Women of the Cloth

DIY dames are turning their periods into a party with these rad pads.

From university students to stay at home moms to corporate lawyers and young entrepreneurs, women ranging from boardroom babes to your local baristas are ditching the disposables.

Hold onto your girly bits, I’m blogging about pads. Cloth pads. That’s right. For your period. OK, insert the obligatory but that’s gross/messy/smelly/unhygienic reaction here and admit that you’re intrigued. After all, what woman would risk the social ostracism of being branded the dirty hippy with the cloth pads, not to mention going through the extra effort of caring for them every month if there wasn’t something to it?

Luci, 36 and Lydia, 27 of Ashland Wisconsin are two such women. They are the co-founders of Party In My Pants, a sassy sister run business that promises, “cloth pads for the princess on her period.” Fed up with disposables letting her down every month, “not to mention the chafing, sweatiness and involuntary bikini waxes”, Luci sewed up her first cloth pad in 1998 and gave some of her first crude prototypes to her sister Lydia who said she was “instantly sold.”

At first the sisters made and sold their creations to family and friends, but they couldn’t deny that there was something about cloth pads that “just seemed to make women happy”, so with encouragement from their customers they decided to expand their business. PIMP (their own self applied acronym) now has over 50 retailers across the US. The girls attribute their success to taking what they call an organic approach to business. “Our business challenges haven’t seemed overwhelming because we’re not expecting huge returns or overnight success. No bank loans, no gigantic investments, no expensive advertising campaigns. When we have the means to grow, we take another baby step.”

Take a spin on their website and you’ll instantly sense a hip, modern vibe that is reflected in everything from the dozens of funky fabrics there are to choose from to the sassy sense of humor they approach their product with. Picture buying your period protection from your funkiest art school gal pal and you get the picture. More proof that cloth pads are poised at the brink of becoming become the next must have hipster accessory? PIMP is about to be featured in next month’s BUST Magazine! So next time you’re standing in line in the women’s loo at your favorite scenester joint and you try and bum a tampon off the girl in the next stall, she might just tell you that disposables are totally passé and pass you a PIMP instead!

The pragmatic approach that the sisters of PIMP take to business is by no means unique in the pad world. Small, women -run businesses dominate pad culture. Many pad makers are Work at Home Moms (or WAHMs as they are referred to on the web) who are able to combine a meaningful career providing women with products they can have faith in while still being fully involved in the lives of their children. Take a gander at Etsy.com and you’ll find a variety of pad sellers offering different styles, shapes and colors to suit the preferences of any women. Some sellers even offer their pads in exotic, designer fabrics or lush organics such as bamboo velour or raw silk.

(An elegant selection from Modern Acorn)

Some independent sellers find their pads in such high demand that their online stores sell out within hours of being restocked. Modern Acorn creates funky handmade pads made of designer fabrics that are often imported from places such as Japan. While Homemade Mama’s shop features organic hand-dyed bamboo velour fabrics that many women consider the last word in comfort. Still many other women appreciate the attention to detail that a finely crafted Yurtcraft pad embodies. One thing is for sure, there are nearly as many shapes, sizes and styles of pads out there are there are women who wear them. Pads can be an affordable luxury for a women. Most of us can’t drop a few hundred dollars on a new silk dress but spending $10 on a raw silk topped pad is something many of us can afford and see as a worthwhile investment in our own health and comfort.

(Homemade Mama’s Liners)

The internet is buzzing with communities of women who have pad fever, and the first thing you’ll notice when logging onto any cloth pad forum is that they do indeed as Luci said “just seem to make women happy.” Why? Time and again when I spoke to women about cloth they reiterated that it enables them to “make peace with their periods.”

J, a 35-year-old lawyer from Chicago, IL, has been using cloth pads since 1995 and remembers when Gladrags and Lunapads were pretty much the only cloth pad products available on the market. Now she says that there are a variety of independently made pad styles available at her local women’s health center and feminist sex to shop. Like many women who use cloth pads, J says she, “Love(s) that (she) is supporting WAHMs and other women-owned businesses, while at the same time, ceasing to support the Menstrual Industrial Complex.” In addition she adds that, “Cloth pads fit perfectly in with my feminist ideals of bodily connection and integrity and women’s financial independence. They fit in with my activist mindset by allowing me to make consumer choices that are in line with my feminist ideologies.”

Moms are even passing down their passion for cloth pads to their daughters. Polly, a 33 year-old homemaker from Missouri, has been using cloth pads in conjunction with the Diva Cup for about 7+ years now and has recently gotten her 16-year-old daughter hooked. “I hope to (also) get my two younger daughters involved in picking out and building their very own unique stashes (slang term for a woman’s cloth pad collection) as they prepare for their own first periods. I would love it if paper disposables never touched their skin!”

