There's never been a better time to learn about the life-changing power of tidying up your period supply cabinet. It's always a good time to make the switch to reusable menstrual supplies; it's better for your health and of course, better for the planet. Ditching the sticky tabs also increased my comfort, and it may increase yours too. Read on to learn more.

Before I detail your options when it comes to zero-waste menstrual care, let’s first list some of the problems that come with standard, disposable products.

The Number One problem with Standard Menstrual products

Despite claiming to be "super" and "highly absorbent,” most standard, disposable menstrual products aren’t able to contain the flow. Leaks are a constant concern.

Do It For the Comfort

Changing up my menstrual care routine to make it healthier and more sustainable happens to be one of the most comfort-enhancing things I've ever done for my body. This was a surprise. I didn't realize how uncomfortable single-use pads and tampons were until I tried the reusable alternatives. I had no idea that single-use period products weren't optimized for the female body. I assumed there was a team of scientists trying to make them as comfortable and effective as possible. But what I've discovered is that instead of a team of scientists studying female anatomy and how to make having a period easier for women, there's a team of marketing and advertising executives trying to sell women what is effectively a puffy piece of paper with a sticker on the back. Or, if that fails, a stick of bleached cotton wad to stick up our vaginas. No thanks.

Change is a Constant

Before I share the upleveled, glown-up, better than ever period routine that's been working for me for the last couple of years, let's first acknowledge that what works for each girl and woman is unique. We're all unique and our precious parts are all unique. What we need and can comfortably use changes throughout our lives as our bodies change, hormones shift, and for those of us who get pregnant, each pregnancy and birth can change our bodies and our needs too. We need to keep experimenting, knowing that our bodies change throughout our lives.

My intention with this blog post is to give you some fresh ideas to make Aunt Flo's visit more comfortable and healthy and to help you save a whole bunch of money and landfill space. For me it's important to write and talk as openly as possible about menstruation. One reason for that is because having a period can be very uncomfortable. Anything and everything we can do to make it more comfortable is absolutely worth any embarrassment or stigma that might come from talking about it. Even though this is a guide to more minimalist and sustainable period management, I wouldn't be creating this blog post if it was only good for Mother Earth and not also potentially good for me and you. In other words, if using eco-friendly products meant sacrificing comfort or safety in any way, I wouldn't recommend these products.

Happy vagina, happy planet

By switching to reusable period products, we can have a massive positive impact on the environment. According to this article, the average woman will use and throw away 14,000 tampons in her lifetime and twelve billion pads and tampons are trashed each year in North America. That’s so much waste. It’s good news that using zero-waste period products is not only better for our environment, but also is more comfortable, and sometimes even safer than using traditional single-use sanitary pads and tampons. Switching to sustainable products is win-win. Happy vagina, happy planet.

Now I'll overview the options when it comes to reusable menstrual products, then I'll go over the specific product recommendations that work for me now. If I link to a product, it's most likely an affiliate link. Thank you for using these links to support Simple Living Toolkit. I'm so grateful that many of you choose to use my links. Using them costs you nothing but does provide a small amount of financial support to the blog.

Here are the three major product categories that replace single-use, disposable menstrual products:

1. Cloth pads

2. Period panties

3. Menstrual cups and discs

[I am leaving reusable tampons (crochet tampons, cloth tampons, and sea sponges) off this list because I am not convinced of their safety.]

Cloth Pads

Cloth panty liners, also called reusable sanitary pads, washable pads, or cloth menstrual pads, are what our foremothers used for their moon cycles. Before tampons and Always Ultra Thins, these were what we had. That might lead you to think they are old-fashioned, out-of-date, and uncomfortable. But the new cloth pads of today are surprisingly amazing in many ways, and I'll tell you more about my experience with them in just a moment. If you're in a hurry, here's the Amazon link to my favorites.

Period Panties

Period panties are underwear with an absorbent layer built. In theory they are all you need. They're washable and reusable, like cloth panty liners. Period panties are often advertised as a one piece solution, meaning you can free-bleed into the panty with no back up and no leaks. In reality, I don't know anyone who can use only period panties (no matter how much money is spent on them, and one can spend quite a lot) without worrying about leaking at some point. The fine print usually states that period underwear are meant to be used along with other sanitary supplies like tampons, menstrual cups, or pads. They may work well for light days.

Many brands don't always want to be honest about the (high) probability of leaking - at least not in the marketing material. From a personal angle, my main priority when it comes to period gear is to avoid leaking. I want to spend my period trying to relax as much as possible, which is already hard as a busy mom. Scrubbing blood stains out of sheets and clothes on top of my normal duties is really not part of the vision. I use these period panties for light days and as necessary back up protection, which I'll describe later.

Menstrual Cups and Discs

Menstrual cups and discs have exploded in popularity in recent years. As far as I can tell, this is the area where the most innovation has been applied to the menses management game. The Diva Cup was one early brand to be widely marketed in the U.S., and now there are many cups and discs out there to try. Most of them are made of medical-grade silicone, and all are worn inside the vaginal canal. Since they don't absorb, but rather catch, menstrual blood, they can be much more comfortable and less irritating than tampons. And while we're on the topic of tampons, let's acknowledge that for many women and many situations, they are a vast improvement over pads. After all, tampons let us swim and do sports without the bulk of a pad that can feel like an uncomfortable diaper.

Menstrual cups and discs can replace tampons, which many women find drying, irritating and even a potential trigger for menstrual cramps and of course, Toxic Shock Syndrome. There's also the annoying problem of the string which can embarrassingly stick out of our bikini bottoms. And when it's not sticking out, it can get lost, even leading to forgetting we were even wearing a tampon... which can then sit there for days putting us at risk for TSS. All of these issues are solved with menstrual cups and discs. Menstrual cups tend to sit low in the vagina, just above /inside the opening, whereas menstrual discs are placed higher up the vaginal canal (or further back, as the canal is angled), over the cervix.

