One for the girls!

Although curious chaps are more than welcome to read on... :-)

At first glance, this might all sound a bit ick, but stay with me!

Have you ever wondered, as you're chucking another box of bleached white cotton/paper/plastic/super absorbent gel at not inconsiderable expense into your supermarket trolley, that perhaps there's an alternative to disposable pads and tampons? I hadn't especially, but one day, whilst reading an article on the BBC Woman's Hour website, I came across a mention of washable cloth pads and something called a Mooncup. To be honest, the latter looked a bit scary, but the former piqued my interest early last summer. I think I was getting into the green vibe, now we had set up our new compost bin!

Now, I can hear some 'Ewww's out there, but bear with me - it gets better and you never know, you may even be persuaded by the end! The more I thought about it, the more it made sense and it's no different to using washable nappies, and arguably a lot less yucky than that. And at the end of the day, periods are a natural process, and what's dirty or disgusting about that? No less disgusting, surely, than throwing used disposable products into landfull where they take an age to breakdown, or flushing them away only to see them washed up on the beach. That really is 'eww'!!

So I set about doing some internet research. The following sites are helpful:

http://www.plushpants.co.uk/
www.daisyboxonline.co.uk/
http://www.treehuggermums.co.uk/
http://www.weenotions.wahmall.co.uk/
www.peeweezrecycled.wahmall.co.uk
www.wen.org.uk - click on 'sanpro' for a fuller list of suppliers, and a pattern to make your own cloth pads if you're handy with a needle and thread!

Dayzee (through Daisyboxonline), Peeweez and Weenotions offer pads made in the UK by women working at home, with the former also offering pads/liners for g-string underwear. Treehuggermums and plushpants offer Wemoon pads, which are Australian. Other foreign manufacturers include:

http://www.pleasurepuss.com/
http://www.hagrag.bigstep.com/
www.manymoons.biz

If you type washable cloth pads (or similar) into Google you'll get loads of hits. Bear in mind that some companies' main business is cloth nappies, so you might have to click on the 'for mum' bit.

Sadly, the lady who made my favourite pads, Clothmadmummy, no longer makes them :-(

I bought a selection of Wemoons, Dayzee, Weenotions as well as the Clothmadmummy ones to test them out. I don't plan to write an exhaustive review of each brand here as there are already myriad sites with this info on on the web. www.ciao.co.uk offers reviews of some products. Feel free to pose questions in the comments bit if you like though.

How do they work?

Basically, the pads work like this: they have an absorbent core (usually made of hemp), and cotton/jersey/fleece outers. The thickness of the core will determine the absorbency of the pad. Some pads also have a thin waterproof bottom layer inside them to give extra peace of mind. All mine are the 'all in one type', although you can get pads which are composed of 2 parts - an outer and individual pad sections which fit into the outers. These are useful if your flow varies as you can adjust the number of inserts accordingly. As well as pads, I have also bought panty liners for use in between periods. These are very thin indeed with no absorbent core, and do the job perfectly. Almost all the pads and liners I've seen have wings, which wrap around your knickers (like disposable pads) and fix with poppers. This keeps the pad perfectly in place.

What are they like?

The most comfortable things ever! All my pads/liners are roughly the same length, width and thickness as their disposable conterparts (ultra slim type) and are thus just as discreet, and about a million times more comfortable. It is SO nice just having soft fabric next to your skin.

What's so great about them?

A few of their many plus points, in no particular order. I really don't have a bad word to say about cloth pads!

1. I'm not supporting multinationals, particularly in their assertion that periods are somehow dirty and shameful and need to 'dealt with' by ultra white, super absorbent, scented (?!) products.

2. They come in some very funky fabrics - cats, leopard print, stars, flowers, frogs!

3. They are just as absorbent as disposable products.

4. They are 'natural' and don't expose your skin to bleaches/chemicals.

5. They don't leak.

6. They don't bunch up.

7. They don't feel damp, and if this worries you then for extra reassurance choose a pad with a fleece outer. Fleece itself is non-absorbent so everything goes straight through to the hemp core.

8. No nasty adhesives to catch your pubic hair (we've all been there!).

9. No need for 'period pants'. I love frilly knickers, but didn't like the way the sitcky goo on disposable pads pulled the delicate fabric, so every month I ended up wheeling out the plain boring cotton ones in the back of my underwear drawer. But no adhesives on my washable pads means I can wear nice knicks every day of the month - hooray!

