Cloth pads & Menstrual Cups

Diva Cup, Ruby Cup, Luna Cup, Lunette Cup, Cloth pads

I have officially crossed over from mainstream womb care to natural alternatives including menstrual cups and cloth pads. It took a little getting used to and so far here's what I have learned. There are many different cloth pad companies including glad rags, mama cloth, etc... and as I have tried several from the amazon, glad rags, and a few from a WAHM. I have come to the conclusion they are far better than commercial sanitary pads.

The items below are what I would normally purchase for my moon cycle.

Always Ultra thins (24) $6.99

Always Radiant Infinity (30) $8.99

Normal

Always Overnight (20) $6.99

Tampax Pearl Regular (36) $8.19

All totaling $31.16 before tax I would spend that amount about once every two months so I spent close to around $200 a year on moon cycle maintenance a yr so for 10 years I have spent at least $2000 dollars on waste products with a lifecycle shorter than a trash bag. Maybe I'm just cheap but when I find an alternative that is eco-friendly and has a longer lifecycle with no chemicals I lean toward the latter.

I had an issue with pads from the time I started using them, which I took as normal because I didn't know no any better. From day one with pads I would always break out in a rash, now I thought that it was do to wetness, but increasing changes never fixed the issue. In hindsight, I have come to the conclusion that these rashes were likely due that the chemicals commonly used in sanitary pads.

Speaking of chemicals check out the video below of comedian Tiffany Haddish as she explains why she can't wear tampons.

Altogether my grievances with mainstream sanitary pads and tampons are the cost, toxic load, environmentally hazardous, and short life cycle. Finding out there was an alternative so amazing for me because the only upside to the mainstream trend was not bleeding on myself.

There are a myriad of reasons to switch to cloth pads and/or cups which ever suits you, for me I have found both to be non-toxic, wallet/vagina friendly, and very easy to maintain. Below is a card from a Whoos In Ur Panties on how to maintain cloth pads.

Cloth Pads, Cloth Liners, WhoosInUrPanties

Once a pad needs to be changed I throughly rinse mine and store them in a wet bag prior to washing. If I am out and about I just store them in a wet bag that I keep in my purse. There is no smell consequently switching to cloth has reduced the smell to almost nothing. It smells nothing like a mainstream pad, its same as if you cut your finger and smelled the blood, that's it!

Menstrual Cups

This GIF pretty much summons up how people react when I mention them, but they are great and pretty much the less toxic version of a tampon. You have to learn how to put both in correctly and once you've become accustomed to it they become second nature. They are easy to maintain you boil them prior to first use (not necessary but I prefer it), wash them out after emptying and reinsert.

Below is a video of me prepping my lunette menstrual cup.

They can stay in up to 12 hours, so if you insert at 8 am and leave the house your good until around 8 pm. Leakage is only an issue if inserted incorrectly or left in too long (causing overflow).

That said the learning curve exists and that is why I linked a video below on youtube explaining how to insert and remove a menstrual cup. Red Herrings videos are very informative and thorough regarding menstrual cup knowledge.

I have a diva cup, luna cup, lunette cup, and ruby cup. I also have a nice stash of various cloth pads. I prefer to utilize a cup with a cloth liner when trying out a new cup, but once I get used to a cup I don't need a liner.

Another benefit of cups swim/bath freely without worry of bleeding or the cup falling out and being pulled down by the weight of water, because of the suction, it's basically stuck to your cervix until your break the seal or it overflows.

I am sure I forgot something, so if you have any questions drop a comment and I will do my best to either answer or provide a resource that can. Thanks for reading! Peace, love, and blessings!