Love the bloody part of yourself

It's actually easier.

I genuinely can't remember how I did in the past if I had a all-day activity without access to a bathroom.

I don't shave down there (don't come for me, it's an already lost battle).

Can we talk about how awful it is when pubic hair gets sticked on the disposable pad because blood got dry?

I was used to that. But it changes a lot with cloth pads.

The last day of school (I'm the teacher) we went to a park for the great part of the day. I was on my period and I calculated that with period underwear I could bear all the time at the park, but not all day before and after.

So I started my day with period underwear and a pad on that; while in my bag I had normal underwear and pad for the after work.

Before we went to the park, I take out my pad and stayed just with period underwear for all the day.

At the end of school day, I went back to school to change: I took out the period underwear and wore normal underwear with a pad.

It was fast? No.

No, they are not.

Do you do the laundry? Then you just have to soak them and toss them in the washing machine.

You can buy pads that don't stain or you can decide that stains don't bother you.

You decide how much time dedicate to your pads.

The short answer is: it's a personal choice.

And here is the long answer:

When you start looking for cloth pads the prices are intimidating. So usually people move their attention to the less expensive, because they are scared to waste money, if they end up don't like cloth pads.

So, at the beginning, handmade cloth pads are not worth the price. But anyway I really encourage you to choose natural fiber, like cotton, because are better for the skin, instead of bamboo charcoal (that is synthetic).

What if cloth pads leak? What if I got stains?

You know what? That happens with disposable too and, in my experience, it happens a lot more with disposables.

But since I want to be sincere here, I'll tell you the story of my worst stains happened with a reusable menstrual product. It's probably the worst fairy tale ever and there could be too much details, you have been warned.

I was on a medium flow day and I had to go to work for four hours. So I chose to try my new period underwear, for the first time, with no backup pad or underwear on my backpack, because I was very confident (the other period underwear I had tried was very very good).

I realized that I had a stain in the end of the lesson (I'm a teacher), so I nicely sit down and hoped for the best. But I still had to walk and take the bus. The stain didn't seem too bad, nothing that had never happened, also I didn't have any other choice.

I walk to the bus station, took the bus and arrived home, with my dignity slowly declining but still quite strong (the trick is walking as you don't know). The stain was bad, not impressive and not too much visible (but it was visible).

Short answer: the same way you know with disposables.

Long answer: you can start keeping the same routine you already have with disposable. You change them when you go to the bathroom? Continue that way. You change every two hours? Continue this way.

Slowly you'll start to understand how much blood the pad is holding, even if it's black. You can tell by the staining or by the weight (I know it sounds crazy, but I do perceive the difference between a clean pad and a full one).

Also, when you start to feel wetness down there you know it's really time to change them, maybe really fast. Cloth pads don't feel wet, so if they do, it's because they are pretty full.

A cloth pad is made of cloth (yeah, surprise!) and that means that they feel very similar to an underwear. So you kinda don't feel them at all.

Obviously you can feel the thickness of some (thickness is often a choice, to have more absorbency), but with the most of cloth pads you just feel cloth on your skin, just as you feel with underwear on.

They are some of my favourite, my go to very often.

They have a waterproof layer on the back with different design to choose from, and on the front they are red, in cotton jearsey with two hearts embroidered for each side (you bleed on the red side).

They come in different sizes, from small to overnight, and I like them all, they are thin but very absorbent. Also the overnight pad is very long, around 13inch-33cm, and I totally feel safe with them on.

Also they are very easy to clean, they don't stain at all, so they are very handy for beginner.

It doesn't need to be sterile. It's not a wound, you just need something to collect your blood.

Since you change it regularly, before it's too full, a cloth pad is clean and safe. You reuse your underwear, that are made of cloth, when they are stained.

I hadn't the right answer straight away. I had to think about it and after few times (obviously when I wasn't still speaking with him) I made this hypothesis:

The first reaction to cloth pads, commonly, is thinking they're gross and unclean and unsafe. Since we are used to dispose every thing around period, we are used to think it's dirty and you don't bother wash it. The next logical step is thinking that it's unsafe to wash it and that period blood it's dangerous to have contact with, and that's the reason why we dispose everything.

That seems logical, in fact we only dispose things that are dangerous.

This is an indian brand that makes cloth pads with organic cotton and pays a fair wages to their employees. They also work with schools to break the taboo around period and to every pads sold corresponds a pads gifted to a young girl.

The pads are quite thin and absorbent; so they are very comfortable to wear and you know you are covered. Also they have a impermeable layer on the bottom, so it's very difficult for them to leak.

They came in white or few colours, and both are very easy to clean and don't stain.

I think the basic night pad is a bit small. They also have a bigger one, longer and thicker, but I haven't tried it.

They also offer for half of the price a stitching kit. They give you all the materials pre-cut and you can sew three pads. I've sewed one pad for now and it's nice. If you like crafting, it's an interesting work to do.

That's not normal, you don't need to experience that, it's not part of the period experience. That is caused by chemicals present in disposable products, that irritate your skin.

I didn't know that, for ten years I thought that was normal to have rushes. Then I have my first period using only cloth pads and I had any.

You don't need to buy an entire stash in one time. I know it's expensive.

You don't need to go from a period with disposable pads to a period with only cloth pads. I know that's scary.

You just need to buy a single pad. Choose one that you like or the less expensive you can find. Start with one and discover how it feels on you, experiment how to wash it and see how simple it is.