Organic Feminine Hygiene Pads
Usage Instructions and Care Instructions
An Organic Cotton Menstrual Pad consists of 1 holder and 1 liner. This versatile design allows you to customize the organic cotton pads to suit your needs at any given time.
All together the layers make a thick, absorbent pad which then separates for thorough washing and quick drying.
The insertable liners allow you to customize the pad for your flow. Use one liner for average flow, use two liner for heavier flow days, and the holder alone works for light flow.
Below is the photo of a holder with a liner inserted.
Rest Peacefully With The Protection Of Our Sleepers Nighttime Pad
This pad is longer and wider to provide more coverage while you're lying down. Again, one holder and two liners makes it versatile and absorbent. The Sleepers pad can be used as a postpartum pad and some of our customers with larger bodies use it during the day.
Help the Planet
Our grandmothers used cloth and they welcomed convenient disposables when they came along. But convenience comes with a high price to our environment. Production of single-use tampons and pads and their packaging uses resources and creates pollution. And while most of us don't throw our newspapers in the garbage anymore, each year women in the U.S. throw over 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons into landfills and sewage systems. With alternatives available, it just doesn't make sense anymore.
Take Care of Your Body
While many women have noticed that tampons and disposable pads can be a source of vaginal irritation, most are unaware that disposable products can contain a variety of chemicals, including dioxin. This nasty toxin has been linked to reproductive disorders, endometriosis, birth defects, and cancer. We get many calls from women whose doctors have recommended they switch to organic cotton washable menstrual pads.
Think Positively
It's a sad fact that a woman's bodily functions -- menstruation, childbirth, menopause -- are viewed as medical conditions. We're taught that we have odors that need to be sprayed away, that breastfeeding in public is disgraceful, and to top it off we're all supposed to try to look like pubescent fashion models! Just one part of this craziness is the 'feminine hygiene' industry. It presents menstruation as an embarrassing problem and then profits from our shame. But we don't have to buy those attitudes or those products. We believe that one way to make changes in a world which so strongly denies our natural wisdom is by honoring a basic part of ourselves, the undeniable lunar link to nature that is our menstrual cycle. Using cloth pads is one way to choose a healthier attitude about your body and yourself.
Save Money
Most women spend around $100 a year on menstrual products. A supply of organic cotton menstrual pads costs about that but instead of tossing them every month you'll use them for years. That's less money, less pollution, and fewer trips to the store.
How do I clean my washable organic cotton menstrual pads?
To clean your organic cotton menstrual pads we recommend pre-soaking or pre-rinsing in cold water as soon as possible. The quicker you soak or rinse them, the less they will stain. If you're soaking pads for more than a day change the soak water daily. Add a little tea tree oil or fragrant castile soap as a deodorizer.
When women ask what detergent they should use to wash their organic cotton washable menstrual pads we tell them to use their everyday, preferably biodegradable laundry detergent. To remove tough stains, especially on light colored pads, try one of the following which have been suggested by other washable menstrual pads users: Dr. Bronner's Castile Soaps, Borax, lemon juice, vinegar, or the sun! You may also try one of the many hydrogen-based whiteners that are great alternatives to chlorine bleach. The best way to prevent stains is to soak or rinse
We do not recommend chlorine bleaching on washable organic cotton menstrual pads, or on anything in your household, because of the adverse effect it has on the environment and on you.
Soaking Containers
Look for a container at your local department store, thrift store or garage sale. Find anything rust-proof that will hold water plus a few pads, lids are optional. Ceramic pitchers, teapots or flour canisters, and large-mouthed glass pasta jars are a few examples, but you might have a better idea. Remember, if you're soaking pads for more than a day, be sure to change soak water daily.
How Many?
Menstrual cycles vary greatly from woman to woman. Most women use 6 to 12 day pads and 1 to 3 night pads. It all depends on your flow and how often you do laundry. Change your washable menstrual pads as often as you would change a disposable, and remember - a pad consists of the holder and 2 liners, and so you must change the whole thing, not just the liners.
With all of our pads you will enjoy and experience the comfort of cotton. The soft flannel conforms to your body without the twisting and bunching up that can happen with disposables. And because there is no plastic backing you will have less chafing and irritation. One of our customers reports they're much cooler too (she's from Phoenix, she would know).
Washing Instructions
It's simple. Just pre-rinse, then machine wash and dry.
Here are the specifics:
* Remove the liners from the holder.
* Soak or pre-rinse the washable menstrual pad in cold water.
* If you're leaving them to soak, change the water daily. (You can pour the soak water over houseplants, it's great fertilizer. This is where your unenlightened friends will think you've gone over the edge).
* Then machine wash and dry them with your other laundry. Please wash your washable menstrual pads before initial use. The pads will shrink a bit in the first washing. The color pads won't stain much. The undyed pads will stain a bit. We recommend the non-chlorine bleaches that can be found in your local health food stores.
Recommended Readings:
Armstrong, L. and Scott, A. Whitewash Toronto: Harper Collins, 1992.
Ballweg, M. L. The Endometriosis Sourcebook Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., 1995.
Bogdanich, W. "House Panel Charges FDA with Neglect in Citing Danger of Dioxin in Tampons". Wall Street Journal (June 11, 1992), B8-5.
Holmes, H. "The Truth About Tampons." Garbage (November/December 1990), 50-55.
Houppert, K. "Embarrassed to Death: The Hidden Dangers of the Tampon Industry." The Village Voice Vol. XL No. 6 (February 7, 1995) 31-40.
Taylor, D. Red Flower, Rethinking Menstruation The Crossing Press, 1988.
Wright, L. "Silent Sperm." The New Yorker (January, 1996) 42-55. An article on the effect of pollution of male fertility.
Certified Organic Cotton Washable Menstrual Pads