Both cups and discs require some patience when learning to use them, and in some cases, may not be able to be used leak free. There are some who believe every menstruating human being can find a disc or cup that works for them leak-free; it's just a matter of trying various shapes, sizes, and brands. Others believe it's a matter of sticking with one brand and trying various folds and insertion techniques. Each body is different, and no one can tell you exactly what will work for you.

It's totally normal to feel frustrated and sweaty when trying new menstrual cups and discs. When they leak, it's discouraging and annoying. But don't give up because the rewards are great for those who persevere. My current favorite is the Saalt Soft Cup in size regular.

My experience with change

And now I'll share the result of sixteen years of my own personal testing of various reusable menstrual products. Things have changed through the years, and I won't talk about why each change happened because I don't know. What matters is that change is normal and it can help to expect it and accept that we may need to use different products in the future.

Sometimes a product that worked for me for years will just stop working, even though nothing has seemingly changed with my body. Changes after having a baby are to be expected, of course, but I've also noticed that my body or what works for me just changes sometimes without an obvious reason. Flow can be heavier or lighter. Cramps come and go, and the sensitivity of the vagina can change. For example, I noticed that the interior of my vaginal canal took about two years to feel the same as it did before each baby came through. It didn't hurt for two years, sometimes it was uncomfortable, but often not; it was as if my body remembered where the tearing and stitching took place for about two years after I gave birth each time. The scarring caused my period care products to feel slightly different.

This reminds me to mention that one beneficial side affect of using interior period protection like menstrual cups and discs is that you must learn your own body more intimately. This gives you information about your body that you may not have otherwise noticed.

My Current Period Routine

Here’s what’s working for me currently. Feel free to try this routine out for yourself and tweak it as needed.

My routine is to use a menstrual cup and cloth pantyliners in combination with period panties every month. If I'm traveling, I'll use disposable panty-liners and tampons, but when I get back home, I'm happy to get back to my wonderful pads. I have been using these pads for a couple years in this design:

They are so soft. The fabric feels like fleece. It's like a blanket for my special parts. They are held on by easy to use snaps, not adhesive.

I didn't realize how much I was suffering with disposable pads until I made the switch. The adhesive is problematic. The sticky backing that helps disposable pads stick to underwear often ends up sticking to other things (pubic hair and skin) leading to a variety of unwelcome sensations from irritation to intense pain. Then there's the material. No matter what claims are made in the marketing material, with a throw away pad, you're basically putting a roughly textured, bulky, plastic-ey paper against the vulva. It immediately becomes creased as you move around. You might as well be wearing a paper airplane in your underpants.

Everything is different with cloth menstrual pads. I felt like I needed to apologize to my lady parts for putting them through all that unnecessary discomfort (and sometimes torture) from the sticky paper pads. If you find yourself in the same regretful scenario, you can borrow this apology note: My dearest vulva, I'm so sorry. I didn't know it could be this good. From now on out, you'll be getting the royal treatment.

And these cloth pads are cute! Look at these designs and patterns.

I also use period panties, but, unless it's a very light day, I employ them only as back up (with reusable pads). Period panties become especially important at night to soak up any overflow from the pads. I tend to use one alone on my first day (a very light day), three during the three heaviest nights (with a large pad), one during a heavy day (with a pad), and one alone on my last day (a light day). Otherwise I’ll wear regular panties with pads, sometimes with my cup and sometimes without it.

Here is a link to my current favorite period panties.

My current menstrual cup is the Saalt Soft in size Regular.

Cleaning Your Eco-Friendly Period Products

Now that I've hopefully convinced you of the comfort of reusable pads and period panties I'll share the major downside, which is the cleaning routine. It's really not that bad, but it's a bit more work than simply throwing a disposable pad or tampon into a rubbish bin or garbage can.

The main tool you'll need is a bucket with a lid for soaking. (This is why I don't use reusables when I travel). After using a pad for three to twelve hours, I'll put it in the bucket and fill it with cold water. After a couple days, the bucket will be full. To avoid odor, you'll want to rinse the pads in the bucket daily. Once rinsed, you can launder, dry, and reuse. I generally wash the pads and panties once in the middle of my period, and once at the end. I have enough products to last the entire period, but I find that soaking only for all seven days of my period can get a little smelly, and also can feel like more work than just doing a load of period laundry. While many cloth period products (including the ones I purchased) instruct to air dry, I throw them in the dryer and they come out fine and have lasted two+ years so far.

Cleaning a menstrual cup is much easier. You simply dump the functional layer of your endometrium (aka menstrual blood, clots, and clumps of cells) into the toilet and wash out the cup with soap and hot water. Then reinsert. I prefer to do this in the shower because the hot water makes everything easier.

For my heaviest flow times, I'll wear a menstrual cup, a pad, and period panties all at the same time. I've never once woken up with bloody sheets using this system. Hooray!

Minimalist Period Checklist

Here's a checklist with the amounts you may want to purchase in case you want to try the same eco-friendly period products I use. I find these quantities are enough even if I only do one wash per monthly cycle:

1 menstrual cup
6 pairs of period panties
6 small cloth pads
8 medium cloth pads
6 large cloth pads

Money Saved

Finally, let's do some menstrual math. If I use single-use pads and tampons, I end up spending about $24 per month, which adds up to about $288 per year. If I keep using my current zero-waste system, even if I replace the reusable products every three years, my annual cost of menstrual supplies drops down to $40. Not a bad a win for my wallet.

Have a Great moon cycle

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Zero Waste Period: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Menstrual Products