Lady Product Tutorial

This is my first tutorial,, eeks!  I'm actually nervous trying this,, not sure why.  Guess I don't want to leave anything out and be sure it's all organized properly and the pictures come out in the right order, SO MUCH pressure!! :)

My friend uses cloth diapers and looked into cloth menstrual pads.  She asked me if I ever saw them and could make them.  This got me real curious.  I made some last year, after first buying a few on Ebay so see how I liked them.  I have gotten to know which ones to use when and how long before I need to change it.  They are alittle different than disposable ones.

There are a few things that are real useful.  I got a cheapo Dritz snap installer.  It was VERY frustrating and rarely worked.  I highly suggest NOT buying one of those!  I did invest in a KAMsnap, hand held snap putter-on-er. :)  (KAMsnaps.com   they have oodles and oodles of colors of snaps to choose from).  I found having a snap on the pad made the world of difference.  Safety pins just didn't work well and the snaps hold it well and are much faster!

 These three are finished pads, the one in the middle (bright blue, red, yellow) is the one I bought from Ebay and used as my sample.


Another useful product is PUL fabric.  It's what is used in cloth diapers.  It's: polyurethane laminate fabric.  It provides the waterproof barrier needed in the medical field that can survive multiple institutional washings.  (taken from celticclothwholesale.com)  I tried making some out of just layers of liner (flannel or old towels) and the PUL worked better for my heavy days.  The ones without the PUL are fine for my last few days.

  The first thing I did, make a paper pattern for the outside liners (make 2), the middle liners (I used 3-4 pieces of flannel) and the PUL liner piece (I made one alittle smaller than the outside liner pieces).


The layers:  baking, PUL (the PUL is the white piece that I used marker to trace on the pattern), liner layers and top liner piece.

I sew the layers, PUL and top piece together with a rectangle in the middle.(do not include the bottom liner in this sewing).   This holds them all in place and also makes a middle section to sit nicely in your undergarment. Then I zig zag with all the layers together around the edges,, the bottom piece, the PUL, flannel liners and top piece.  The last step is to add the snap.

When I'm using my pads, I have a plastic shoe box sized box on the dryer.  I put a dirty pad in it and cover it with cold  water.  As I use them, I just add more water to cover them.  When the box is filled, I pour the dirty water into the toilet and put the soiled pads in a rinse cycle.  Then I just wash  and dry them.  Good to go again.

The pads fold and snap into tidy little packets.  If I'm using these while I'm out, I just put the soiled on in a little ziploc baggie.  They're very easy to use and not a whole lot more work.  So much better for you and cheaper :)