At the same time your response tended to sort of prove the point you were arguing against. Broomstick said it would be a smelly, inconvenient, mess. A product which (as you stated) is too messy to be worn in public is pretty damn messy. A product which must be changed every half hour is not “a little inconvenient.” Moreover, you seemed to completely ignore that a woman working outside the home would have to carry 8 hours worth of used pads in her purse, which, I feel comfortable stating, would reek.
So you also spoke too much for your own situation, and not in general terms, and cast people for whom reusable pads simply would not work, as “germophobes.” I don’t think it is germophobic to not want to carry wads of warm, bloody cloth in your purse on the subway.
It’s fine to speak from one’s own situation so long as you make it clear that you are not generalizing to every single person, everywhere. I clearly did not do that. Broomstick did, and in an offensive manner. She cast aspersions.
I called her post germaphobic for her treatment of menstrual blood as something necessarily requiring bleach. Professional hygienists do not recommend that bleach be used for good hygiene on these products. To require a standard higher than that is a good yardstick for germaphobia, IMHO.
I did not make a post generally claiming these reusables are good or hygienic for everyone in every situation, so it is rather ludicrous to say I’m wrong simply because they are not always convenient. I stated that they are hygienic within certain parameters. Those parameters are more convenient for some women than they are for others.
Doesn’t anyone else use Instead? I see lots of Diva Cup users, and I would try that if it wasn’t for Instead, but unlike the Diva Cup, Instead can be worn during sex.
They’re supposed to be single-use but I just use one each cycle and then throw it away. On medium-heavy flow days I also use a pantiliner for backup. I’d be willing to look into cloth pantiliners, but pads to use by themselves, NO WAY. My periods were sheer hell for the year before I discovered tampons and had to use disposable pads. This would be even worse.
Excuse me? I went back and re-read my post. Full of the word “I”. Wasn’t talking about when “you” washed them, or when “one” washed them, I talked about when “I” washed them, what “I” would do…
… how on Earth would I make it more specific I was referring to what I would do and not what someone in general would do.
Sorry, after 8-12 hours in a satchel (because sometimes I work long days) the pad that wasn’t smelly when I first removed it is going to have a definite odor, and blood can certainly grow germs. Bleach may not be necessary, but properly used it won’t hurt. Strictly speaking human beings don’t need to shower daily yet many do so and regard it as part of good hygiene.
Personally, I think YOU are the one who had the kneejerk reaction, somehow construing a post where I said what I would do as a blanket condemnation of everyone else.
I reread your original post and I reacted to two things:
One, your comments about colored/designed pads and subsequent discussion of hygiene read to me like an attempt to shame even sven (who mentioned colored pads specifically), and other reusable users indirectly, as having bad hygiene.
The other was your command at the end of your post that the OP get a Diva Cup instead. That didn’t read like a reasonable debate to me.
I may have overreacted, but your tone was really high-handed.
I also tried Instead (before I found my beloved Diva Cup). It just never seemed to fit right and it always leaked. Plus, my partner at the time said that he could feel it and it was painful, so the benefit of period-less sex on your period was right out, too.
Ugh, no!!! I mean, no offense to those who do use them, but I could never imagine using them – I’m one of those with a heavy flow, and I’ve had to change my pads sometimes every hour or so. What do you do when you’re out in public?
(For those who don’t use Diva Cups and the like?)
More power to you and all, but for me, no freaking way!
Erm, no. Don’t like pads in the first place (I HATE the idea of sitting in my own filth all day long, and feeling that filth coming out of me without being able to do anything about it), and definitely don’t want to have to deal with washing one. I’d rather it be out of sight, out of mind. When I’m wearing tampons, sometimes I forget I’m even having a period. When I’m wearing a pad, I’m always aware of it.
Consider ignorance fought for me as well. I always thought my flow was average, but going on the descriptions posted here, I am apparently in danger of exsanguination once a month. Seriously, you guys don’t soak through pads inside of 2 hours?