(A neatly stacked “stash” of pads and liners)

Like many women, Polly switched to cloth after experiencing discomfort using disposables and feels that using cloth has dramatically shifted her attitude about her body and her period. “I am amazed at how I don’t dread my period anymore. I have experienced shorter duration and less heavy of bleeding since switching to cloth full time–I feel like I’m doing something much healthier and natural for my body.”

Sounds too good to be true? Many women who have suffered from heavy cramps and bleeding and even more serious conditions such as endometriosis, vulvodynia or other pelvic issues report that their symptoms decreased or even went away entirely when they switched to cloth. While nobody knows for sure why this is the case, some women find that the chemicals and irritants present in disposable pads and tampons are just too harsh on their bodies and that using cloth transforms their periods from a monthly burden to a manageable part of life that they sometimes even look forward to.

Polly is not the only woman who plans to raise children in a cloth friendly household. J, who does not yet have children, says, “The first thing I plan to do (if I have children) is continue to use cloth products, I think this will teach my kids that periods are a totally normal part of life…disposable pads, which look like bandages and are treated like medical waste, medicalize women’s periods. They reinforce the idea that women’s bodies are dirty and foul smelling, and that periods should be hidden away at all costs. Cloth pads, on the other hand, normalize menstruation. Periods are no longer something that requires “sanitary” intervention. Cloth pads encourage women to connect with their bodies and their cycles. Personally, cloth pads make me look forward to my period.”

Time and again as I spoke to women about cloth, their reaction was, “Nobody told me these were so comfortable!” or, “I wish I had known about these a long time ago!” All of the women I spoke with reiterated that the biggest misconception about cloth is that it is smelly or unhygienic. As Luci of PIMP so accurately put it, “What do you do when you accidentally get blood on your underwear? Do you sterilize it? Throw it away? No. You wash it.” It warrants a mention that disposable pads and tampons are not sterile either. Neither is your finger, your partner’s penis, or most other things that you put inside your vagina. Just because a disposable product is white and comes in a package does not make it sterile.

(Super-mod pads by Luna Wolf)

Personally, it was a desire to end the constant discomfort and dryness I experienced with tampons that led me to experiment first with the Diva Cup. When I realized how much more comfortable and protected I felt using the Diva Cup, it was only a small leap from there that led me to cloth pads, which I have found more comfortable and absorbent than disposables ever were. I am also one of those women who’s agonizing period symptoms disappeared once I switched to 100% non-disposable products. I went from sometimes feeling incapacitated by itchiness and pain while using disposables, to being able to conduct my normal active lifestyle in ease. I am also one of those women who has experienced lighter, less crampy periods on cloth. I’d grown up thinking my period was just a pain, but it turns out that the products I was using to manage it was really what made it so aggravating!

(The Diva Cup is just one of many menstrual cups that are a safe and ultra sporty alternative to tampons!)

Like many women who use cloth, a good old-fashioned mistrust of big business is one of the things that makes me feel so good about using a natural product. When I use cloth, I’m in control of what’s coming into contact with my body. If I don’t put chemicals on my pads, there won’t be chemicals on my pads or on my body. Who would I trust more? A product created for a woman, by a woman, or a product manufactured by a large corporation who’s bottom line is their profit and not my health? I trust tampon manufacturers with my coochie just about as much as I trust cigarette makers with my lungs, which is to say, not at all!

To me disposables are what really seems icky, not the other way around. It is believed that tampons especially may leave traces of chemicals behind in your body, and may be linked directly to endometriosis and cervical cancer. Tampon companies are not required by the FDA to disclose the ingredients of their products. Compared with the cramps, imitation and health risks associated with disposables, a bit of blood on a soft peace of cloth seems like nothing to me now. And speaking of that bit of blood, are they really so hard to keep clean? Women have many different ways of caring for their pads, but I just rinse mine out, give them a swipe with Ecover stain remover, and toss them in my laundry with my underpants. To me that extra step is well worth it to not have to spend my period week feeling like I’ve been hooking up with a cheese grater ever again.

To me it comes down to the idea that I deserve more than to have a period that is just an uncomfortable inconvenience. I deserve to use products that are gentile and make me feel good about my body.

So if the thought of your period leaves you feeling hopelessly emo, consider making friends with your menses and giving cloth pads a try.

Skeptical? Curious? The web is chock full of information and resources on how to have a safer, more natural period. Check it out!

(Yurtcraft pad and liner)

Eco Menses.com, a comprehensive web site about alternative menstrual products.

Tampon Safety, National Research Center for Women and Families. More information about what’s in tampons.

Etsy, one of the largest websites out there for all things handmade, including cloth menstrual pads!

Cloth Pad Shop, one stop shopping for cloth pads form a variety of sellers.

Cloth Pads Livejournal Group, online community for cloth pads users.