to try out on a proper flow day but that might be the answer. That said the fabric is synthetic and the cost £25 a pair!

I looked into ‘Thinx’ but I can’t even wear Lycra gym pants without getting BV, so nope, not risking buying a bunch of expensive but useless polyester knickers!

I wrote to always a while ago about this and they said that their customers want scented pads.

If that’s true (and I’m sure it is because brands are pretty good at knowing what their customers want and will buy), a better campaign point might be for them to highlight much more clearly on the packaging whether the pads are scented or not.

I'm really concerned about this "marked unperfumed but still scented" thing. I've been using full reusable stuff for 15+ years (oh yes, I have been weaving my own yoghurt for a while!), so I've been totally oblivious to perfumes and just buying whatever my daughter prefers. A list of what to avoid would be great.

Natracare seem to be as free from everything as possible so I've just ordered some for her. Probably more expensive, but since mine cost nothing I can deal with that.

These are the best I’ve found, but haven’t used them in over a year (inconvenient to buy locally) so they might have changed formulation since then:

www.boots.com/cottons-ultra-thin-pads-with-wings-normal-14-pack-10068574

These look good but haven’t tried them personally:

www.naturalcollection.com/shop/naty-nature-womencare-sanitary-towels---normal---pack-of-15-by-nature-babycare/?PCode=DSGPESS15&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4YLVjcmU3QIVCrHtCh36RgmoEAQYAiABEgK0ZfD_BwE

These are ok, but if they get scrunched up and the adhesive strip touches my skin, I know about it!

www.superdrug.com/Toiletries/Feminine-Care/Thin-Sanitary-Towels/Always-Sensitive-Ultra-Normal-Wings-Sanitary-Towels-14pk/p/414401?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0K7_7MmU3QIVq7DtCh30gQQBEAQYBCABEgIvb_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CNq6uPLJlN0CFVUU4AodGlYJCw

It's not just periods though. It's pads for days when you excrete normal secretions as part of the periodic cycle. Then when that finishes, as it will do naturally for all women, it's onto the pads for those little moments in life when you laugh or engage in strenuous activities that means a loss of urine (a minimal loss, it's natural in both men and women). I'm also seeing this being marketed at women in a younger age group, obviously as part of post birth.

FFS it's never ending for women. The shame of excreting fluids as part of the natural life cycle of being an adult human female. Who should always be fragrant.

I gave up wearing perfume a long time ago.

Men are never scrutinised to this intensely personal part of being an adult human.

@JustLikeBefore, I've had a look at the article. Mass spectrometry is incredibly sensitive and it's unsurprising that an absorbent pad would pick up VOCs during manufacture.

To put it in perspective, the worst offender for acetone (Clean Scent Always Extra Thin) contained 480 parts per billion by volume and a 32 pack has a total volume (including packaging, I'm afraid I don't have that particular brand to hand to measure the volume of an individual pad so this will increase the calculated volume of acetone) of 1.588 litres. That means that the entire 32 pack contains, at an absolute maximum, 0.7 μl of acetone. In other words, a single drop of nail polish remover in my shoe would likely result in several orders more ending up between my legs.

Chemicals can sound scary and may have scary consequences at higher levels but a little perspective is important. As another example, styrene is a known carcinogen and exposure at high levels should be avoided but you'd be exposed to several orders more from being in the same room as an electric heater with plastic components than you would from one of these pads.

I always thought pantyliners were unnecessary placemats

Then I became perimenopausal

Not everyone has a predictable cycle throughout their menstruating years, nor levels of efflux which do not soak through.

Sainsburys and Tesco own brand aren't scented, I have the dreaded permimenopause flooding and use Kotex nighttime maxi pads and sometimes Lidl incontinence pads. I'm not that fond of Boots own brand, Aldi or Morrisons own.

Some good recommendations here. I can't do a mooncup, I have tried. I use Always and hate hate hate the horrible fake floral sweet scent. It's definitely worse than it used to be.

What would help would be a list of genuinely no-pong disposable towels

Yes this would be very helpful.

I can't wear moon cup or tampons.

I have always worn always ultra pads (and I don't think they used to smell as bad) but it has got to the point where the smell makes me gag. I swear I can smell myself when I'm clothed. I keep meaning to change but there is such a bit selection and I always feel a bit bamboozled.

big not bit

It's definitely worse than it used to be

I'm glad it's not just me that thinks this.
I wondered if I was imagining it or if it was a peri menopausal smell sensitivity :D

Momento the three types I listed above as good for sensitive people/allergy sufferers are all pong free (although manufacturers keep meddling with their formulations, so amost as soon as I find something suitable and convenient, I have to start looking again!)

If you can afford it and are organised enough to buy online, the organic ones are always safest, as the smell ingredients and plasticky stuff doesn’t qualify, naturally.

Thanks Betty

Gronky thank you for looking over it with scientific eye. I knew some would be able to break it down to level I could understand.

What one of the links highlights though, is the skin being exposed to these trace elements constantly, especially delicate tissue areas, such as the labia, to me it's more like having these chemicals on your lips or inside your mouth day in day out. (I don't mean through ingesting)

It must have some effect because so many people have reported irritation and rashes and thrush. Plus people have called for studies and research to done, yet none have been. Why?

What one of the links highlights though, is the skin being exposed to these trace elements constantly, especially delicate tissue areas, such as the labia, to me it's more like having these chemicals on your lips or inside your mouth day in day out. (I don't mean through ingesting)

The exposure won't be constant because those compounds are volatile. Imagine pressing a cotton ball with a tiny amount of alcohol on your skin, you'll cause the alcohol to evaporate and some will surround your skin in the form of vapour but it will preferentially be driven off into the air (in the same way food dries out and loses its flavour in the fridge, even after it cools, the comparatively cooler elements at the back set up a transfer of water and volatiles away from the food).

The only way they'd stay in contact with your skin (or other parts of the body) is if there were an impermeable membrane adhered to your body (I realise the base layer is impermeable but there will still be air circulation around the sides, which is improved by any movement). This would include a surrounding patch of impermeable adhesive, so essentially an adhesive bandage.

It must have some effect because so many people have reported irritation and rashes and thrush. Plus people have called for studies and research to done, yet none have been. Why?

Any material held tightly enough against the body will cause those symptoms because of trapped moisture, friction and trapped dead cells. If you took a pure cotton conforming bandage (no adhesive, just held in place by its elasticity) and wrapped it around your body, you would get irritation and a rash eventually. Ultimately, any device that's required to prevent fluids from reaching your underwear is going to retain those fluids and other bodily materials close to your body.

There have been studies, I'd advise looking on pubmed, I'm afraid feminine hygiene products (from a research standpoint) isn't an area of specific expertise for me so I don't have a working knowledge of the entire field of associated literature but here's a couple that popped up relating to thrush [candidiasis]:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25128928
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21798535

Potentially, the women reporting these symptoms would have had similar experiences even if they practiced open free bleeding. Vaginas are very sensitive, both to irritation and to infection. The idea of a perfectly sterile, odourless vagina is something of a patriarchal myth (though some women are more fortunate than others).

Just wanted to add, that I may have been a little unclear regarding specific health risks, short term irritation is unavoidable as a consequence of the requirement, infection doesn't seem to be an associated risk.