I’ve never been one to want to try those new period-soaking panties or reusable pads.  I thought the idea of running around in wet panties or stained, soaked pads was gross.  For some reason, the disposable idea sat much better with me.  I felt like the “ick” was further away from my womanly-bits.

But I was also intrigued by all of the adorable fabric pads available on sites like Etsy, etc.  They were just…too cute for words.  But my terror won the battle and I strayed back to my store-bought (organic or not, bleached or unbleached, etc.) pads.  And I’ve tried A LOT of them.  I’ve steered away from tampons (for personal reasons) and only use them when the necessity arises (like swimming!).

Out of the blue, I was contacted by a gal at Party In My Pants, a company that makes fabric, reusable pads (and a few other adorable things).  One of her co-workers had heavy periods due to Endometriosis and only found great coverage (and comfort) by using their gigantic overnight pad, called the Queen.  She thought I may want to try out their wares.

I didn’t see the email for about a month due to my surgery, recovery, and it got lost in the fray.  BUT, I eventually stumbled upon it and wrote her back all of my trepidations of using a fabric pad: the nastiness factor, the wetness, carrying around a stinky wet pad all day in my purse if I had to change during the day, having to wash them, and the fear of them just not being absorbent enough for my over-active period-blood-pushing uterus.

Liz took the time to calm my fears, explained the wide assortment of pads available, and threw together a gift package for me.  I let her know I’d have fun taking notes and share my opinions on the blog.  Ya know, just in case any of my readers were having the same fears of fabric pads.  BUT…I also let her know that if these bad boys failed me, the world would know. Ha!

Queue Aunty Flow:  I started period the afternoon of August 17, 2018.  I had a spare Always pad in my purse and donned it.  The following afternoon, the postman dropped off a package from Party In My Pants (We’ll just call them PiMP from here on out).  I excitedly tore into it and loved the assortment of fun things Liz chose for me.

I have the:

Medium: to me it feels like I would wear this on my light to medium days.  It’s thin, but enough coverage to make me feel safe from front to back.  My medium is an adorable fox pattern. OMG. Too cute.

Organic Super: can we say soooooft?  And it’s got cute little sheepies on it (including the black sheep!).  Larger than the medium, and a smidge thicker.

Super Overnight: GRUMPY CAT!  It’s large enough where I won’t be afraid of leaking at all during the night.

Queen:  The Mother of all pads! This thing is MASSIVE.  Full coverage … and I mean FULLLL coverage!  According to the description, it’s meant for super-duper heavy flows, or post-pardum bleeding, etc.  The big stuff.  (I wore this my first night)

That night I wore the Queen to bed.  I was skeptical.  I had a heavy-bleed day, but I figured I could wash the sheets if I made a mess.  I woke up Sunday morning surprised: no leaks.  I thought that my bleeding would just ooze and sit on top of the pad’s adorable panda material: nope.  I was bone dry when I woke up.  Usually my nights are heavy, especially on Day 1 or Day 2.  The only evidence that I was on my period?  A few stains on the pandas.  I must admit: it was kind of satisfying to have bloodied up a few panda bears!  I got ready to shower, unsnapped my Queen, folded it up, resnapped it, and set it aside near my dirty clothes hamper for later.  And, ’cause let’s be honest here…I sniffed it (curiosity killed the cat and all that jazz…).  It didn’t really smell like anything!  When I change a regular pad, I reek to high heaven.  Like, I drop my undies and the scent just wafts right on up to my nose.  But these cloth pads?  NOPE! What the heck?!?

Before my shower, I grabbed a clean pair of undies and the Organic Super – awww, the sweet sheep were next for my period onslaught!  Snapped it onto my undies, showered, and pulled up the incredibly soft fabric ready for my day!  I bled moderate to heavy throughout the day. The instructions say to change the PiMP pads when you feel wet.  Well, I never did.  I literally wore that one pad the ENTIRE day…and night.  I had a bit too much champagne and rather than change into my Grumpy Cat Super Overnight pad, I just fell into bed while still wearing my pad from the morning.  So, of course, I expected to wake up an overflowing sticky mess.  I woke up Monday morning completely dry.  There was barely even a stain on the pad…on my adorable fleecy sheeps.  No leaks!  NOT A ONE!  Again: I unsnapped my dirty pad, folded it, snapped it shut, and placed it next to the dirty Queen by the hamper.

I donned the cute foxy Medium pad for Monday morning, ready to leave the house and get to work.  The Medium felt far less noticeable than the Super or the Queen.  I walked around all day barely realizing I had it on.  By now, my flow was non-existent to low.  I don’t think I even stained the pad all day.

