This is a post for all Period-havers or anyone just interested in reading about it. We’re inclusive here! Periods aren’t just for women!

Being that we have a world-wide pandemic going on, COVID-19, everyone is completely on edge, including myself. The last thing I wanted to worry about during all this was my period and whether or not I could get my hands on Pads. When all of this started and toilet paper (of all things) was flying off the shelves, I seriously thought pads and tampons would be cleared out as well, and that was not something I was willing to risk.

Though I’ve tried tampons before, it wasn’t really my thing. I much prefer pads. That being said, I looked into a DivaCup so I’d have something in case I wasn’t able to find pads, but finding they are too much like tampons, I decided against it. Then I came across some posts on Twitter of people trying Reusable Pads and I thought… why not?

This is a blog post about my experience with reusable pads this month.

What to buy…

I want to start off by saying that I’m definitely one of the lucky ones when it comes to my period. My cycle is pretty regular and only changes with stress, so I’m able to use a calendar to track it and have a pretty good idea of when to expect it. I get rather mild cramps, and my flow is probably moderate to heavy. It also only lasts about 4 days…sorry to all you full-week-or-longer period-havers!

So after seeing those posts on Twitter, I thought I’d give it a shot. I figured buying from some eco-friendly website may be a little pricey, so I went to where I do the bulk of my shopping… Amazon! I know some are against the big companies like Amazon, so definitely look into other, smaller businesses!

Anyway, I went through lots of different products and looked through all the reviews and ratings trying to find a product that would work for me in terms of my flow as a lot of them were seemingly for lighter flows.

I finally found a product for me. Not only were the reviews pretty great, they were also used by people that have similar flows, and they had nothing but good things to say. So here are the ones I got.. TADA!

Clothing Choices…

Along with not being a tampon user, I’m also not a thong wearer (Woah, gettin’ pretty personal here!). I never really cared if people could see my underwear lines because hey, it’s normal, and I honestly couldn’t care less. That being said, my concern with the pads was that because they’re fabric and not a super thin and scratchy plastic-paper pad, that you’d see a very obvious line revealing that I was wearing a pad.

To my surprise, that wasn’t the case. I’m sure it was still kind of there, but honestly not as bad as I had expected it to be.

Also, some of the reviews stated that they move a lot if you don’t wear tight-fitting underwear, so I definitely suggest you keep that in mind. That’s all I wear honestly and I haven’t had problems. They don’t move much at night either!

Also, they’re super comfortable! They took a bit to get used to because they’re fabric and not scratchy paper that gets stuck up my butt. They’re also a little warm because they’re cotton I think, so keep that in mind. Summer days may have me thinking differently, but they weren’t too bad this week wearing my work pants.

OH! And they’re really cute! The backs of them have so many different designs and I just really liked choosing which one to use!

Cost?

This is hopefully going to save me some money! The pack of pads that I usually buy can last 3-4 months IF my flow is my usual, and IF it comes on time. I usually wear a pad a few days before and a few after, just in case, so that also uses a few. That pack that lasts lets say 3 months, costs $14. So about $60 a year in pads. The pack of 10 I got on Amazon was $30 (AND FREE SHIPPING!), and reusable pads can last upwards of 5 years if cared for properly. So that’s big savings already… If I added everything correctly (which I probably didn’t, let’s be honest), it’s AT LEAST $250 CAD I’ll be saving. ON PADS! SOMETHING I NEED!

Absorbency???

I tried looking up the average amount of blood loss a day for a heavy period and the results only gave me for a week, and I’m too lazy to figure that stuff out, so again, I THINK I have a heavy ish flow.

With the paper pads, I’d change one every time I was going to the washroom, quite frankly because I didn’t like seeing it all on the pad in front of me. That would result in going through probably 4 pads a day.

I’ve worn a resuable pad during this period, and went through probably 2 or 3 a day. I was also working this week (standing all day, I’m a cashier), so I was expecting the pads to need much more frequent changing just as I had done with the paper ones, but to my surprise, they held everything really well! The carbon lining absorbed it all so I didn’t even have to see it all while using the washroom. So yes, they absorbed enough for me to wear for an 8-hour shift.

This probably isn’t exactly sanitary now that I’m thinking about it, but I wanted to put them to the test! So please don’t reply with nasty comments, next month I’ll be better!

I also didn’t realize just how heavy my period was until doing this…

Cleaning…

Until this week, I hadn’t paid much attention to what was on the pad, I’d just fold it up in toilet paper and toss it. With wearing them for an 8-hour shift (AGAIN, TO TEST IT!!!), I’d get home and immediately switch to a fresh one, and clean out the old one.

This is the part a lot of people seem to get stuck on, but honestly, we’ve probably all had that moment where you don’t wear something the night before a period and you wake up to a bit of a mess you gotta clean up. To me, it was basically just the same as cleaning that up.

And honestly, it was kind of neat to see just how much was held in there… call me weird hahaha!

I would use a bit of soap and scrub it in the tub or sink (which was cleaned after) in cold water until the water ran clear. Lots of wringing it out! And then I tossed it in a container with cold water and some soap to let it sit for a few days before I’d wring them out and dry them.

Thankfully, my grandma was really good about it and we just stuck them on a towel to dry over a vent with the heat on for the night!

Knowing this process, I’m glad I got a 10 pack! Definitely make sure you have more than a few!

Final thoughts???

I’m so glad that I tried reusable pads, and honestly, I don’t think I’m going back to disposable. I’ll keep a pack around for really really hot days, and emergencies of any sort, but for the most part, reusable is my new thing!!!
I definitely suggest giving it a try if you’ve been considering!