While surfing sites for washable nappies I keep coming across washable sanitary towels.

I am interested, but wonder if they are really any good.

Can anyone recommend any?

I have considered a mooncup, but not convinced about that either...

mooncup RULES!

seriously, i am soooo glad i found it.

before i got pregnant, i noticed that since using the mooncup, my periods become lighter and less painful.

Do washable sanitary towels look clean after several uses? Do you have to wash them on hot?

gross, imo

I would be afraid to use them in case they weren't very good and I leaked everywhere.

as for a mooncup - I just cannot imagine myself being in that close a proximity to my bodily fluids. .

Not icky at all!

Very comfortable.

Soak in cold water before washing. Mine are a little bit stained, but I know they're clean, and no-one gets that close a look at my gusset, so I don't care!

Have a mooncup as well.

Not icky at all!

Very comfortable.

Soak in cold water before washing. Mine are a little bit stained, but I know they're clean, and no-one gets that close a look at my gusset, so I don't care!

Have a mooncup as well.

I don't have very heavy periods, so wouldn't be too worried about leaks. Washing and stains would be more of a concern.

Mooncup - can you use it when you have very little flow?

can you tell I'm an enthusiast?

Where did you get yours tissy?

you can use a mooncup at any stage in your period.

it took me a few cycles to get the hang of it, but i am so glad i did!

turned my periods from something i truly dreaded to more of a, 'meh, break out the mooncup this will be over soon.'

I have a Mooncup. Started using it during the day in January and have loved it. It is fab.

But I don't like to use it at night. But I find normal sanitary towels uncofortable. So interested in people's experiences of reusables...

isaidno - I have very light periods, even now after my ops that last not much more than a day and are extreely light. I fidd the mooncup perfect for this. Far referable to tampons too.

icky icky icky

blimey not icky, no more than washable nappies
but mooncups are the best thing ever ever ever
really

mine are from Ella's House. Some brushed cotton, some micro fleece.

mooncups rock but at the moment they aren't enough for me at night. I've been thinking about washables as back up - recommendations would be great!

Have used washable pads for years - the disposable ones give me eczema on the crease of my thighs where they rub. They leak much less than disposables and are more comfortable IMO. Mine have an inner waterproof layer (which you can't feel as its sown inside the fabric IYSWIM.
I got some new ones lately from a company called Moonrabbits - 8 pads for about £20 which I think is really good value considering I'd had my last lot for at least 15 years. My old ones were white, and had gone 'underwear grey', but nothing worse than that. My new ones are cheerful tartan and hopefully will stay a better colour.
The only disadvantage I find with them is that they are thicker than disposables and so are not very comfortable for riding a bike (hippy, me? ). I've just got a mooncup recently because of this & will see how I get on with it. I've never found tampons comfortable (too much icky-stickyness) but I think the mooncup might be better.

Tak, if you're a cyclist my recommendation is to cut the stem of that mooncup OFF.

I don't have one on mine because I found it rubbed.

will look up moonrabbits - thanks - dont care how thick they are in bed as long as they do the job.

Agree with expat about cutting stem off - its pokey!

Ok - who's going to tell innocent me what a mooncup is???

mooncup

(was on Flames site already so was quicker than google!)

I win Queen of Icky - I quite often just use old bits of cut up towels & then lob them in the bucket with the nappies!

It works fine for night time & weekends (tampons for work or out). Might be worth trying before you invest in washable pads? Also if you try with old towels it doesn't matter about stains - you just chuck them if they are - although my tatty bits of towelling seem to last years without getting stained.

I have indeed cut it off already!

I might try that raven - wouldnt cost anything. Don't use nappies in this house anymore though.

I use washable pads with a Mooncup. Soft and comfortable.

Can I ask what you do if you use washable pads and need to change one while at work or out and about?

Do you end up with a handbag full of bloody towels to take home on the Tube? Do you use those perfumed little nappy bags?

I think it is the transporting of used towels that I would find icky.

