I’ve always wanted to use reusable pads. Why? you may ask, well I love trying out new things – sometimes to my detriment, also menstruation products fascinate me – I have even used the menstrual cup a few years ago. Another thing you should know about me is that my own bodily fluids don’t disgust me at all – I am quite comfortable with them. So now that that’s out the way, let me spill all the tea about these reuseable pads.

I posted this Twitter poll, and it turned out that the majority actually wanted to find out about the experience, even if the majority would have said no I was going to write this post anyway :).

Reusable pads: stats and facts
I bought the Subz reusable pads, they are available at Clicks stores at the tills. Clicks is running a campaign where you can buy 1 pad for R29 and it is donated to school girls in need. I bought 2 pads for myself just to start out, I do plan on going back to Clicks to buy more to donate.
Here is what Subz Pads say about their product: The pad has 6 layers, the outer being the 100% cotton knit, water proofing, 3 layers of hydrophilic fabric and then the inner is a hydrophobic fabric.

How I used them, absorbency and comfort
I used the pads during my last cycle, I opted to use them at the middle of the cycle when my flow was starting to taper down just to test them out. I used them overnight – I wasn’t quite comfortable using them during the day. On the first night (which was day 2 of my cycle) I wore the pad from 22:00 till 06:00, I did experience some leakage onto my underwear, but it didn’t go through to my pyjamas. The next night I also wore the pad through the night but I did not experience any leakage. I found the pads to be very comfortable, similar to a normal pad even though the reusable pad is thicker than normal pads.

Washing and drying
The one thing that sets the reusable pads apart from normal pads is that the reusable pads need to be washed and dried before reusing. I think this is the part that deters people from this alternative menstrual management product and I can understand why. The pad packaging comes with very clear instructions of how to wash it, I followed these directions to a tee. You are meant to rinse off the pad first and then proceed to washing it with soap, I used Sunlight bar soap and I found that it worked well. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m not freaked out by such stuff, so washing the pad for me wasn’t a big deal. I hung the pads in my bathroom and the drying time was approximately 24 hours, of course you can get faster drying if you hang it outside to dry.

Verdict
I will keep on using the pads from here onwards, I plan to buy maybe 2 more so that I have enough in rotation. I will use them in the evenings and over night on my not so heavy days because they can’t handle my heavy flow. I am only going to use them in the evenings / at night and over weekends because at those times I will be able to immediately wash the pad after changing it. If I use it during the day at work, I would have to carry around a full pad till I get home and am able to wash it – this is not appealing to me at all.

That is all I have to share with regards to using reusable pads, if you need more information that I haven’t covered, we can carry on the discussion in the comments. After reading about my experience, would you be keen on using reusable pads?