Reusable Period Pads

Reusable Period Pads: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / ⭐⭐⭐

Why is this swap necessary?

The average woman over her lifetime will use 11,000 tampons. These plastic applicators are equivalent to 5,500 plastic bags, and period pads use just as much plastic as the applicators. 90% of period pads are plastic, and given that 50% of the population will have a period for the majority of their lives this represents a vast, vast amount. Based on women making up half of the UK’s population (34,084,000 women), this is 187,462,000,000 plastic bags. Considering most of us are refusing to buy plastic bags anymore, this is a crazy amount.

Luckily, there are more and more alternatives appearing in the market. From reusable period pads to menstrual cups, reusable pants to applicator free tampons… the list goes on. I was initially a bit sceptical about reusable period products. They should be reliable and comfortable, and a lot of people I talk to share some of these doubts.

As someone said to me, “If there is one place you are going to use plastic, it should be on your period.” I agree to an extent, however, putting up with a few doubts to reduce my input on that statistic seemed worth a shot.

My Swap:

For the last year I have been using reusable period pads. It was difficult to work out how many I would need. I ordered 3 to test them out, see if this would be enough or not, costing me £18. This was another reason I didn’t get more, they, like a lot of environmentally friendly options, cost a lot per item. I hadn’t done much market research (as they were a late-night purchase), and I have seen more companies sell them, so they can probably be found cheaper. However, I do know that they can be much more expensive too which, to be honest, is their first problem. 

The closest comparison to the ones I bought are night winged period pads. A pack of 10 night winged pads costs around £1.20. £6 each compared to 12p is quite drastic, one reusable pad would have to last 50 uses to break even. However, I have found that where I would need to use two night pads, I’ve only had to wear one reusable pad. With the 3 pads I bought, each used twice during a period, it replaces 12 period pads a month. Therefore, they take only 13 periods to break even. Given that I have had 12 periods since buying them and they don’t need replacing yet, they have repaid themselves already. I was shocked to work this out as they this is faster than some other products I’ve trialled.

My Findings

I think the best way to review these would to be to explain how I used them, which is also why there are two ratings. As I said, I wear the reusable period pads mostly at night and this has its’ own pros and cons compared to daytime wear.

Night time:

• They are more absorbent

I only wear one per night, whereas before I would have to wear two extra absorbent night pads. Even then I would often leak through one, or even both. The fact they are more absorbent means I don’t have to worry about getting up in the night or have to clean my sheets the next day. (Added bonus of saving the water and electricity of cleaning that I have had to do at least once a period for the last 10 years). The extra absorption is because they are thicker; however, this does not really matter so much at night. They may be thicker, but they are softer too, so I don’t feel uncomfortable wearing them. I did an experiment to see how much water a reusable period pad would absorb compared to the night time pads. The reusable period pads held about 30ml more water in my basic experiment.

• They are more likely to move

As they do not have a sticky back it means that they are more likely to slip. I believe this is the only reason I have ever bled through one of these pads. To tackle this, I use a small piece of body tape (or double-sided tape) on the top and bottom of the pad. This stops them slipping and therefore I have not leaked through since.

• Using them over night makes cleaning them easier

I’m sorry if this brings out the squeamish in you, but I guess periods do get a little gross. I use them overnight and rinse them out in the shower. An aspect you have to contend with is that they should be rinsed before washing, which isn’t the most pleasant thing to do in the bathroom sink. Therefore, rinsing them before my morning shower was quite a handy fix.

Just to speak about the cleaning by itself, as it is probably the biggest adjustment and I know it’s something that held friends back from buying them. It isn’t difficult, but rinsing them is not exactly a glamorous task. Grimly satisfying, but not glamorous. After that you can just put them into the washing machine, or can hand wash if you prefer. As I live with three others, I can throw together enough loads of washing to get three period pads to last 6 nights, however this is something to consider when buying them. Running a washing machine for only period pads seems to counteract the good that they are doing. If you can’t wash them straight away, they do fold in on themselves so can be stored without contaminating.

I really do recommend using these if you have a heady flow at night. This is the majority of how I have used them, and just with this use they have already paid themselves back. I knocked off a star for the necessity for tape, but I wouldn’t go back.

 Day time:

Using them in the day has come with its own positives and negatives. In fact, it wasn’t until more recently that I have worn them in the day, I guess I was a bit more hesitant.

• They are thick

The thickness that makes them so good at what they do, did have me worrying that people could see an outline. The ones that I bought were long, again, something that helps at night, but less so in the day. You can feel it when wearing them, so if you like the discrete, don’t know you’re wearing anything, feel, then this may not be for you. However, I found as soon as I started focusing on work, I forgot I was wearing them.

• Changing them

Changing them wasn’t as bad as I had thought it up to be, I took a small bag to put the used pad into and then left it in my work locker until I went home. A lot of companies provide ‘wet bags’ with purchases for this purpose. I found the warmth was slightly off putting, and it wouldn’t be my first choice to carry them in a handbag all day, but it was not as bad as I had built in my mind.

• Bleeding through the wings

I don’t know why this is, however I found that in the day I was more likely to bleed through the wings of the period pads. Maybe it’s the way I lie at night. Just like a regular pad, the wings aren’t as thick, so they are more susceptible to bleeding through.

• 
  Very Reliable

This is the main positive of the reusable period pads. On the heaviest day of my period, I compared wearing single use period pads, tampons and my reusable pads. I had the most confidence in the reusable ones not leaking through. Therefore, they gain top marks for one of the key criteria: reliability.

• They do not slip and are odourless

Unlike in the night, as you are not moving about so erratically, they do not slip. Therefore meaning I have never needed to use tape.

It is just then a matter of personal choice for the other key criteria; comfort. They are comfortable, but not invisible. You can feel that they are there, but this doesn’t irritate or cause discomfort.

Conclusion

I don’t think one period product can be perfect for everything, and I use different products at different times. However, as someone with a heavy flow I have found them useful.

I can’t say that they have completely replaced period pads for me yet, but I definitely wouldn’t go back to my old night routine. No longer do I need to worry about bleeding through at night and no more do I need to wear a tampon with a pad for worry of leaks.

After initial hesitance about wearing them in the day, I have more confidence in them than other period products to do what they are meant to do: absorb blood, prevent leaks.

Therefore, I rate them differently, but both highly: four stars for night time use, three stars for in the daytime.