Thanks BlueD - wow - it looks too good to be true. Hope it's ok for swimming - has anyone got any experience of using it whilst swimming? Is it uncomfortable to put in? (I don't even like putting in tampons so this is important for me!)

Not icky at all, fab. So much more comfy than plasticky sweaty Always pads. Mooncup is good too.

You can fold them up neatly and wrap them anything you like.

I have a little Liberty print drawstring bag , which is lined with plastic (like a tiny wash bag). I don't know what it was originally designed for, but it's ideal!

I really really love my mooncup, honestly you will find people are evangelical about them
fine for swimming
very very clean.
I am not sure about if you are not keen on putting a tapmon in though, because you do need to use the same manouevre (sp?)

i've started experimenting with dd's bamboo boosters - mostly cos didn't have anything else in house - first period in around 2 years and couldn't remember where I'd stored everything. they worked really well, I was impressed
be careful with mooncups if you've got a coil fitted. anecdotal stories of the suction pulling the coil out. happened to my sis, don't know if cos of mooncup or not though

My solution (& it's the same with nappies tbh) is - disposables for out & about, washables at home. Every time I don't use a disp. nappy or pad/tampon, I'm being ever so slightly more ethical & saving a few p. I figure that it all adds up!

Not sure there'd me much point if you carried them home in nappy bags: also, would indeed be v icky in handbag!

Morocco, also started off using nappy boosters - then started filling stuffables with any old towel squares, & decided they could reasonably be expected to multitask...

Thank you for this thread, I've been starting to think of what I'm going to use when I get back to 'normal' - they sound great.

I use washable pads. For icky health reasons I've had to use a pad almost continuously for six months and believe me, even "eco" paper ones make you uncomfortable after that length of time. Fabric ones are soft and don't hurt one's tender nether regions.

If you are worried about staining choose a patterned fabric.

I tried a mooncup for my last period. It worked fine once it was in but all that stuffing in and trying to dig it out made me quite distressed (more than one attempt needed). Will it get better?

Far far worse than a tampon in terms of application and removal, I thought.

not at all icky.i use fairy hammocks.so much nicer than disposables.

I use washables - I think I got them from treehuggermums.

They wash clean fine at 30 degrees. I soak them in a lidded bucket, rinse them before washing and chuck them in with the rest of the coloured wash.

The bit I do find rather icky is the smell tbh and I definitely make a point of trying not to touch them when I rinse them out.

Other than that I think mine are fab

The ones that are topped with fleece stain far less easily than ones topped with flannel IME.
Also, I have heavy periods and find that if I don't use ones with a PUL layer, I get leaks. I will be trying a mooncup whenever my periods return.( Hopefully not for a while, exclusively bfing at the moment!)

i did always think 'ugh, gross, why why why?'

but motherhood has cured me of any dignity squeamishness i had

i now have a mooncup (which i am having a bit of an issue with, but love the concept in general; the not drying you out thing is really really good.) and washable liners.

the washable liners, i wouldnt use on their own simply coz i just dont like pads, feel icky. my liners are great, theyre black so no staining and minkee so really soft. yummy. have heard that you can get wool backed ones too which are more breathable.

have recently discovered 'instead', a kind of mooncup thats disposable, you wear it higher up and apparently you can have blood-free sex with it in. am waiting for period to arrive to test them out.

right then girls, have a new top tip for you all from a website I just googled
apparently you can recycle the water you soak your pads in by watering your houseplants with it - good for nutrients apparently
not entirely sure how I feel about that

I saw that advice before, morocco and my first thought was that if my neighours saw me emptying bloody water over my plants they would probably call the police!

