#reusable pads

[reasonsforhope]

"Spain’s Catalonia region rolled out a pioneering women’s health initiative [at the beginning of March, 2024] that offers reusable menstruation products for free.

About 2.5 million women, girls, transgender and nonbinary people who menstruate can receive one menstrual cup, one pair of underwear for periods and two packages of cloth pads at local pharmacies in northeast Spain free of charge.

The Catalan government said that the initiative, which is called “My period, my rules,” was meant to “guarantee the right to menstrual equity.” The regional government cited statistics that said 23% of women polled by Catalonia’s public opinion office said they had reused hygiene products designed for a single use for economic reasons.

Tània Verge, Catalonia’s regional minister for equality and feminism, called the program a “global first.”

Scotland’s government passed a law in 2020 to ensure period products are available for free to anyone who needs them. But in comparison with the Catalan program, in Scotland the products are for single use and are distributed through schools, colleges and universities, not pharmacies.

“We are fighting menstrual poverty, which affects one in four women in Catalonia, but is also about gender justice. We are fighting the stereotypes and taboos about menstruation,” Verge told The Associated Press. “And (...) it is about climate justice. We need to reduce the tons of waste generated by single-use menstrual products.”

The distribution of reusable products is also aimed at reducing waste. The regional government said that Catalonia produces about 9,000 tons of waste from single-use menstrual hygiene products.

The reusable products are acquired by the public health care system, which covers the entire population, and distributed by Catalonia’s 3,000-plus private pharmacies. The program cost the regional government 8.5 million euros ($9.2 million).

“I am completely in favor of this initiative,” 29-year-old graphic designer Laura Vilarasa said. “It will give women a product that is absolutely necessary to have for zero cost.”

Spain’s national government passed a law last year granting women with debilitating menstrual pain the right to paid medical leave."

-via AP News, March 5, 2024

[kittyit]

speaking of recommendations, do any womyn know of a trustworthy source to buy reusable pads... i was burned by thinx but really would like to ditch the chemical-laden tampax. sorry if this is odd but your followers seem like they'd be in the know...... <3 much love.

not odd at all it's totally normal to talk about menstrual products whenever you feel like :) i personally use honeypot (organic) tampons (if you're still looking for disposables!) but I'm sure women will have reusable pad recs for you on this post. There's so many options now!

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

In theory if I wanted kids, I wouldn’t want my grandchildren paying out of pocket for price-gouged basic necessities, at the mercy of major corporations. Remember those free water guys that were all over social media giving out free water bottles and explaining to people that it was entirely funded by the ads on the bottle??? How is that going for them I’m curious bc can we please do this with menstrual products..maybe even basic first aid supplies…..pls

[lea-andres]

Hey people who menstruate and use reusable pads*, who makes the thickest and most absorbant reusable pads? I want to make the switch but I don't want to have accidents because I bought ones that can't handle my heavy flow.

*(Yes, I know cups are magical. I will not be able to use cups for reasons I don't want to get into on Tumblr. So please don't tell me about cups, it won't help.)

[burnitalldowndarling]

Ew.

Got the Cariona reusable pads I ordered a few weeks back after seeing people talk about them On Here. There’s a little card in the package with a Bible verse on it. Looked closer at their website and they’re open about being Christian, but claim they “do not impose (their) beliefs on anyone.” Yet here I am looking at a damn Bible verse packed in with my pads. Proselytizing is imposing, guys.

And because American evangelicals are what they are, now I have to worry about whether the money I paid these people is going to somehow support white supremacy, queerphobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or colonialism. Are they sharing data with anti-choicers or transphobes? Are all their customers now in some kind of database of people who are menstruating so they can target us with anti-birth control nonsense later? Are they donating to Trump or other Republicans, or to political efforts to destroy human rights and voting rights and bodily autonomy?

I JUST WANTED SOME REUSABLE PADS, Cariona. And you fuckers had to make it weird.

[friendly-pad]

One day, a man asked me: if cloth pads are so better in so many ways, why aren't they more diffused?

I hadn't the right answer straight away. I had to think about it and after few times (obviously when I wasn't still speaking with him) I made this hypothesis:

The first reaction to cloth pads, commonly, is thinking they're gross and unclean and unsafe. Since we are used to dispose every thing around period, we are used to think it's dirty and you don't bother wash it. The next logical step is thinking that it's unsafe to wash it and that period blood it's dangerous to have contact with, and that's the reason why we dispose everything.

That seems logical, in fact we only dispose things that are dangerous.

