What to Look for When Buying Cloth Pads

Buying cloth pads is definitely an investment up front. You could easily spend $200 on a full set which for some may be saving money depending on your cycle. Nonetheless, you still want to make sure you're making the right investment. So, what pad is right for you?

Where can I buy cloth pads?

There are several places you can go to buy pads.

• Etsy

Etsy is an easy place to go, where you can purchase essentially any kind of pad. These are small businesses, and many of them are WAHMs (work at home moms) who want to make cloth pads as a hobby. They can be a little more on the pricey side and the dollar signs can add up quick, but many make great products and have strong customer service.

• Websites

There are several larger, more established independent businesses like Novel Red (known for crushed velvet pads), Tree Hugger Cloth Pads (known for minky pads), etc.

• Amazon

Amazon is where I first got started with cloth pads. They're super cheap (about $20 for a pack of seven pads with a complimentary wet bag). If you want something inexpensive, this is a good starter. It helped me know how many pads to buy when I began building my own stash, what size I should get, how to take care of them, whether or not it's worth using cloth pads, and so on. One of the reasons why I decided to try homemade cloth pads is because I've heard so many people say that cloth pads reduce menstrual cramps. For some reason, when I started to use the cheap reusables, my cramps actually got worse. Of course, it could have had to do with increase stress but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try something different.

Another great thing about building your own stash as opposed to buying a set off of Amazon is that they're customizable. You can get custom-made ones, pads with patterns you like, and fabrics you find comfortable. Some may find this silly, but I think this is one of the greatest parts about using reusable pads. It really does make being on your period a little better. You can find ones with flowers, solid colors, Harry Potter themed, animals, flared ones, narrower ones, plush, or smooth. You get to choose something you actually like.

When I travel I'll bring my Amazon pads or the most quick-dry, darkest pads I have so I don't have to worry about stain-treating them. If I'm staying in a hotel or know I won't have access to a washing machine, I'll just bring disposables. If I'm staying for a short period of time, I'll bring enough cloth pads to get me through that stay.

• Facebook

I didn't realize that there's a whole community on Facebook where people buy, sell, and even trade cloth pads. There are many people who conduct orders directly through there or they update their followers on when they're going to restock. All these groups are usually private. I follow three but am generally not a huge fan of the way social media groups tend to be structured. Some popular Facebook groups are: Vasha's Custom Creations (known for bamboo velour pads), Tropickle (known for bamboo velour pads), Ragamuffin (known for pique pads with pop-culture theme).

What do I need to look for?

Before you get into how the pad looks, you need to make sure you look at the following things first:

1) How much is shipping?

This may not matter to some people, but the first thing I look at is where the seller is located and how much shipping is. If they're located in America, it will generally be around $3.50-$4 for one or a couple pads. This is a usually the amount I would prefer to spend on shipping. If they're located in Canada or the U.K, the shipping cost is usually over $10 and I personally don't want to spend the same amount on shipping as I would a pad.

2) What is the topper made of?

I've come across many pads that I'm interested in, but I make sure to carefully check what the topper is made of. Many pads are made with cotton weave or flannel because they're easy to find in regular fabric stores, they come in a huge variety of patterns, and they're inexpensive. Many people like cotton because it tends to be cooler. However, I'm not a huge fan of cotton for several reasons.

• Cotton weave is often labeled as 100% cotton. That's just a general term and like bed sheets, there's different quality of cotton woven which you can't get a good sense of unless you feel it. Some cotton weaves are soft while others are a little rougher.

Cotton is known to stain easily. If you want something low-maintenance, don't get anything with lightly dyed cotton.

Flannel pills and cotton velour sheds/collects lint easily. You may have had clothing made with flannel, and you may know that it can pill easily when you put it in the dryer. That's why many people don't like flannel even though it's a softer cotton.

Cotton and knits shrink. Make sure the seller pre-washed the material. This is important because even though cotton and knits can still shrink a little after being pre-washed, if the maker didn't pre-wash them, it's not going to be a fun sight when you pull it out of the dryer especially if you put it on medium or high heat. I'll show you why.

I was making a cotton velour pad and realized I forgot to pre-wash it. I threw the rest of my fabric along with my cut piece into the wash and then dried it on medium heat. When I pulled out my yard of fabric, I was left with half a yard...