I use a mooncup, though on the last day or two I use washable pantiliners. These are great - comfy, soft, very absorbant, no leaks and NO SMELL! No matter how clean I was, with disposable pads there always seemed to be an odour. Not with cloth though! They are brilliant, and certainly not "icky". I rinse them under the cold tap and this gets 90% off. Then, I sprinkle a bit of salt on the stain and bung them in the washer. Ta-dah - no stains, just clean.
I got mine from www.angeltots.co.uk and also some from www.lunawolf.co.uk. Also got some for my daughter for when she starts her periods. She thinks they are great, comfier than the disposable sort (she's had a little dry run shall we say!) and so much prettier.
I now feel completely self sufficient! I will never have to line the pockets of Procter & Gamble again!

Thanks everyone. My baby is due in 3 weeks, and then I plan to bf for 12 mths or so. When my periods eventually return I will look into getting a couple of pads and poss a mooncup.

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somewhere there must surely be instructions for making washable sanpro, surely? I bet our grannies (great grannies) knew how!

washables are much better in my experience than disposables. morrocco - i do the plant watering thing and it does seem to be good for the plants! just soak them in cold water in a jar/small bowl under the sink to keep out of view for that day then wring them out and bung them in the washing machine. patterned fabrics put to rest any worries about stains but if you have white ones you just hang them in sunlight to whiten them. i've got red ones with thomas the tank engine on them that i made sickly enough! was the only red shade of flannel i could buy at the time! not hard to make if you're of the sewing kind. just a round disc with a gusset shaped layer in the middle - so you can make it as many layers as you like depending on how heavy your period is and then a dome on each side to button it under your knickers. ok thats enough revealing of self!

I have used washable pads for a couple of years now and I have built up a nice selection!
Even trained my bh to rinse them out for me!!

The only time I ever saw reusable towels was when we were in Bulgaria 1974, (a third world country at the time) and thought it was rather degrading. They were hanging out of a hotel window to dry.

I use them, got mine from Angel tots. They are much more comfy than disposables.

I have a mooncup (bought from F&Z) and it's great. Ds3 is only 6m so my periods haven't come back yet (and long may they stay away) but I used washable pads for my lochia once it had died down a bit. As BoyzntheShire says, motherhood has cured me of any ickiness I first felt. After all, even if you don't use washable nappies you are still dealing with body fluids day in day out. Using washable pads and washable nappies was so easy as they can all go in the wash together.

I love my eco san pro - much better the disposable.

I've just invested in a Jam Sponge too, amnd amawaiting the return of my period after having my baby to use it...

so do you wear the pads on a belt? how do you cope without sticky backing? i read about sanitary belts in judy blume books but have never seen one, and i need winged towels and they still wriggle!

Why on earth is it degrading?

I swear by Peeweez pads which popper back on themselves to transport when dirty.

littleducks, you don't need a belt with most of them, they have wings with poppers.

so they wrap around the gusset and popper onto themselves?

Yup

Washable pads are pretty much shaped like disposable pads with wings. I prefer ones with fleece, they don't stain and wash very easily.

Here take a look

Degrading? That sounds like Americans who think that only 'poor people' use a washing line...

I use mooncup which I luuuuurve and have had for about 7 years now (saving me LOTS of dosh as well). I have a couple of washable pantyliners which I can use during my period if I'm unsure how long the mooncup will last (I often forget I have my period using mooncup so on heavy days it helps to have a backup) or just during the month when I need it (so to speak!)... One is pink, one black, very comfortable and look as new after about 2 years. Would never EVER go back to disp san pro. Eurk.

Thanks, Fuzzywuzzy

I use them, well I did when I had periods, am still bfing ds2.

I got mine from Green baby about 6 years ago. They are cool but not enough of them, imo - only got about 8 pads and some of those are liner size. I think I will get some more. They are much much nicer than disposable ones, in a 'you get what you see' type way, ie with the disp ones they kind of absorb everything and you don't know where it's gone

The fabric ones are a lot easier to comprehend iyswim. Though am not sure why this matters..

I would want to wrap them well if I was putting them in my handbag but then they are not bulky like disposables so it wouldn't take up much space.

