Save Money By Choosing Resuable Cloth Pads
Not only are reusable cloth pads better for your health, they can save you money too. Here’s how much you’ll save & how many pads you need to complete your mama cloth stash.
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This is the fifth post in my Mama Cloth series. You can find out why I’m blogging about them in the 1st part , 2nd part, and 3rd part.
**Remember, these posts are all about menstruation and being comfortable with the topic and your body – if you’re not interested, please skip this post! This post may contain affiliate links.
Before we get to it – we have 1 comment to address from the last post:
Emily says: Umm, wow. Seriously!? I nearly got SICK looking at that moldy thing! GROSS! I’ve heard of people using Mama cloths, and even have some friends who do. I cloth diapered, but for some reason haven’t been able to bring myself to use cloth pads. I’m not sure how I missed parts 1, 2, and 3, but am going back to read them now. If they are anything like this one, you can rest assured I will be switching! My husband has heard me talk about them, and is completely grossed out by washable pads. Any tips for that!? He thinks me being so crunchy is weird all together, and this might send him over the edge!
Emily
Emily was right. The post I linked to about the moldy tampon is definitely gross, but the information does need to be out there.
My hubby is also kind of weirded out by my choice of Mama Cloth and he was at first of cloth diapers too. After 2 years of using cloth diapers, he’s totally fine with them now and he doesn’t really care about the re-usable cloth pads either.
Also, out of sight – out of mind. Besides, when you show your husbands the money savings over time, I think they’ll relax a little more.
Start-Up Cost Reusable Cloth Pads
Just like cloth diapers or really any re-usable product, you have to invest a bit more in the initial stages than you would by buying the disposable counterparts.
But, usually the savings of the products will outweigh the cost in the long run. This is true for Mama Cloth too!
Here’s a quick math problem of my own and then I’ll share a few links of others that have done more in-depth knowledge.
According to Walmart.com, a box of about 50 tampons costs about $9.50. On average, I’m going to say that a period lasts 6 days and that on average, 5 tampons per day {this is an average}.
That means that the one box would last almost 2 cycles. Going with these numbers, it would cost you about $75 to use tampons per year.
My calculations are off the top of my head and are quite a bit lower than others that have done the same math.
Unlike cloth diapers, I don’t think that you can totally justify switching to Mama Cloth by $$ savings alone. It just doesn’t add up to a huge savings, but there is some. It’s enough to make a difference, but I’m simply saying it’s not enough to totally make everyone want to commit.
Most will commit because of Environmental Reasons or Health Reasons.
With that being said, there are savings! If you’re a seamstress, you could make your own for pretty cheap, I’m sure.
If you’re not, you can find great deals on reusable cloth pads on Amazon.com. You really don’t need a large Mama Cloth stash because you’re going to want to wash at least every other day for hygenic reasons.
Here’s what I would recommend, as a Mama Cloth user:
- 1, no more than 2 Overnight Pads
- 5-6 Medium Flow Pads
- 3 Light Flow Pads
- 3 Panty Liners
This list is definitely enough to get you through 2 days of your period and will ultimately cost you less in the long run than building a larger stash than you really need. Obviously if your cycle is heavier, or lighter, than average – you should adjust the absorbency and the number of pads you’ll need.
Just remember: The larger/more absorbent the pad – the higher the price, obviously.
You can easily build a nice stash for around $70 and the great thing about it, the re-usable cloth pads can be used for more than a year – unlike their disposable counterparts. They can easily last up to 5 years if you take care of them and wash properly!
Please leave any questions or comments in the Comment section and I’ll address them on my next post!
The next post in the series will be about Raising Conscious Awareness Young Ladies. If there’s anything else that you would like to see me address, please let me know!
