"When I take off a pad, I fold it in on itself, and snap. (See Photo.) I then put it unrinsed into a waterproof zippered bag. Yes, unrinsed. I was sceptical at first; I was afraid unrinsed pads would stink, but they don’t. Obviously, if you put your face into the bag and inhale deeply you’ll be able to smell your pads, but you wouldn’t do that anyway, would you? I keep my waterproof bag in our (small) bathroom, and neither my partner or I can smell my pads at all. (Believe me, if my pads stank, my partner would have something to say about it.)
My waterproof bag is nothing fancy; it’s a large toiletries bag that I picked up for about 50p at a charity shop.
When I’m ready to clean my pads, I do it in three easy steps.
Step 1: Open the pads up, drop them into the soaking container, and fill with cold water. I do this in the morning about an hour before my shower – you’ll find out why in a minute. You could also do it overnight. After soaking, I tip out the water.
Step 2: Now that you’ve loosened up the blood, it’s time to rinse. There are a few ways to do this. You could fill your soak pot again, swish your pads around a bit and tip the water out. Alternatively, if you like to save water, you could do what I do: dump your pads into the shower enclosure or bathtub, and take a shower with them. It might sound weird, but it’s incredibly efficient. The combination of the shower water and me trampling about on them gets them pretty good and clean. If you aren’t comfortable with trampling your pads, you can still use your shower water to rinse them – just take a plastic container into the shower, let it fill with water, and use your hands to squeeze the pads out.
At this point, you could wash and dry as normal, spot-treating any stains if you are so inclined. Ecover stain remover is excellent, I highly recommend it. I am very finicky about stains, though, so I like to add one more step to ensure my pads are pristine.
Step 3: Dump the pads back in the soaking container, and this time add warm water and a scoop of Vanish Oxi Action, or similar oxygen based laundry cleaner. Oxy Clean is widely used in the USA, and seems to be approximately the same thing. Make sure whichever version you get is colour safe!
Most supermarkets have their own brand versions that are significantly cheaper. So far I have tried the Co-Operative’s version, which I happily recommend, and Sainsbury’s version, which I don’t.
Swoosh around a bit to dissolve the crystals, and leave for another hour or so. When you come back to it, you will be amazed at how beautiful your pads look (and smell!) Now you can wash and dry as normal. I wash at 30 or 40 degrees with no problems. I like to air dry outside (when the weather permits), but that’s a matter of personal preference.
Advantages of Using This Method
- Time saving – no need to worry about rinsing out every single pad immediately after use;
- Water saving – pads are all soaked in one go, and if you’re using the shower method, you’re rinsing with water that you’re using anyway;
- This method cleans pads so thoroughly, that if you omitted step 2 or step 3, you’d still get decent results. (If you decide to omit step 2, squeeze the pads out after step 1 and proceed to step 3.)
- The soak water from step 1 can be used to fertilise house plants;
By the time the pads get to the laundry, there is virtually no trace of blood on them – great if you use shared laundry facilities, or have squeamish housemates."
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