Washable Sanitary Pads -
A Convert to Cloth
A Convert to Cloth
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Looking back, I don't know why I reacted so strongly - I suppose I had been raised to see menstruation as something "not quite nice" and unclean - the product of menstruation as filthy rubbish that should be removed from the house as quickly as possible. A few years ago, I was on a beach holiday in Wales that was ruined by the sewage waste all over the beach - as far as the eye could see, there were used nappies, condoms and sanitary wear. It made a big impact on me, and from that time on, I never flushed sanitary towels or tampons down the toilet, but always disposed of them "hygeinically". I suppose the irony was that I didn't think about where they went after I'd neatly bagged them up in plastic, and placed them in my wheelie bin. When I had my children, I became very unhappy about disposable nappies (diapers), for cost, health and enviromental reasons and used cloth nappies instead, which I was very happy with (read my article Whatever happened to terries? on the subject). When I was washing a batch of nappies one day, I began to wonder what the difference was - why not use cloth sanitary pads, as well as cloth nappies? I started to see my aversion to the idea as somewhat illogical. Problems with DisposablesMeanwhile, I wasn't doing so well with disposable sanitary pads. I hadn't had many periods, due to being almost continuously pregnant or breastfeeding for 4 years, but I usually bled for up to 7 weeks after each birth, and by the end of that, I was so fed up with sanitary pads. They were damp, they were uncomfortable, they chaffed and what was more, they were expensive. I got vaginal thrush as a result of being permenantly damp (despite the "one way liners", which in my experience, simply serve to keep the moisture on the skin, not away from it). The straw that finally broke the camel's back was when I realised I had some sort of contact allergy to the gel-type sanitary pads, shortly after my periods finally returned. I couldn't use tampons, due to a vaginal prolapse (see my article on the subject), but anyway, I personally am concerned about the safety issues (toxic shock syndrome etc), and they are very irritating, having absorbant material against tissues that are not designed to be dried out. One evening, miserably sitting with a terry nappy instead of a sanitary pad, it suddenly hit me that there had to be a better way. So I tentatively started asking my friends on SAH-AP about their experience of cloth pads. The response was universally positive (apart from minor discussions about which brand, homemade or commercially made, organic cotton, or dyed cotton etc): "They are so much more comfortable!" many of my friends said; "They must have saved me a fortune"; "None of that nasty, drying gel stuff". Mysteriously, several women claimed they made their periods lighter, which didn't make any sense until I realised that either it was because, being more comfortable, a heavy period wasn't such an inconvenience; or possibly because of some kind of "wick effect" the disposables have with those hydrophillic gels in them. Giving Cloth a TryI was getting desperate, so I decided to give them a try. I ordered a set of 8 pads from The Carrying Kind, a mail order company specialising in natural/eco-friendly baby products, which I heard about from the Women's Enviromental Network. When they arrived, they were neatly made items, made from very soft, patterned cotton, in a bundle tied up with a purple ribbon. This probably sounds a wierd thing to say about sanitary protection, but they were so beautiful, I couldn't wait to try them out! The construction was simple but ingenious: an outer "envelope", made from floral print cotton, with a nylon-lined backing. A rectangle of the white cotton cloth is folded up and tucked inside the outer cover - different sizes of rectangle for the different "strength" pads. When you launder them, you remove the folded rectangle and this makes drying them very fast, particularly if, like me, you dry them on a radiator. The kind I have have a popper (snap) on the "wings" and it snaps around the crotch of your knickers. You can also get g-string types, with elasticated belts on them. When my period came, I started using them, initially very skeptical that they would work. I had been warned that if you put them on back-to-front (with the nylon backing facing your body) they leak - and also that everyone does this at least once at first! I was determined not to do this, but somehow, in the excitement, I forgot and it leaked. Other than that, they didn't leak at all, provided they were changed regularly. Everyone that raved about the comfort issues was absolutely right - they are so much more comfortable, it's untrue. I don't know if they really cause reduced flow, or if you are just so much more comfortable you don't notice, but they certainly made my period a lot more pleasant. Although more bulky than the gel-type pads available, they are no more bulky than the cheap paper ones I was forced to use, and considerably more leak-proof. LaunderingWhen you change your pad, you remove the central cloth and rinse both inner cloth and outer wrap under a cold tap (you can put them away in a plastic bag, if you are out, and rinse them later). Then you drop them into a bucket of cold water (I use a nappy bucket) for at least 2 hours. Later, you wash them at about 60 degrees C (medium hot) and dry flat (to save ironing). I usually dry mine on the radiator. They take about 2 hours to dry. Laundering them is a doddle - I don't know why I thought it would be a problem. Folding them up when they are dry takes about 5 minutes, and ofcourse, as you use them again and again, they pay for themselves in a few months (I used to have to spend a fortune on pads every period). Personally, I always ended up having to rinse out clothes anyway, as my disposable pads always leaked. A Convert to ClothAnother point a friend made, which sounded totally freaky, until I tried it myself, was that rinsing out your pads takes you back to the idea that periods are part of healthy womanhood, rather than something dirty and disgusting. I probably sound totally barmy saying this, but I find washing them out very satisfying. I won't say that switching to cloth sanitary pads changed my life, but it has caused me to re-evaluate all my prejudices and preconceptions about periods: that they were dirty, inconvenient, horrible things you endured until menopause. I have suffered from extremely painful, very heavy periods all my life, but then again, why endure further suffering (chaffing, thrush infections, allergic rashes) needlessly? It's not conventionally "polite" to discuss sanitary protection in public, but in a way, it's a shame because I don't think many people, especially fellow Britons, have actually heard of cloth sanitary pads. Which is why I'd like to encourage people to give them a go. You can even make your own if you are handy with a needle and thread, and have a bit of time. Further InformationThe kinds of pads I am using are "Many Moons" pads from:- The Carrying Kind Many Moons pads are manufactured in Canada by:- Many Moons Details of other enviromentally friendly sanitary products, and other women's products can be obtained by sending an SAE to:- Women's Enviromental Network
Compiled by Anna
Hayward (c) 1999. |
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