Are Reusable Pads Safe?

Yes, reusable pads are safe!  The fabric in Cheeky pads (and our pants) is certified to Oeko-tex standard 100 - a globally recognised testing standard. This means that every element has been tested for harmful substances and has been found to be completely safe for skin contact. Customers can feel confident in the safety of our products.

The average person nowadays is working hard to be great at her job, whilst being a fully present parent, and keeping her relationship alive, whilst drinking enough water and finding time to exercise, along with keeping in touch with mates and nailing down a busy family schedule, and making sure the WHOLE family eat 5 fruits and veggies a day, it can feel like you are juggling anxiety and stress!

Add on a social awareness to use safe eco friendly products for our families, it can feel overwhelming! Switching to reusable menstrual products such as reusable pads or menstrual cups is one way of making a fairly easy eco swap.

Disposable Pads - the Problem

A Women's Health article estimates that the average woman will use up to 16,000 disposable sanitary pads in her lifetime. Each disposable pad contains the same amount of plastic as 4 plastic bags and can take 500 years to decompose. Nearly 5 million sanitary products are flushed down English toilets A DAY!

Disposables have also been found to contain endocrine disrupting chemicals and carcinogens. WEN writes that single use sanitary products can contain phthalates, bisphenols and pesticides that most brands aren't required to list.

Wikipedia says 'the main materials are usually bleached rayon (cellulose made from wood pulp), cotton and plastics. In addition, fragrance and antibacterial agents can be included. The plastic parts are the backsheet and polymer powder as an additional powerful absorbent (superabsorbent polymers) that turns into a gel when moistened.'

Here at Cheeky Pants, we are aware of how important it is to make sure this is easy and straight forward for you. We will answer:

We will help you to know -

1. Are reusable pads hygienic?
2. What are washable pads made of?
3. Which cloth menstrual pads should you choose?

1. Are reusable pads hygienic?

Yes, reusable pads are hygienic. No sanitary pad - disposable or reusable - is sterile, and modern washing machines and detergents deal with any blood and pee so no bacteria or ammonia can build up. They can be washed and dried with your normal washing so no energy wasting extra loads are needed. Just avoid fabric softener on that load!

2. What are Cheeky washable period pads made from?

Our reusable period pads come in four different fabrics - cotton, organic cotton, bamboo, and charcoal bamboo.

Cotton and bamboo leave a layer of natural fibres next to your skin, just like normal underwear and our charcoal pads have a top layer with bamboo and microfleece mix - great if you want to avoid stains.

Absorbent layers come next - either bamboo, cotton or microfibre.

Next there is a waterproof TPU stay dry layer to prevent leaks (tested and certified clear of both PFOS and PFOA content found in some companies pants and pads) followed by an outer layer of black organic cotton, patterned plush or patterned cotton.

Canesten Gynaecologist Dr Anne Henderson says  ‘Reusable sanitary pads are just as healthy and safe as disposable ones and women need not have any concerns in this regard, in terms of cleanliness. 'It is a myth that there is a need to kill bacteria on the pads as sanitary pads are not sterile, regardless of whether they are disposable or reusable. Simple hygienic cleaning is all that is required – nothing more complex than that.'

3. Which cloth menstrual pads should I choose?

Our reusable cloth pads directly match disposables however instead of glue they use poppers to attach to your knickers. Lay the pad in your pants, popper underneath your pants gusset and you're done.

Which cloth menstrual pads you choose depends on your level of flow and personal preference.

• Cotton pads - Slimline, cooling against the skin, great for light to moderate flow

• Organic cotton pads and organic cotton panty liners - made with 100% organic cotton, black, super absorbent soft pads with a non slip backing, great for moderate to heavy periods

• Bamboo pads - Natural, cooling, antibacterial bamboo, lighter colour, great for heavy flow

• Charcoal bamboo pads - Same core as our bamboo pad with a charcoal microfleece / bamboo top layer, stain resistant, great for heavy flow

• Incontinence cotton pads - Odours are kept under control with our charcoal impregnated slim pads

Washing reusable pads is easy. In summary, rinse in cold water and then properly wash with your next washload on a max 30c washing temperature.

We hope you've enjoyed our Cheeky guide on whether reusable pads are safe and hygienic.

We are so sure that you will be 100% happy with our period products that we guarantee if they don't work for you, we'll refund you in full.

If you enjoyed this, we think you would like this blog on Are Period Pants Hygienic? or have a browse of all our blogs!

As always, if you're unsure of what you need to make the switch, please do drop the team a line or use the online chat function. The team all use the products themselves and just LOVE to chat pee poo and periods, all day long, nothing is TMI and we all love to overshare based on our own experiences...

About the Author:  Kirstin Scriven is part of the Customer Experience team at Cheeky Wipes, which since 2008 has been selling the original reusable wipes kit. She is mum to 3 and loves the forest, the sea and the hills!

Along with the rest of our crack team, she spends most days talking about poo, pee and periods and loves a chance to overshare. The business was recognised with a Queens Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development in 2021, celebrating their hard work over the last 13 years.