That is thought by so many people, but it's not true. Period blood it's not unsafe, it's not dirty. It's only blood

[spaceydragons]

Dear people who get period's and use reusable sanitary products;

What are some good reusable pad brands that are reasonably priced that y'all recommend?

Bc I'm really tired of wasting so much money on disposable pads every month 💀

[new-acc-is-lake-creature2]

considering reusable period pads. It's cheaper, more environmentally friendly and the disposable pad brands I have access to all support israel and have chemicals in them. Idk. What period products have yall used and what was the experience? Pros and cons?

I don't think I'd like using cups cuz I don't like inserting stuff, I don't like the idea of having a cup of blood inside me that I'll have to empty and I don't wanna have to boil it in cookware, nor buy cookware specifically for that

[booksr4ever18]

YO SO WHO WAS GONNA TELL ME THAT MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS ARE CONSIDERED MEDICAL EXPENSES IN THE US UNDER THE 2020 CARES ACT????? WHICH MEANS YOU CAN USE AN FSA TO PAY FOR IT?????

GUYS I JUST BOUGHT EXPENSIVE REUSABLE PADS WITH AN FSA OH MY GOD

[v-tired-queer]

I'm thinking of getting a sample pack! I see a lot of people on here saying that they like them but I wanted to see the average overall opinion from other people.

If y'all could recommend some brands or even other reusable products that you've liked, that'd be really, really appreciated!

[selkie-on-land]

THIS IS SO INFURIATING !!!!!

Late Victorians : Oh no arsenic etc are poisons we must stop using those !

XX century : yeah cool 😎 it's for women and girls only ! Use the cheaper product that you know we had to stop using because men died from it arg 🙄 but as it's for females only it's absolutely fine!

[daughter-of-aletheia]

WHY is the same pack of pads 6 times more expensive in france than in germany??? I always wondered a bit about people complaining about the cost of them, but now I get it. It makes even more sense then to get reusable ones.

[bitchwholoveslife]

I finally tried cloth reusable menstrual pads and omgggggggg I'm in love. Never going back to disposable pads.

Obviously, they're way cuter than disposable pads are. I got some with galaxy prints, and it does actually kind of make dealing with the whole thing a little less sucky. Like, yeah I'm uncomfortable and leaking gore like a faucet, but at least it's getting absorbed by something that doesn't look--or feel!--like a diaper.

On the topic of feel: not being made of paper and shit, these cloth pads are wayyyyy quieter than disposables. They don't rustle lol. Additionally, as a plus size person, I have always had issues with disposable pads getting a little bit bunched up and stuck to themselves wrong because of my thick thighs and ass. However, this is not even remotely an issue with the cloth ones.

The absorbency really shocked me. I ordered a set of 3 overnight 16" pads because I have a heavy flow. And, well, unlike how I go through 4-6 overnight disposables in 24 hrs, I actually just have to pick a point and stop wearing these for health/hygiene. Because they are WAYYY beyond absorbent enough. So much so, that you no longer have to feel like you're sitting in a small lake on heavy days!

Another thing I love about them is that because they don't rely on adhesives to stay put--instead having wings with snaps--so I can change underwear while using the same pad, by simply moving it over. For the same reason, it's a lot easier to adjust where the pad is in your underwear without having to worry about sticking and re-sticking and using up an adhesive strip.

They're way easier to wash than I expected too! I just do a quick hand wash in the sink first w Dawn dish soap and then some hydrogen peroxide to get most of the blood out before throwing it in the washing machine with the rest of my clothes.

Also an obvious bonus is that cloth pads are better for the environment. Yeehaw

[everythingiknowisfromdrseuss]

Who's got a preferred brand of reusable period pads? Mine need replacing, and the company that made them apparently no longer exists.

(Yes, I know diva cups are a great option too, and I have one, but I like having pads around too for variety.)

[friendly-pad]

Cloth pads review: Pupus

They are some of my favourite, my go to very often.

They have a waterproof layer on the back with different design to choose from, and on the front they are red, in cotton jearsey with two hearts embroidered for each side (you bleed on the red side).

They come in different sizes, from small to overnight, and I like them all, they are thin but very absorbent. Also the overnight pad is very long, around 13inch-33cm, and I totally feel safe with them on.

Also they are very easy to clean, they don't stain at all, so they are very handy for beginner.

I consider them in a medium price rage, so aroud 5-6€ a piece. So, even if they are perfect for beginner, I can understand that they require a medium budget to start.