So, when I got home, I decided my period was going to be a short one (Friday through Monday; four days) and I thought I’d wash the dirty ones for my next period.  I expected them to be stinky: nope.  Not at all!  Although Liz did instruct me later to keep them unsnapped dirty so they don’t get musty.  I’ll snap them for transport (if I’m in public) and unsnap them when I’m home.  I was sad that the Grumpy Cat lay sad, forgotten…and grumpy…in my drawer.  Next time, Grumpy Cat, next time…

So I set the settings on the washing machine as instructed: cold water and a low tumble dry.  My husband was so grossed out by the thought of period blood in the laundry (as was I) that I made them their own tiny wash load.  They came out great! My sheep & fox look good as new, but a panda or two are still stained.  Which is fine.  I expected it.  And it’s not gross or anything because the pad is laundry-soap fresh and clean.

As a precaution, I wore my Always pad to bed last night, just to catch any residual bleeding I may have.  Want to hear a funny story?  Apparently, I wasn’t as close to being done as I thought…and woke up this morning with a leaky mess all over my undies.  Way to go “super absorbent 10x” non-reusable pad.  Way. To. Go.  So am I wearing my fabric pads right now?!? All clean and shiny?  Nope…I have a water aerobics class to attend tonight and I have opted for tampons…

I thought I was going to wait until my next period to publish this review…but I’ve decided to publish it now and update it as the months progress.  Just so you can all get an up-to-date Lisa’s Opinion on how these fabric, washable pads are holding up cycle after cycle.

I loved them, though.  They never leaked.  They were adorable and made me smile every time I used the bathroom.  They were easy to clean and not as disgusting as I thought it would be.  I’ll buy a few more to add to my collection (right now I only have 4…and my periods like to last 5-8 days…) and we’ll see how it goes.

And I must add:  it felt REALLY good not having to peel a sticky pad out of a noisy wrapper and make a bunch of trash.  I didn’t think I’d really care that much about the “environmental factor” of fabric pads…but last night when I opened up my plastic pad and threw away the wrapper…it kind of hit me a little bit.  That it was the first time in days I had to do that.  And it really made me think about all the crap I have thrown away in the past.

For September’s period, I’m going to also buy their adorable (and inexpensive) little zipper “tote” bag that fits a few pads in it and I can carry them discreetly in my purse (clean or dirty…).  And next month I’ll actually give it the “out in a public bathroom” test.

Wanna try them yourself?

The people at Party In My Pants want YOU to try these out for free, too (well, the sample is free, but you pay a small shipping fee):  All first-time customers can order a free sample pantyliner on PiMP’s website for the cost of shipping ($3.99 US, $7.99 Canada). And Party In My Pants let me know that domestic orders over $50 get free shipping.

Right now PiMP is selling their organic pads for NO EXTRA CHARGE! (the same price as the non-organic fabric).

Choices, choices, adorable choices!!

There are over 75 patterns at any given time, and customers can choose from lots of different fabric materials: cotton, flannel, double-gauze (which is a looser weave that allows blood to absorb faster), and organic cotton, organic flannel, and organic double-gauze.  And there are 13 different sizes you can choose from, along with a handy-dandy “sizing guide” to help pick the best fits for your periods!

How do I clean this thing?

The easiest way to wash & dry: after using the pad, just put it in the laundry hamper in such a way that it can dry out (you don’t want it to sit wet too long, or it will get musty, especially in warm/humid climates), then when you’re ready to do laundry just machine-wash it with cold water, then air-dry in the sun or tumble dry on low. No need to rinse or soak beforehand!

Can’t decide which patterns to pick?

I’m told PiMP always has great sales (under the “Steals & Deals” tab on the website), including “Surprise Party” and “Organic Surprise Party”, which allows customers to order pads at a discounted price- you choose the size and material, and PiMP staff choose from a random assortment of patterns! It sounds like a pretty fun surprise! I can’t wait to do this!

Bookface contests!

And PiMP has lots of fun contests on their Facebook page, including opportunities to help name new patterns.

My photos.

Yes, I’m gross. I take photos of things I shouldn’t.  But I wanted you to SEE!  And none of these are truly gross…

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Thanks to the crew at Party In My Pants for helping me jump off the diving board and embrace reusable menstrual products!

PS ~ there are no affiliate links in this review. I don’t wanna make money off of you guys!!!! ❤

(Updated March 27, 2019)