menstrual products

what do you women use?
personally, I use cloth pads, a divacup, and sea sponges. I'd always been aware of the environmental impact of plastic/paper menstrual products, and was considering switching over to reusable products, but when I started to learn more about the chemicals in bleached paper and plastic products and the effect they can have on your health, I switched immediately. how many of you use reusables, and what made you switch?

 

Where did you get those cloth things?? I had a site, then lost it.
Yeah, chems....eek!!

 

I use the diva cup and a cloth pad for nighttime.

I am in love with them, really. They are so comfortable, they save me money, and I don't have to worry about Toxic Shock Syndrome.

The main reason I chose to switch was the environment. I wanted to cut down my usage of these disposable products and get something more eco-friendly.

I was hesitant at first, and wondered about how comfortable it would be, and how comfortable I would feel about cleaning them...
But in reality, these are much more comfortable than the crappy papery stuff was. I always got so dry from tampons, and terribly itchy from pads. I also noticed that my cramps aren't as bad since I started using the diva cup rather than tampons.

I never had a problem with cleaning them, either. It's from my own body, so it's nothing to be grossed out by.

I really, actually feel more comfortable getting my period these days thanks to my reusable products.

Oh, also, I don't leak as easily with these methods either. A sticky, disposable pad never stayed in place good enough while I slept, and I was constantly waking up to blood on my sheets and PJ pants. My cloth pad stays in place so nicely, I haven't had ANY problems with stains anymore.

My divacup can be worn for much longer now, before it fills and starts to leak. With a tampon after an hour, I was leaking [I have a terribly heavy period]

 

Don't those diva things like spill all over when you take em out?

 

Well, I take mine out while I am sitting on the toilet, then it just goes right into the toilet, not spill anywhere. Thats probably the smart thing to do.

 

I've been using a Mooncup for about two years and have never looked back!
Can't believe I was so ignorant about the environmental concerns over tampons and pads.

I've seen two adverts for the Keeper on TV here - which is amazing and fantastic! Hopefully more women will think about what putting in their bodies... we'll see...

 

I use a mooncup too and yes they're great

 

Good ol' pearl stringed tampons.

 

i think you convinced me now...i have heavy periods and my tampons leak all the time. I changed them very often. Where can I get one of these diva cups and clothe pad? i feel so ignorant towards natural methods for caring for my period.

 

i think you convinced me now...i have heavy periods and my tampons leak all the time. I changed them very often. Where can I get one of these diva cups and clothe pad? i feel so ignorant towards natural methods for caring for my period. Thanks!

 

http://www.divacup.com/

I used to use the keeper, but I get really really bad cramps, which would knock it out of the right position, causing leaks. So now, I use maybe 2 tampons per period. I use cloth pads as much as possible -- I have 5 actual cloth pads, but I also have a few crappy old washcloths, which I fold long-wise so that they are the width of my underwear and that work perfectly fine when I'm at home (a bit too bulky to wear out in public). I do have some disposable pads in case I expect to need to change while on campus or something, but I avoid wearing those as much as possible -- compared to cloth, they're scratchy and irritate the delicate skin down there!

I also use hormonal birth control with the continuous bc method, so I only have a period every 3-4 months, which also cuts down on my consumption of disposable products.

 

I use happy heiny's cloth mama pads. They're awesome. What barands do you cloth pad mama's use? I would love to get some rec's for more. I'm addicted to cloth pads, just like I'm addicted to cloth diapers! I need a support group!

 

I make my own pads. what I do is:
fold a large piece of fabric good sides in (terry cloth seems to be the most absorbant in my experience)
pin my favourite pad to the fabric and trace around it with a fabric or magic marker
cut out the outline with about half an inch to spare
cut one of the pieces in half from top to bottom, but keep both pieces facing inside out
sew together
turn right side out

with the long cut you made in one of the pieces you can insert a liner of a few pices of sewn together terry cloth, an old (or new) washcloth, or cotton. if your pads have wings, you can sew a button or snap on them, or just use a safety pin.

I like making my own because a) I like to sew b) I can make as many as I like exactly how I like them c) I can make them in whatever funky cloth I find d) it's a lot more cost effective

 

I use lunapads, which is also where diva cups are from.

They are cute, too...even though that doesn't really matter lol.

 

I just started using cloth this cycle and bought some sea sponges but haven't tried them yet.

I was just tired of running out. Buying more, the trash, the waste. I started using cloth dipes on my baby's butt about a month and a half ago too.

Cloth rules!

I have awesome organic cotton pads from Sckoon and cloth diapers on my website..

pimpin' follows...

www.clothcraze.com

 

i'm a horrible evil person who kills the environment... i use regular playtex tampons, all i've ever used. then again my period only lasts for like 2 or maybe 3 days and it is so light that i only need maybe 3 tampons the whole time i'm on it. Yay me.

 

It's not horrible, it's your choice. Some women aren't comfortable using reusable products and that's OK. But if you ever decide to make the switch, feel free to ask me.

You could check into using some more eco friendly disposable tampons as well. I'm not sure what they are called, but I think lucyinthesky posted a topic about this awhile back.

 

I would definitely recommend getting a specific brand recommendation if you're going to try this option. I tried some eco-friendlier, organic tampons once and, well, they were about 1/10th as absorbant as just regular absorbancy tampax. Let's just say I never bought that kind again! I don't remember the brand name, just that they were the only brand of eco-friendlier tampons available where I shopeed for them...

 

Most of the time I use my diva cup, which I LOVE. But sometimes my body kinda refuses to let it in so I'll use the occasional tampon. The rest of the time, when I'm home for instance, I'll just end up using an old sock. Works great! As comfortable and improved over the standard tampon that the diva cup is, I prefer not to have anything up in me for an extended period of time.

 

I'd love to use a divacup but as I'm going to be living in a dorm, on a coed by room hall with coed bathrooms, it's just not going to work.

And as it is, I have to double up using both pads and tampons as I go through tampons every 2 hours in the first few days.