And, I’m with Maiira in the total hate of being in my own leavings all day, but I have yet to find a tampon I don’t leak through after an hour. Except on my light days, when I don’t like having a dry wad of cotton up my parts.
Based on that description, what do y’all reckon my success with a Diva cup might be? I’m all for some kind of option that I can put on and leave in place all day without having to think about.
I’m like that for about the first twenty four hours–I often wear a pad with a tampon. After that, I’m fine to just a tampon which I can leave in for up to eight hours.
I might order some to use in tandem with my mooncup (UK version of Diva cup). Then they’d only be to catch stray drops if I left it too long without empying my cup, so it’d be feasible to wear them outdoors. Hmm, maybe I’ll even make my own. Pads do tend to make me itchy.
It’s purely anecdotal, but I’ve found my periods have been lighter since I started using a Mooncup and so have many of my friends. My periods got lighter after I had a baby (11 years ago), but they were still heavier than average (prior to the baby I had hellishly bad periods where I’d bleed from under my nails, eyes, and nose as well as gushing like Niagra from the usual orifice); then I started using a mooncup and suddenly they were lighter still.
It could just be coincidence (though I was way too young for menopause) or it could just be that the mooncup holds more than a tampon, so it seemed lighter - which is almost as good as actually being lighter, I reckon.
It’s also way, way, way more comfortable. For you I’d say it’s worth trying out.
Just remember to wait until you actually have a period before you try putting it in - some people I know tried outside their period so that they could practice using it and found it uncomfortable or even painful, but that’s because they weren’t really wet like you are when you have your period.
My flow is fairly light - only the first two days are heavy - and I still don’t want to use these. I am another who positively hates the feeling of the blood seeping out of me, all day long. It’s distracting to say the least. I vastly prefer a tampon.
I’ve used them in the past and still do on very light days. Unfortunately, since getting into perimenopause, things are more unpredictable and I have days with very heavy flow and clotting which is hard to keep up with even with titan-sized hospital pads.
The phrase “on the rag” used to mean just that - tear up old cloth and use them, washing as needed. With all the other miscellaneous biological things needing to be washed out of clothing from time to time, blood doesn’t phaze me. Hit them with the same enzymes I use to clean up pet stains, let them sit for a while, and run them through the wash. Works great on pretty much any biological agent that stains.
Yeah, I use them, or did until I got pregnant. I couldn’t stand the smell or texture of disposable pads, so once I heard about them I made the switch. I could never go back! (I also don’t like having things in my vagina all day, so tampons are out.)
I think some of you may be underestimating the absorbency of these things. On my heavy days I used to go through a regular size disposable pad in 2-3 hours. One of the “medium” cloth pads I use will last me all day on my heavy days. I only have 6 cloth pads total, 2 medium longs, 2 mediums, and 2 lights, which I use in that order. If my period lasts 7 days instead of 6, I will do laundry sometime in the middle, although I was planning on getting 2 more mediums, so that I wouldn’t even have to do this.
So if you had a really heavy flow you might have to use “heavy/overnight” size or change them 2 or 3 times a day. It would not be nearly as frequent as disposables unless you bought really crappy thin pads. If you were really worried, you could just fold up the used pad and drop it in a ziplock and then put it in your purse. Honestly folded up it shouldn’t be dripping on anything or you’ve used it too long.
Oh, and I don’t even rinse them. I just throw 'em in the laundry bin on the top so they dry out a bit, then they don’t smell, and I can wait to do laundry as long as I want to. Not really gross at all. I don’t bother to bleach as I certainly don’t care that they do get a little stained, and I just wash them with the rest of my clothes.
So really it’s less work than disposables for me since I only have to change pads when I’m changing clothes after my daily shower, and it’s way cheaper too, even though I bought an expensive kind.
But really, do whatever works for you, but just don’t think that there are people going through 10+ of these a day!