I've been thinking of switching to washable pads, I don't think I could consider a Mooncup (for personal reasons that I can't really discuss).
Blimey there is certainly many to choose from!
Do you need to soak them? I was thinking that I could just rinse them off and fling 'em in my dirty nappy bucket. And how many would you need - although I'm still bfing (periods came back at 9 weeks!!!) my periods are pretty normal, heavy for 2 days then last another 3-4.

Thanks.

I have about 14 of them, in various absorbancies, and i usually do at least two washes during my period.

I rinse them under the sink and them soak them in a little lidded bucket - like a nappy bucket, only smaller - of cold water.

I use them out and about too, and i managed to pick up a small drawstring wetbag for jusp 79p from wilkinsons that i put used ones in until i get home.

Bouncingturtle- I rinse them out by hand and then put them in the nappy bucket and run two washes in total durig my periods. I've only got plain white ones and non have stains or anything.
I think how many you need depends completely on your cycle, buy a few different kinds and see which ones you get on with, if your handy with a sewing maching you could prolly pull a pattern off the internet and make your own.

Femininewear- Do you know it never even clicked about the website I linked too, just used that website as I've recently used it and got great service (I don't work for the websit promise lol)!!!

Lol Fuzzywuzzy, that's great, glad you were pleased with the service, whichever customer you were!!

I personally use about 12 different pads, well, I have to test them, don't I???
I rinse them and soak them in a bucket of cold water. If I don't soak them and just put lightly soiled ones in the machine, they seem to hold the stain. So, I would recommend soaking first.

I tried the mooncup a few months ago and have never looked back since

I have just found out about Mooncups by browsing around MN and finding this thread. I didnt even know they existed! I am interested in it, but which one and what size? I would rather buy online as I am a bit shy. Any advice please?

Mooncups come in 2 sizes, "a" and "b"

"a" for women who have given birth vaginally or who have had a caesarean and are aged 30 and above.
"b" for women who have not give birth or who have had a caesarean section and are under 30.
Does that help?

Another vote for Mooncup. Amazing - even seems to reduce cramps.

i have not gotten on with mooncups (i bite my nails so its a bugger to get a grip on the fucker to yank it out as it happens)
BUT i do love softcup thingies ta daaa as they are MUCH easier to get in and out and i can rinse and reuse one for each period.
reduces period pain like the mooncup does. and apparently you can even have sex with it in.

i do have washable pads as well. hell, i had to use washable nappies for a bit and once youve done that, then pads are about a 0.2 on the richter scale of ickiness ime.

would personally recommend:
-black coloured topping (no stains will show) i like minki coz its silky soft.
-bamboo inner - is most absorbent fabric, so thinner towel needed.
-wool backing - is breathable. makes a differnece to comfort, trust me.

you can get those from that bumfluff website too, just mail them if you cant find it on site.

hth

I bought a few washables in the end, from weenotions, they're great. not gross at all, in fact they feel 'nicer' than dispies do and are dead easy to wash. no stains either (but have gone for dark violet pattern so that could be why). no leaks. much much better than I ever thought they would be and far superior in performance to dispies

Please excuse my naievity but why would you wear a mooncup when you are not menstrating? To collect discharge? Can you really wear them during sex?!

Doesn't the collected blood smell?

I do feel that if DH had to launder my soiled washable sanitary towels, I would lose some of my feminine mystique

Mooncups a-go-go chez MP

mine are from weenotions too morocco. via bumfluff nappies.

mamabear - were those questions to me about the softcups? if so, ive no idea why anyone would wear one when not mentruating, think you must have wrong end of stick there.
it says you can wear them during sex... i havent tried it personally so couldnt vouch for it.
and no, collected blood doesnt smell. its still inside you, in the same way it would be with a tampon, so you cant smell anything outside of you. and when you take it out, i havent noticed any smell either. i just tip down the loo, reach into the sink and rinse it out and put it back. i have fairly light periods too and need to change it far less often that i would a tampon. and they dont dry you out like a tampon does, hence less period pain.

i dont let anyone but me wash my washable pads MP, my sense of dignity wont allow it