Cloth Pads

Hand Sewn by Me on Etsy

There is a lot of information online about making your own cloth pads. I made some a few years ago and I've bought a few online over the years too. 

My favorite pads come from Hand Sewn by Me who has an Etsy shop where she sells hers. There are also a lot of shops to buy cloth pads online and at places like Etsy and Ebay if you are interested. 

I used cloth pads when I had a yeast infection last year because the disposable ones I used every day were deodorized and making the problem worse. 

Hand Sewn by Me on Etsy

My daughter ended up with a UTI last summer and made the switch over to cloth to try them out and they immediately made the situation better. She is allergic to many things, turns out the chemicals used in disposable pads are also one of them. 

The end result is that she absolutely LOVES cloth pads, and she has noticed a world of difference in using them. She has said she will not go back to disposable feminine products.

Hand Sewn by Me on Etsy

I am loving the fact that I am saving so much money on feminine pads. 

There was a point in time that we were spending around $50 a month on feminine pads for both of us, but mostly for her. 

We worked with her physician and now with that and the transition to cloth pads we are saving a lot of money in this area of our budget. 

The money I spent on the cloth pads will more than pay for itself in just a few months.  

Hand Sewn by Me on Etsy

The only problem with this was that we only had a few of them on hand when this first started and since she wears them everyday she ends up washing them every day also. 

Last summer I went to shop our local thrift store looking for fabric. I found several items of clothing, mostly from flannel, that were perfect for this project without having to buy new material. 

I bought a cute pair of flannel pants and using my seam ripper took those apart to use the material. I also picked up several baby blankets as they are the perfect material to use. And the thrift shop only charged me 25¢ per blanket.

I also bought a baby mattress pad cover to use that as a non absorbent material, so they would not leak. You can see the pattern I made up here along with the core I made for her and the stack of material. 

Unfortunately, that is when my sewing machine decided to stop working. I've not had a chance to replace it yet, but I will and I will finish these for her someday. 

Hand Sewn by Me on Etsy

In the meantime I bought some for her from Hand Sewn by Me on Etsy. Her craftsmanship is wonderful and my daughter loves these. 

The things I love about these are the money we have saved since switching over to cloth. And the fact that my daughter has not had a UTI since she switched over to cloth. 

Switching to cloth was the right choice for her and such a money saver. 

Sometimes we have frugal failures. I tried to take the most frugal route by making cloth pads myself, which did not work out. 

But I found another route, which will take me longer to recoup my money than my original plan, but is still a frugal choice and still saves me a great deal of money in the end. I will recoup my money in just a matter of months. 

That is a a win-win situation to me.  :)

Belinda

Living within my means in southern Tennessee