I was shocked and disgusted to learn how much landfill waste is contributed by female sanitary products each year – the figures speak for themselves. If we all make small changes to our everyday lifestyle choices and habits, I truly believe we can make a big impact.
Recently, I started using a Moon Cup. You can watch me raving about the benefits of menstrual cups vs tampons here. I don’t think I could EVER go back to tampons now.
However, just like with tampons, on the heavier days of my period I do still like to wear a panty liner. Not that it leaks, but more so as ‘back up’ just in case.
Of course, the Moon Cup has significantly reduced my sanitary waste, but I’m still using up several liners in one cycle. Cloth pads have definitely been on my radar, as they’re so popular in the online women’s health/fertility community! Much like you can buy washable cloth nappies for babies, cloth pads are washable pads made with gentle but absorbent materials.
I was excited to try some pads from Bright n Beautiful, a small Brighton based company run by the lovely Andrea. After being so interested in re-usable menstrual products for the past few months, I was delighted when she reached out and asked me if I wanted to try her cloth pads. They are all handmade by her as well which is lovely!
The pads come in various sizes and designs, all really pretty and arrive with washing instructions. I went for the darker patterns in the 9″ liner size. I rinsed them after use in cold water, then washed them at 30 degrees with just a washing tab (no fabric softener as it can ruin the absorbency) to see how they washed without a stain treatment. Mine haven’t stained at all, but I do use them as back up, so if you were using larger pads as your main protection you may want to stain treat them.
She also sells waterproof pad wrappers. These are genius if you’re going to be out during the day and need to change. They are a similar size to a regular pad wrapper, so you can keep a clean one in there until you need it, then replace it with the used one and keep it separated in your bag until you get home.
The pads are soft and comfy, and feel the same if not nicer than a conventional pad. Andrea did advise me to wear them with snug knickers to keep them in place, and I did notice that when I wore a baggier pair one day the pad moved around slightly when I was up and about. Not the end of the world, but a bit of a pain if like me you love wearing massive granny pants on your period…TMI?
Apart from that I really can’t fault them – it’s the exact same experience as a conventional pad except you’re saving SO much landfill waste as well as money in the long run. A win-win really! I’ll be stocking up on more and moving towards zero waste periods in 2017.
Definitely check out Andrea’s Facebook Group if you’d like to learn more about cloth pads and see the range she has. There’s also loads of great discussion and advice in there if you’re new to reusable menstrual products. It’s a great group to be a part of!
Hope everyone is looking forward to the Christmas festivities. Speak soon!
Lots of love,
Kat x
