Yes, fellas, you heard it right. I’m going to talk about lady pads. You know, menstrual pads. Have I lost you yet? If not, read on at your own risk.
So, I may be a crunchy gal, but it took me several years to actually make the leap to reusable pads. Growing up a swimmer, I was a tampon girl, but after finding out what is in a tampon, you will never see me use a non-organic one again! I still use tampons when I am in the pool, but recently decided it was time to try the new and improved reusable cloth pads.
Photo courtesy Baby Zing
I decided to support someone who makes their own, because I figured this lovely woman would have lots of trial and error until she perfected her item. I found a shop on etsy that looked promising called Baby Zing. I ordered 5 of the all-in-one heavy absorbancy pads and tried them out.
I used one, and found that the tag placement was a little itchy, so I emailed the shop owner, and she said she would send me new, tag-free ones if I returned my unused ones. I thought that was awesome customer service, and sent her back my unwashed, unused ones and she sent me tag-free ones.
The first month I tried them out I was really surprised how well they worked, how easy they were to use, and most importantly, how easily and well they cleaned. I rinsed them in our utility sink, sprayed them with Bac-Out, and tossed them in the wash when I had a load to run. They came out spot free. They are made of a fleece-like soft organic cotton, and the more they are washed, the more absorbent they become (just like cloth diapers of the same material.)
Now, I know for some of you it is just too gross. Since I cloth diapered two boys, and laundered them myself, this was easy peasy. I wondered why I hadn’t tried this sooner! They are super comfortable (WAY MORE comfortable than your store bought piece of plastic that bunches up and ends up leaking because it doesn’t stay put). Trust me. If you try cloth pads, you will never go back to store bought.
P.S. I also saw that Baby Zing makes the zippable reusable snack bags like the ones I mentioned last week, and in super cute patterns. Right now the shop is having a summer sale on most items, including the pads!
Those are WAY cuter than my method, but mine’s a bunch cheaper. I just took a towel and cut it into 8×8 squares. Fold it into thirds, stick it in place, launder with your whites. It’s been over 5 years using the same 20-or-so squares. Since my days of wearing skintight Gitano jeans are looong gone, no one’s the wiser. And our wallet’s way fatter.
Great idea! I like my snaps, so I guess I’m a pad snob…