• If you're a heavy bleeder, it's especially important to choose the right pad with the right material. You want something that is absorbent, won't spread blood too quickly, and is stay-dry. Some great options are anything textured like bamboo velour, minky, cotton sherpa, and crushed velvet. If you don't like things with pile, then athletic wicking jersey, cotton lycra, and pique are good options.

Some makers also add certain features to their pads which are designed for heavy bleeders. Vasha's Custom Creations has become known for the "gusher pads." She adds slits in the bamboo velour which helps slow the spreading of blood. I have some of her regular bamboo velour pads but you have to follow her Facebook page in order to know when she's going to re-stock.

Other people like to sew interlabial pads onto the actual pad which helps slow down the flow.

3) What's the overall structure of the pad?

Check the layers. Most sellers make pads with fleece that's usually water-resistant. Now I emphasize water-resistant because they aren't waterproof like PUL. That means if you have a heavy day and you're wearing the wrong absorbency, with enough compression you can leak right through. That's not too good...

Fortunately, makers will often put some sort of marker on the pad to show what absorbency it is. The best pads are the ones that have hidden PUL where the PUL is sewn behind a thin layer of fleece to provide some traction. I like exposed PUL backing or soft shell fleece since they're both thin, repel fluid well, and don't collect lint easily.

4) What's the snapped width?

Looks can be deceiving on the internet. Make sure you check the snapped width and measure the width of your underwear. The snapped width is the measurement of the narrowest part of the pad when it's clasped. The common width is between 2.5 inches to 3 inches. You don't want something that's too wide because it'll slide around or feel too bulky and uncomfortable. I purchased a pad without checking the width and it came to me with a 4 inch snapped width and 3 inches on the smallest setting. The only problem is that it would bunch up and become unusable on the smallest clasp. I couldn't return it so I unpicked the entire thing and re-sewed it.

5) Calculate how much you need.

The best way to estimate how much you need is to count how many pads you use in a day with disposables. You can buy that many reusables or less because you can wash them. I prefer to have more pads as opposed to washing them more frequently because a) I have to pay for laundry at school and b) If part of the point is to help the environment, it's not really helping the environment if I'm doing more laundry.

Also, some people say their periods get shorter after switching. Interestingly, there could be some validity to that because my period used to be 7-8 days and then went down to 5-6 days. In terms of length, it's good to stay within the same length range as the ones you would use for disposables. When people first start out, some will try to experiment with different lengths but then regret it because they spent all that money on a length that doesn't work for them. The common overnight/postpartum length is 13"-16". The largest I've heard of is 20". Now, you may be like woah, that's long. But, with cloth pads, they're so comfortable that they just provide protection without detection :) To better visualize the length, don't use a ruler. Use a measuring tape and curve it in half. Think of it more as 7 inches of protection in the front and 7 inches of protection in the back as opposed to 14 inches. You can also visit the "What Size Pad Should I Get?" blog post.

6) Thicker doesn't mean better.

One thing I've learned the hard way is that thicker doesn't necessarily mean better protection than thinner. What matters most is what materials are being used and where the extra layers are being placed. When we think of heavy periods we think of stacking on thick layers like maxi pads. Do you want to go around feeling like you're wearing a diaper?

I'll share with you an example.

I purchased a 12 inch pad that came with a cotton weave topper, two layers of Zorb plus two layers of flannel for the core, and an anti-pill fleece backer. Zorb is just a brand name so there are different kinds of Zorb material. There's a thicker kind where one layer is equivalent to two layers of another kind. Both are very absorbent but the thinner kind comes as a narrower yard so you're getting less material for the same price as the other kind.

That's why makers tend to use the thicker Zorb. The problem is that this maker stacked two pieces of Zorb that were the same size on top of each other. Cotton is supposed to be cooling, but when I put my hand on the pad it felt hotter than my minky pad which is considered to be the warmest material. That's because this pad was thick.

I tried it on and literally felt like I was wearing a diaper. You could even see the outline through my pants.

Here's a comparison of my cotton weave pad I made with the same Zorb. What I like to do if I'm working with the thicker Zorb and want two layers is put the extra layer in the center of the pad where the heaviest bleeding will be and then the back is single-layered so it won't look or feel bulky.

Back side thickness comparison Center thickness comparison

Of course, I couldn't return it so I had to unstitch the entire thing and re-sew it :( This time I used a PUL backer. You can see the difference because the entire pad I re-sewed is the same thickness as the anti-pill fleece. Anti-pill is the thickest type of fleece which is commonly used for no-sew blankets. It's fine for smaller pads but for larger ones, man that thing is hot.