Money Saving Monday

Ditch the Disposables

Disposable feminine products (tampons, pads) to reusables

At the request of a reader I'm going to talk about feminine products today. My husband often reads my blog, but I don't know if there are other men. I encourage any man reading this right now to turn back...and any squeamish women. I will try to be vague, but that only goes so far when talking about things of this nature.

There are so many good reusable products on the market. The best I can offer, of course, is my personal usage of them.

I'll start with my favorite. For postpartum usage, and overnight, I have found the softest, most comfortable pad. It's called New Moon pads. They are really big! GREAT for PP especially! So comfortable. They cover everything and everywhere. If you have ever used a cloth diaper during the PP time this is way better. The cloth diapers can be a little uncomfortable on the sensitive area but these pads are too soft.

Advantages:
wide across, with a leg cut out, and long
soft outer material against skin
material that faces panties stays put
beautiful fabrics
great price
beyond absorbent, one pad will last hours, even PP...I have NEVER had a leak

Disadvantages:
no wings (not great for overnight but perfectly fine for PP when less is better)
You have to hold the pad when you go the bathroom or it falls in the toilet. With the longer PP pads, that's fine. With the shorter ones she sells, you often grab some hair, if you know what I mean. NOT comfortable. But if you don't hold the pad, it goes in the toilet.
Not great for tighter clothing

I see on her website you can get pads with wings now. Hands down, these are the best pads I've used. I don't like the regular sized ones because of the holding the pad issue. But now that I can get them with wings, I think they will be the best. I will order some soon and report back. All other pads I've used with wings stay in place when going to the bathroom.

Also, she often runs specials. Just check back often. I don't know if she offers any kind of referrals specials, but tell her I sent you. You never know.

Is this post getting long???? Sorry. I guess I have a lot to say.

I've tried Glad Rags, didn't like them. They have too many steps...you have to stuff them. The one I bought I had to stitch up after one use. I've tried lots of other work at home brands, bought off ebay for the most part, and none were as good as New Moon, for both absorbency and comfort. I only found one pad I liked from ebay and now I cant find her. They were soft and very absorbent and wide. (That is the key, they have to be wide enough and long enough.)

I never use disposable pads now because in comparison they are terribly uncomfortable.

I also never NEVER EVER EVER EVER (you get it? NEVER) use tampons. I've always thought they were uncomfortable, but whatcha gonna do? Pads get to chafing after a while and sometimes you just need more discreet coverage. So I had to find an alternative to tampons. I use a sea sponge.

Sea sponges can be bought through Frontier Coop for under $10. I have an account with them so I don't know the retail price. I've had them since I was preggo with Millicent and they are still going strong.

advantages:
you cannot feel them AT ALL
easy to insert

disadvantages:
cannot wear them for long periods of time
messy to remove so not great for changing in public restrooms

Despite the disadvantages I found them immensely better than a tampon. Way more comfortable. Tampons rubbed me sore going in and I always had to take them out so slowly or I would be even more sore. Not so with sponges. You have to stick your fingers way up inside you to get them out and you get blood on your fingers, but you can tie a string on them to make them more like a tampon and avoid that. But seriously, so much more comfortable that the disadvantages do not bother me a bit.

Another alternative is the Keeper Cup. I read an awesome blog post on this and it seriously made me want to buy them and try them out. So as soon as I do, I'll let you know. (That may be another couple months as my cycles are not back yet.) I can't find that post, but if you recently blogged about this, please post here. Or be the first to try it and let us know how it goes. According to the post, you can leave it in for up to 12 hours!!! WOWSERS. Nothing tops that. Completely comfortable and you forget you have it in. Reasonably priced because it can be used for a year or two.

One thing I realized after reading that blog post was that my periods are shorter. I mean, I knew they weren't as long. I would have a 3-4 day period and keep thinking I still had a few days left and I'd still be wearing pads. I just never realized it was because I was only having it for 3-4 days. She attributed it to using the pads and the cup that were more natural. I have to agree. I think not having those chemicals in my body changed it. I have no proof of that. But when you talk to other women using these products, they all seem to have the same experience. Let me know how it goes with you.

So wow, here is my really, super long post. I hope you stuck around, or at least skimmed the post. I'm excited to hear how it works for you, so please come back and post about your experiences.