10 Feb Cheers to Red! Everything You Need to Know About Washable Menstrual Pads, Panty Liners and Panties!
In these cold (or should we say freezing 🥶) times, we welcome Valentine’s Day with a big burst of self-love and red. We’re intentionally leaving the clichés out of this: rose petals and lingerie don’t cut it! We want to talk about the real deal!
MENSTRUATION (don’t be afraid of words!) is something that all women – single or not, that’s not the point – can relate to. They deserve a place in the Valentine’s Day hot topics that we POSITIVELY discuss. The only reason menstruation should make you want to curl up in bed is because of menstrual cramps (or any other period-induced discomfort). Certainly not shame. And certainly not disgust! Let’s lift the veil on this reality that has marked women’s lives since the dawn of time.
🔴 Cheers to red! Cheers to you! 🔴
👉 Menstruations are natural and full of life. Shouldn’t menstrual products also take this route, the one of loving nature and respecting its cycles? Discover all our tips for zero waste menstruation in simplicity ❤️
Menstruation, Self-Love and Valentine’s Day
Don’t get us wrong. Valentine’s Day is just a happy excuse to honor your self-love and maintain a healthy relationship with your body and by extension, with your period. This should be done all year long. Our collective unconscious feeds a negative vision of menstruations. As women, we have a work of reappropriation, normalization and valorization to operate to make menstruation an overall happy and positive moment.
Wallow in shame? No. Make your period a source of pride? YES! A pride that deserves to be celebrated three times over:
- Pride in normalizing menstruation
- Pride in making menstruation an opportunity for women to get together
- Pride in living zero waste menstruation
Learn more about our team’s three favorite menstrual products: menstrual panties, washable sanitary pads and menstrual cups.
Follow us in the flow 🩸 of our maintenance routines 👇
Menstrual Panties: Instruction Manual
Washable menstrual panties are, for many, the easiest starting point to an eco-friendly period. An absorbent insert (pantiliner style) is integrated into an undergarment in a special lining. Women often use it at the beginning or end of their period. Snaps on the panty allow the addition of inserts to absorb a heavier flow during menstruation.
Their biggest advantage is their comfort, their convenience and their versatility. At work or doing sports, they’re a winning choice 👌 They also do quite well from a cleaning perspective. They can be put in the washing machine with other items: in a load of underwear, cloth diapers, towels, sheets (or anything, when they’ve been rinsed first!).
The model available on our website is handmade in Quebec by Marie Fil. The panty is made from bamboo fiber (which makes it so comfortable and soft). The absorbent lining is made of hemp and organic cotton, covered with a thin layer of waterproof fabric to avoid small leaks.
Menstrual panties are Roxanne’s favorite ❤️
Everything About Washable Sanitary Pads
The concept is the same as a disposable sanitary pad, the only difference being that these are made of fabric and can be reused. There are different sizes to suit all bodies and flows! We offer light pads, regular, tanga and maxi versions with absorbency levels ranging from light to heavy. They are all hand sewn by Marie Fil from hemp and cotton fibers.
Doing sports? Wearing a skirt or a dress and worrying about a sudden leak? It’s true that washable pads don’t stick to your panties. 💡 Our pro tip: put a second pair of panties on top! Nothing will move, guaranteed! Otherwise, menstrual panties are still a great option for these occasions!
Washable pantiliners can be worn at the beginning or end of menstruation, or in combination with a menstrual cup. Regular, tanga or maxi washable sanitary pads can be worn during your period. Depending on your flow, they can be worn between 5 and 12 hours. 🧩 Changing it during the day is less of a headache than you’d think, thanks to a waterproof pocket bag. Superfluous, you might ask? No, it’s not. It keeps clean pads separate from used ones. We couldn’t live without it 🤩
Pro Tips: How to Take Care of Zero Waste Feminine Hygiene Products
Our team knows some killer pro tips. The kind of tips that can only come from women who have actually tried the products 😏
- Rinse, soak and wash your panties and towels in COLD or WARM water, without bleach. Add 15 ml of hydrogen peroxide if needed when soaking.
- Avoid the dryer. Pamper them with drying on a flat surface 💨
- Pro (and lazy 😂) tip: put your menstrual panties or washable pads used during the day in the bottom of your shower 🚿 Weird? No. Revolutionary! You just summarily squish it with your feet, and they will never have been rinsed so well! Plus, you saved yourself the hand rinsing step!
- To take the shower tip to another level, scrub your panties or pads with soap in the shower. Let it dry, and it’ll be ready to put back on the next day, effortlessly 😏
- To extend the life of reusable menstrual products, rinse them within 24 hours of use.
- 2 towels or 2 panties are needed per day. A dozen is enough (or even less if you do our daily shower washing thing!)
- Gone for the day? Menstrual panties absorb EVERYTHING, no need to change them.
Spotlight on Menstrual Cup
This small, funnel-like silicone object is the closest thing to a tampon, mainly for its application. A menstrual cup can be inserted into the vagina for up to 12 hours (that’s a lifetime 🙏 for those moody people 🌙 who forget to change their tampon, or those with a busy life!). Once removed (a maneuver that requires you to be comfortable with your body and not afraid to get your hands dirty, literally), it must be emptied (into the sink, shower or toilet), rinsed and then reinserted right away. At the end of each period, it only needs to be boiled to be sterilized.
It is surely the zero waste alternative for menstruation that requires the most time to adapt. Several cycles are sometimes necessary to be completely acclimatized to it. Here, the adage “to try it is to adopt it” makes full sense. You have to keep in mind that this is the kind of product for which one size does not fit all: there are several types of menstrual cups on the market, and several vaginal morphologies! It’s up to you to find the one that suits you!
Menstrual panties and washable sanitary pads are usually great allies of the menstrual cup. They complement it well when it comes to absorbing small leaks, or replace it well for those days when your flow is not abundant enough to insert a cup. For the moment, no menstrual cup is available on our website (who knows, it may come one day!). It is possible to buy them in some ecological products boutiques, in pharmacies or in most department stores.
Happy Valentine’s Day and happy menstruation!
Live them bold with self-love ❤️
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