10. No tell tale ripping and scrunching noises in public toilets - just quiet 'snaps'.

11. They save you money! Washable pads will last you for years with proper care.

12. Last but by no means least, they are better for the environment in that they generate no waste. If you are concious about saving water, the pad soaking water is very good for your plants. You can use an economy cycle on your washing machine and/or make sure you fill it up each time you wash your pads - you don't have to wash them on their own.

Aren't they yukky to wash?

NO! All you need to do is rinse them once used and either bung them in the washing machine, or if your next wash day is a little way off, put the pads into a small bucket of cold water to soak, preferably an opaque one with a lid. I like to add some tea tree oil to the water which keeps everything smelling fresh. Mine only ever get washed at 40C, and have not stained. It is wise, though, to choose dark/patterned fabrics when selecting your pads.

What about when I'm not at home?

The design of most pads allows them to be folded in on themselves into a little envelope, which means they can then be popped into a small make-up bag until you get home. If you're on holiday, then you can rinse as you go and wash them properly once home.

I really really wish I'd known about these pads years ago. Give them a whirl!!

But I'm an avowed tampon user...

Well then read on!

Last summer my mum of all people asked me if I'd heard of the Mooncup as once of her not-quite-menopausal friends was thinking of trying one. See http://www.mooncup.co.uk/
I had heard of them, but had just bought myself lots of lovely cloth pads and was quite happy with those. I was still using tampons whilst swimming/on holiday though.

Then one of my friends got one last September and hasn't looked back...I finally took the plunge earlier this month and, like cloth pads, only wish I'd known about this fantastic thing years ago! I bought mine from a local independent health food shop, but you can get them from Mooncup directly via their website, or larger branches of Boots (I was thrilled to see them on sale at the Reading Oracle branch last week! :-) )

The mooncup is a silicone cup which you use instead of a tampon. It's worn much lower in the vagina than tampons are so coil users worried about threads catching on a tampon needn't have concerns as long as you take care to release the seal properly when removing the mooncup. The cup collects your flow, rather than absorbing it, which means your delicate tissues don't get all dried out, especially towards the end of your period when your flow is usually much lighter. Plus you're not exposing your body to the bleaches and other chemicals used in tampons manufacture, and the mooncup has not been associated with TSS. The mooncup is flexible and comes in 2 sizes: A for those over 30/who have given birth vaginally and B for those under 30/haven't given birth vaginally. It might look a bit big, but it does squish to fit you, honest!

You will probably find that you need to empty your mooncup less often than you need to change a tampon. It does take a bit of practice to get the hang of inserting and removing it (with regard to the latter, the trick is to 'bear down'), and I had to remove nearly all the stalk of mine to get it comfortable. But, as with tampons, once it's in the right place you won't be able to feel it at all. It forms a seal with your vaginal walls and your muscles hold it in place. I've used mine during exercise and swimming, and it has been absolutely fine. No leaks and no movement whatsoever.

When it needs emptying, you just tip the contents of the cup down the toilet. If you're at home/have a basin in the cubicle next to you, you may like to rinse it, otherwise you can wipe it with tissue paper. The outside tends to stay clean. Then you just reinsert and off you go! Mooncup recommend that you empty it every 6 hours or so. Between periods, you should sterilise your mooncup by boiling it in an open pan of water for 5 mintues, or by immersing it in sterilising solution (e.g. Milton). The latter may be a better option if you live in a shared house!

With proper care, your mooncup should last you several years. They cost about £18, but this is probably what most women spend on disposable products in 6-7 months. And think of all the waste you'll be saving, with no more tampons, applicators, boxes, etc etc. No more scuttling to the loo with your handbag at work, or stuffing your suitcase with tampons before you go on holiday. One mooncup is all you need! I haven't had any problems regarding leaks when using my mooncup, and neither have any fellow users that I know, but if this is something that concerns you, a small stash of washable panty liners (see above!) will compliment your mooncup nicely.

I'm currently very happily using a mixture of my mooncup and washable pads, depending on what I'm doing and my mood. Their discovery has easily been the best thing about my green journey so far.

Good luck!