OMG ,I want Penniless Parenting's homemade pads!

[emmyfair]

http://www.newmoonpads.com/home.html

I use these. The are comfortable, don't slip, have no snaps, and I've been very happy with them. They make a great back up for tampons as well, especially at night. I love that they are very simple and work so well.

[Rosa]

Experiencedd, they might be out of fashion. I don't think my coop even sells them anymore. I think everyone who's that crunchy & doesn't mind internal stuff went over to a Keeper/Divacup.

[Witsec7]

Experiencedd, they might be out of fashion. I don't think my coop even sells them anymore. I think everyone who's that crunchy & doesn't mind internal stuff went over to a Keeper/Divacup.

TY, my coop has got shelves full of washable pads and cups. My DD uses some crunchy bamboo tampons, she never took to the sponge. Frankly I loved the sponge esp when I was peri menopausal and bleeding without a schedule. Never could use the cup due to my internal angles :roll:

backing into the crone corner after checking trends

[meda]

TY, my coop has got shelves full of washable pads and cups. My DD uses some crunchy bamboo tampons, she never took to the sponge. Frankly I loved the sponge esp when I was peri menopausal and bleeding without a schedule. Never could use the cup due to my internal angles :roll:

backing into the crone corner after checking trends

I hear you on internal angles, the cup and I were not friends. I really like the glad rags pads, they are a bit pricey, but they're sturdy and hold up to repeated hot water washings.

edit bc here /= hear

[PennySycamore]

I'm so glad I don't have periods anymore as mine were just horrible! I'm pretty crunchy, but I was an OB Ultra strength gal with Always as a backup. I've got those weird internal angles, too, so I never tired a cup.

[Aeryn406]

I thought I'd be too uncomfortable (mentally, not physically) to use a cloth pad, but I'd been fighting really bad cramps for 20 + yrs and read that the chemicals in disposable pads can add to the pain, so I tried them & I'm so glad I did! After about 6 straight months of using them, the pain lessened to the point that now I have the kind of cycle that sneaks up on you.

And, I never realized the money I was spending, too. I spent about $30 for 14 or 16 pads (can't remember exactly), split the batch in half and I've been using the same 7 or 8 for the past 2 years. I haven't even touched the other half of the pack that I set aside. I think I was spending $7 every other month for disposables. That's $84 saved!

[Sola]

Penniless parenting is making postpartum pads and has a tutorial. I was reading it and thinking of cool material I could use. I want homemade cotton pads now! I was pretty crunchy to begin with, but I always stopped with this product. I am thinking maybe I should make some. How hard can it be? (I don't sew at ALL) Maybe I'll check etsy?

These fundies have taken over my life when I am even considering this. :doh:

It's not hard. You could even hand sew them if you wanted.

Before my hysterectomy I used home made pads for years. I made them out of cotton flannel with a towelling insert. They were so much more comfortable than store bought pads. With having horribly heavy periods I would get terribly sore down there from being chapped. I couldn't use internal protection because of my prolapse. As soon as I tried cotton pads my soreness went and I was never chapped again. I would have VERY heavy periods, full of blood clots and they lasted up to 10 days due to the endo. I rarely leaked with home made pads, even at night time. I can honestly say that I didn't leak any more frequently with home-made pads than I did with the best store bought pads.

[Sola]

Snap presses are usually over $100 when you add the dies, but you can get snap plyers for less than $15.

I used buttons on mine. Just made a couple of button holes on one 'wing' then put the buttons on the other.

[Sola]

They also sell PUL, if you want to use that for your bottom layer. I prefer fleece though, I like my princess parts to breathe.

Yeah, problem with PUL and fleece is that it doesn't breathe. If you have 'delicate' bits like I had with my prolapse, you get just as sore as with disposables. All mine were a flannel pad with pocket for a terry liner. On my absolute heaviest days/nights I used a double thickness liner. I hardly ever leaked.

Best thing to make liners out of is old bath/hand towels cut down and overlocked/edged. Towels are very absorbent, mine were made from some old flannel PJ's and old bath towels. Even the buttons were recycled and came from my button tin!

[chaotic life]

I switched to cloth pads when I couldn't take the itch from dispoables anymore. Turned out, I was allergic to latex. I was very unhappy about switching, since it was one crunchy thing I did NOT want to partake of. However, I have loved using them. I bought them from a WAHM on DiaperSwappers, used them exclusively post-partum and us them as back-up with my Diva now.

[clibbyjo]

I have some too small gnome flannel pjs this would work with.I want gnome pads! I am afraid of the sewing, some say its easy, some say hard.....

[Wolfie]

I haven't had an issue with breathing and pul. I did have a problem with fleece- it was just too hot. I think it is a case of different body types need different things. I did find that I got a lot less irritation from cloth pads than disposables. I did still have a heavy flow with a lot of cramping. Any non waterproofed pads I tried, I bled through in no time. I used to use a diva at night so I didn't wake up in a puddle. I'm on low dose bc now and it's not as bad. Still heavier than most, but not as insanely heavy. It also is just a few days, rather than a whole week.

I still use the diva if I am swimming or something, but while I can get it in, my body suctions it in, and it is difficult to remove.

[Guest Anonymous]

I have some too small gnome flannel pjs this would work with.I want gnome pads! I am afraid of the sewing, some say its easy, some say hard.....

Do you have a serger? Or at, least a decentish sewing machine?

[aubrietta]

clibbyjo, gnome pads would be the cutest ever!

Here's a link with a gazillion patterns, freebies and ones you can buy. A lot of the links are dead, but some still work.

clothpads.wikidot.com/patterns

I used the Adahy's Maxi Pad one.

This is totally TMI, so you are forewarned, but the reason I switched to the diva cup and cloth pads is because I developed an allergy, after my second son was born, to the disposable pads. I got HIVES on my lady bits. OH MY FUCKING GOD. There is nothing worse. Then, the next period I got, I thoughtlessly used a tampon. Yup. Allergic to those too. So yeah, cloth rocks.

[Sola]

I have some too small gnome flannel pjs this would work with.I want gnome pads! I am afraid of the sewing, some say its easy, some say hard.....

Really it isn't hard! There are lots of templates online to download for you to use as a pattern. Just add a seam allowance of 1/2 inch. The first time I downloaded on which printed on an A4 sheet. I tried that but found the pads a little short - I preferred longer ones like post-partum pads as my periods were so ridiculously heavy. So I made my own longer template and used that. I did use my overlocker but you don't need to. If you have a sewing machine just zigzag the edges, if you hand sew just edge them in blanket stitch. If you can't do button holes just use some simple hand sew on press studs.

Once you get that soft flannel round your lady bits you'll never go back to store bought pads!

[snarkbillie]

As far as TMI goes here's a bit:

I used to use overnights because of heavy flow issues, but they would bunch up anyway because I'm so active...so when I made my cloth ones I ran into the same issue until my old friend (she's literally old okay?) told me I should belt them like they used to when she was younger.

I made cloth pads and a belt for it to button on and no more problems!

http://labyrinth.net.au/~obsidian/cloth ... dpads.html