Sunday, January 10, 2010

Mama Cloth - What It Is & Why I Love It

You may or may not have heard of Mama Cloth but just in case you havent I'll clue you in on what it is.

*drumroll please*


They are reusable menstrual pads. Ok before you get the "Oh hayl no" face let me explain why its not as bad as you think.

The same online friend who introduced me to cloth diapering also explained to me the menstrual pads and how they work. At first I had the "Oh hayl no" face but then I thought about the logic of it all. For me, since I am already washing diapers I figured it wouldnt hurt to wash pads too. I figured I would give it a shot at least once so I decided to use them for my postpartum bleeding. A lot of people get grossed out with the thought of seeing the blood and what not ( for tampon users) and lots of people get squeamish with the thought of rinsing out pads. Well, if you are a pad wearer and you get an "Oopsie!" in your underwear or clothes what do you do? You rinse it out. At least I hope you do. ;-) If you have no problem rinsing out those accidents that you have with disposables then rinsing reusables arent that far of a stretch. Some people dont even rinse theirs out rather, they simply soak them in a container until wash day. I dont do that. Its better for me to just rinse away.

Anyway Im getting a little ahead of myself here. First let me explain more about what a Mama Cloth pad is. Its made of a variety of cloths from fleece, to organic bamboo valour. No matter what cloth you get, its very soft against your girlie parts. They come in many different colors, shapes, and designs. Personally I prefer minkee, which is a softer type of fleece. The pic above are a few of the ones I have in rotation. Oftentimes the maker of the pad will use prints that will disguise any stains that you may get. Speaking of stains, there arent any on any of my pads, as you can see from the picture. What I do is after I take it off I rinse them with cold water and squeeze until the water comes out clean. I have a bottle of peroxide in my bathroom that I spray the pad down with. If theres anything left on it ( which there hardly ever is) I can literally see it melt away before my eyes. If this doesnt work, putting the wet pad in the sun to dry will magically lift the stain also.
I know you must be wondering how does one wear these things out in the public? How do you change it? Where do you put the dirty one? They have these cute little wetbags that you put your pads in. I like ones that have a side for your clean unused pads, and the other side for your dirty ones. This is the one that I use and the inside of it. You can see the two sides.
 


These pads fold up really cute too. You put them on by using the snaps, so when you have to take them off when you are way from home, they can be folded  wrong side out for when you need to put the dirty ones in the wetbag. You can even pull out the folded pad out in front of a room full of men and they will be none the wiser! ;-)
Here are the reasons why I love Mama Cloth verses disposables or tampons.

1. They dont sweat at all!!! Its not hot down there so there is no sweaty smell that you get from disposables. These are made of cloth so they breath and you dont get that stuffy, sweaty feeling.

2. They dont move and I mean they do NOT move or shift at all. With disposables, they bunch and move causing leaks and those "Oosies!" that we all hate. Not so with these pads. They snap in place instead of being put in with tape and because of the fleece backing, it makes them stay put better than the disposables.

3. Speaking of snaps, you no longer have your hair being pulled out. OUCH!!! Everybody has had hairs being ripped out because of the tape used on disposables pads. Dont act like you dont know! LOL!

4. No leaks. I havent had a leak yet. No, not one single leak.

5. Its so much softer on my girly bits. Sometimes I forget that its even there, thats how comfortable it is.

6.This may be TMI so read no further on this number 6 if you dont want to be yucked. I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE the oozing feeling that you get when wearing a pad. This is why I quit with pads and wore a Diva Cup for a year or two. I mean with sposies, I could feel the blood just oozing in all the cracks and crevices and it made me feel sooooooo gross! As God is my witness, I have yet to feel that oozing nasty yuck feeling while wearing a cloth pad. That alone was a slam dunk for me.

7. Its much more pleasant to look at!

8. Once you buy Mama Cloth you wont have to buy another pad again for years. They pay for themselves after a few months.

9. I am not a super conservative environmentalist, but I am sorta happy that I am reducing waste in landfills. :-)

10. There are no chemicals pressed up against your most sensitive parts, which according to what I read causes most womens menstrual cycles to shorten. The chemicals found on pads and tampons cause women to menstruate longer and heavier thereby causing you to buy more pads/tampons which translates in to more cha CHING! for the pad companies. Unfortunately for me I am doomed to forever be a long time bleeder so :-/

11. Finally, as crazy as this sounds, it actually makes the menstruating experience tolerable. If anything can make that tolerable its worth giving a chance, you know what Im saying?

2 comments:

  1. Peace Sister, I am a man and i found this article very interesting and informative. I cannot wait for my wife to get home to tell her about mama cloth. Where can she purchase these?

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    1. Peace! I get mine from http://www.talulahbean.com/.

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