Review of bamboo and organic washable menstrual pads

Here’s one for the girls! It’s a subject close to my heart and one which I’ve talked about before.

If you’ve used washable nappies, you’re only one step away from using washable sanitary pads (or the mooncup if you prefer to keep things under wraps).

Using reusable sanitary protection makes total sense for the environment, your health and your pocket as they are undoubtedly the frugal option!

Environment

The average woman uses around 17,000 items of sanitary protection in her lifetime.

Every day in the UK, approximately 2.5 million tampons, 1.4 million sanitary towels and 0.7 million panty liners are disposed of either in the bin where they get incinerated or landfilled; or down the toilet, where they can get washed out to sea.

During the MCS beachwatch survey weekend, more than 14 towels / panty liners and 4 tampon applicators per kilometer of beach are found, on average.

Women’s health

Every year, there are 2-3 deaths from toxic shock syndrome caused by tampon use. Alice Kilvert died in 1991 from toxic shock, at the age of 15.

Frugal

So far I’ve spent about £60 on reusable sanitary protection in the past 6 1/2 years which is less than I would spend in one year if I was buying brand name disposable sanitary towels!

Absorbency

I’m a gal who needs good absorbency on my first day, so I’m a great tester for reusable products! Any washable pads I use need to work hard for me and absorb a lot of fluid. To date I’ve favoured hemp pads – these are 4 times more absorbent than cotton.

This week I’ve been challenged to test a couple of washable pads.

Honour your flow

I was contacted by Tree Shepherd from Honour Your Flow who asked me to product test a couple of her washable pads. All her products are beautiful as well as practical with the aim of keeping your periods comfortable and natural, with a touch of fun and twinkle!

Wherever possible, Tree uses organic and fairtrade fabrics.

Tree got into washable menstrual pads when living in a yurt community. They had no running water or electricity at that time, and compost toilets! Happily, Tree was instantly converted to using reusable products and got on well with them straight away.

In addition to her washable range of pads, Tree offers 100% compostable pads and cloth tampons.

The biggest washable pad in the world!

Tree sent me an Amethyst Dream night pad (also called ‘The Beast’ and apparently the  biggest pad in the world!) to try, along with a bamboo velour maxi-long for comparison for day use.

Tree’s pads come washed and ready to use, which is wonderful – the last hemp ones I bought had to be washed about 6 times before they worked to full capacity!

Night pad

Well I gotta say it, The night pad really does look like a nappy! But it’s fantastic because it gives you protection in all the right places. Little Miss Green was oohing and aaahing when she saw it and said she couldn’t wait to ‘be a grown up Mummy’ so she could have pads like that herself. In fact she asked to wear it for the day 😀

How many times have you woken up in the morning to find everything has trickled underneath you around to the back where there is little protection?

The night pad stops all that with some huge padding around your bum. In a world where ‘discreet’ is the name of the game for all things menstrual I think it would be hard for a lot of women to accept a pad like this. But for an old timer like me I instantly saw the practical side of things.

At the moment I put a bath towel in the bed for the first couple of nights of my period, but there was no need with this night pad – it worked like a charm! That means less washing in the machine each month, so the night time pad gets a beast-like thumbs up from me.

Bamboo velour day pad

Will you think I’m weird when I say I just want to stroke this pad?! Yes probably, but you really do! The fabric is beautiful and soft and I was champing at the bit to try this one (I’d finished my period on the day these pads arrived; how about that?!).

Well a moon’s cycle later and I was ready to try out the pad. It’s longer than usual, so again gives you protection in the right places. Often I leak through on the first day by lunchtime, but there was none of that with the bamboo velour day pad.

I was concerned that the back would slip out of place and look like a tail, but this wasn’t the case. The pad was comfortable, absorbent and does what it is designed to do.

Verdict

I am a complete convert. This is my first time for trying bamboo and I’m very impressed.

My only concern will be wear and tear – I’ve had my existing pads for about 6 1/2 years and they are wearing well. I bought Little miss green some bamboo socks once and they were so fine they turned into holes after a few short weeks.

The night time pad is fabulous for someone who needs heavy duty protection, but no good if you like discreet. To be honest though, if you like ‘discreet’ you’re probably not using washable pads anyway. Tree’s compostable tampons might be a better option, or you might like to try the mooncup.

Tree certainly has succeeded in her mission to bring fun and twinkle’ to your moontime with her range of products.

What about you – do you use washable and reusable sanitary products? Which brands do you prefer?