Comments | cloth_pads: psychology of cloth pads

ohletmetelu in cloth_pads

psychology of cloth pads

Oct 26, 2011 14:57

psy·chol·o·gy

1. The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, esp. those affecting behavior in a given context
2. The mental characteristics or attitude of a person or group

( My experience... )

health, cloth articles, personal experience, advocacy, menstruation

Comments 10

babybloodheart October 26 2011, 20:28:21 UTC

My cloth pads discovery came after discovering menstrual cups, nine years ago via a pagan forum - they sold the 'green' benefits, but I have excessively heavy flow so cups seemed like a solution to this. I discovered after switching that tampons (I had been using throughout every period since I started at the age of 11) were responsible for my chronic infections, I also discovered recently that I may have suffered mild TSS. So the ground-work was always done, by the time I discovered cloth pads I was comfortable with the idea of reusable options ( ... )

ohletmetelu October 27 2011, 15:55:13 UTC

Thanks for sharing your experience. How did you discover that you may have suffered mild TSS? I can't believe how often I used to leave tampons in waaaay longer than 8 hrs ( ... )

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ohletmetelu October 27 2011, 16:04:06 UTC

Something similar happened to me.. I tried Instead Softcups almost a decade ago but when I saw a DivaCup at my local WholeFoods a few years ago I was confused and grossed out! It's still a cup and imo works a whole lot better now that I have one, but I didn't put the two together.. just like you with your profession but thinking pads were gross. It's crazy how the mind works!

I also get a kick out of the prettiness in my stash!! My pads make me smile :)

Thanks for sharing your experience!

smittenginger October 27 2011, 13:40:53 UTC

When I first heard of cloth pads, I was interested but kind of grossed out. Society had instilled in me the fact that my period was gross and should be hidden away, thrown in the trash. I couldn't wear tampons, because of my very low cervix and small vaginal canal, and used disposable pads. One day, however, I started having an allergic reaction to the pads I had been using for years. I switched to another brand and it still didn't help. Finally, I started looking seriously at cloth pads. I did tons of research for a couple of weeks (that's the kind of person I am with everything), and finally took the plunge and bought several pads from a bunch of different sellers ( ... )

ohletmetelu October 27 2011, 16:32:55 UTC

Thanks for sharing your experience :)

What kind of a response have you gotten from people who you've talked about cloth pads with? Other than my younger sister who I got a small stash for.. I'm the only person I know that uses them! The response from my immediate family and boyfriend is very positive but from everyone else it's usually negative or to laugh and call me a hippie. Like you, I now love talking about menstruation and everything uterus-related :) There's just so much to share because no one else talks about these wonderful options!!

Soon after I found this community I discovered the "naturalliving" community. If you haven't checked it out I definitely recommend it :D

smittenginger October 27 2011, 19:13:39 UTC

Sometimes I get negative, sometimes I get positive. Usually, the people tend to as me very blunt questions like "Does it smell?" "Does it stain?" and the like. They seem negative, but when I answer that with the right care, no to both, they seem to suddenly see the positive in it. Especially when it comes time to tell them the horrors of disposables (or at least my own personal horror story *shudder*). The people I hang out with tend to be pretty open to it, as I know three people who use reusable menstrual products in my close circle of friends. I'm still careful not to broach the subject with someone who seems uncomfortable about menstruation in general, but otherwise, I hope to turn those negative reactions into positive ones!

I have been called a hippie, though. By my mom in fact. Until she saw the cloth pads I use and mentioned that they are nothing like they were in her day. Now she's really cool with them. And I'm ok with being called a hippie, I just always make the distinction that I'm a hippie with hygiene. ;P

dalyax October 28 2011, 20:40:42 UTC

I discovered cloth pads about 3 years ago and never looked back since. My twin sister was browsing livejournal and found someone had it listed in their profile page. She clicked on it and shared the info with me. At first I was disgusted, but not for long. Quickly after I became very curious and looked around on etsy. Back then there were not many etsy sellers for cloth pads. With my first cloth pad I became hooked and addicted to the comfort ;D
I was interested in sewing at the same time I became interested in cloth pads. And so I thought cloth pads would be a good first time thing to sew. I opened thatpinksack.etsy.com and have sewn random things since then ( ... )

ohletmetelu October 29 2011, 15:52:55 UTC

"...where things are simpler, cheaper, and healthier." YES!!!

I'll also never never look back! Just thinking about wearing one or seeing anything disposable pad related makes me shudder! ICK!

Thanks for sharing your experience :)

fuckincapslock October 31 2011, 08:28:25 UTC

I started using cloth pads because I was so allergic to the standard disposables (to the point of not breathing well) that I kept ending up just doubling up underclothes while at home to avoid wearing one. I didn't know there were other options until I ended up accidentally finding some cloth pantyliner's. I figured even if they didn't work well, it was better than what I was doing. My first pads sucked. I have heavy flow and they had channeling sewn through them, and not with tiny stitches, you could see the holes on the undersides of them and sure enough the flow jumped through the holes. I still have a few of those pads with channels sewn, but I don't trust them beyond lighter days because of my former bad experiences with them ( ... )