Since I got my period back after the kids my flow has been pretty regular and lighter than before so I thought I would give cloth menstrual pads a try. I do laundry every other day anyways with the cloth diapers so I thought it would be a fairly easy transition. I choose to start with the Fuzzibunz Comfort Pads Starter kit in Brights because of the cost, the inclusion of a wet bag for storage and the design. The Fuzzi Bunz comfort pads are made from 100% micro fleece top layer, a 100% polyester laminated waterproof bottom layer, and 85% polyester, and 15% polyamide inner layers.
I had tried a Knickernappies stackable pad in the past and it was alright but I didn't trust it for a heavy flow day or night. The Fuzzi Bunz has no snap-in liner. The pad is the pad. No fuss no muss. It has snaps to secure around your underwear just like a sticky disposable with wings. The starter kit comes with 12 pads for 55$ and includes the hanging wet bag. The 12 pads are 3 light days (liners), 6 medium days (regulars) and 3 heavy days (super). I have to say that I was skeptical that a cloth a pad would contain my flow especially since I tend to have clots in my flow. Surprisingly, these pads really hold a lot of fluid and i didn't have a lot of tissue or clots but the little that i did clung nicely to the pad. I found that the medium size was perfect for most of my days and didn't even really need the longer length but it was nice to have for overnights. They seemed to stay in place in my underwear pretty well. As far as dirty storage I tried a dry storage (ie not rinsing out the pad) and wet storage (rinsing out the pad) before placing in the wet bag with the cloth dirty diapers. I found that the rinsed-out pads cleaned up slightly better than the dry storage. It may sound a bit icky but really how many of you out there have washed out an over-flowed pair of underwear in the shower. Same difference. I have noticed that after a few washes the fleece inner is starting to pill slightly but I don't think this will affect absorbency at all. I am not sure how these would work for a very active person (ie working out, running etc) just for the comfort factor. My days consist of hanging around with the kids in stretchy pants. LOL. As far as washing, they can go in with your cloth diapers or if you don't cloth diaper you should wash them in cold with a detergent that doesn't have fabric softener, enzymes or optical brighteners. These can affect the absorbency of the pads. Also do not use fabric softener in the dryer. Line drying is the preferred method of drying.
Overall I am really happy with these pads. I am excited to not have to buy pads or tampons anymore, although I will keep some on had for those tight-pants days when a low profile option is necessary. Also it is probably advisable not to use these pads in combination with yeast infection creams because you don't want the creams to coat the pads and affect the absorbency or UTI medications that turn your pee yellow to prevent staining issues.
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