Lunapads Blog

With Madeleine and Suzanne’s trip to Portland this week for the World Domination Summit, travel and adventure are naturally on our minds. We have been meaning to write an updated post about the whats, hows and benefits of traveling with our products (see previous posts here and here), and this seems like a great opportunity to do just that.

Who wants to waste valuable luggage space on boxes of disposable pads and tampons, or risk running out where supplies may not be available? Read on for our top tips for easy, waste-free ways to manage your period while traveling, with bonus video  from Suzanne about how to clean your DivaCup while you’re on the road.

(more…)

In the ever-changing textiles industry, fabric prints come and go in the blink of an eye.  While we try to hold on to our flannel prints for as long as we can, we have had to bid farewell to a number of favourites over the years. Unfortunately we are no longer able to get our popular fabric PsycheDahlia from our fabric supplier. As they say, another one bites the dust! We still have plenty of PsycheDahlia products in stock so it will still be available for at least another 3 months in most Pad and Pantyliner styles.

The good news is that with the departure of PyscheDahlia, we have room to add another awesome flannel print! Check it out:

This bright, summery fabric will be available some time in July but before we can offer it, we need to know what to call it. Leave your name suggestion in the comments and you’ll be entered to win a Sampler Pack in our gorgeous new fabric! Be sure to share the contest on Twitter and Facebook, so your friends and family have a chance to win and try Lunapads too!

As for what to name it, here’s a hint: We love names that are alliterative or include reference to the colour(s) in the print.

Good luck!

One of the most common questions we get at Lunapads is “How do I wash and care for my cloth menstrual pads”? Indeed, this unanswered question is often the thing that holds many back to making the switch to cloth. So, in addition to the washing FAQ’s on our website, here now is a short video with some of our top tips for washing your cloth pads.

A summary of key points:

1. Washing cloth pads is not a big deal and isn’t gross at all. Caring for your monthly period in a gentle and earth friendly manner is rather liberating! Join the LunaRevolution!
2. For lightly soiled pads and pantyliners, simply toss them in with your regular laundry; no pre-rinse is necessary.
3. For moderately to heavily soiled pads: pre-rinse in cold water to remove as much blood as possible; then add to your regular laundry.
4. Cleaning tip: make a concentrated pre-rinse solution to remove as much blood as possible during the pre-rinse phase.
   Stain removal tip: immediate cold water pre-rinsing helps. BunchaFarmers stain removal stick works like a charm too!

What I didn’t explicitly cover in the video is how to discretely deal with your cloth pads when you have housemates who might not want to see your Lunapads mixed in with their laundry. That’s where our super handy Soaking Bags and Mesh Laundry Bags come in. These bags conveniently allow you to separate your pads from the rest of your laundry, and hang and store them discreetly.

These are just a few tips.  Please tell us how you launder your cloth pads. What washing tips do you have to share with your fellow Lunapads users?

As you may remember from a previous post a few weeks ago, we have been working in partnership with The Mariposa DR Foundation and The POWER project, a group of students from Seattle, to provide girls in the Dominican Republic with Pads4Girls Kits.

The 200 Kits arrived on April 6th! The Mariposas have posted a slew of gorgeous photos of the girls at the Puerto Cabarete school receiving the kits on their Facebook Page.

We are so proud and grateful for this incredible opportunity to support girls’ education. Thank you, Mariposas!

Related articles

• Our biggest Pads4Girls shipment! (lunapads.com)

I am really excited about this video, and hope that it will be the first of several about how women connect with their fertility cycles on a spiritual level.

Back when I first started making Lunapads, I was intrigued by Goddess spirituality and would often participate in women’s rituals around Vancouver in the company of my Goddess-loving BFF, Signy Wilson. They were very moving and beautiful and I fondly remember the power and magic of being in community with other women in this unique way. What has stayed with me from those experiences is a profound sense of Sisterhood (chief among Lunapads’ core values) as well as a deep awareness of my connection to Nature’s other cyclical mysteries via my menstrual cycle.

(more…)

As if we weren’t already jealous and mildly tweaked when we saw Kotex’s progressive “U by Kotex” campaign last year engage millions of girls and women to talk positively about periods – the folks at Kotex have done it again. But this time, with the help of a celebrity fashionista, Patricia Field of Sex and the City fame.

In their latest campaign, called “Ban the Bland“, with the help of a cool online tool, budding artists are asked to help design a limited edition fashionable menstrual pad and win a trip to New York Fashion Week.  Wait a minute: a fashionable menstrual pad? Isn’t that what Madeleine set out to do 18 years ago when she made her first set of Lunapads? Sheesh, we’re really starting to feel like Kotex is taking a page from everything Lunapads has done to make periods cool, stylish and fun.

Kudos to Kotex for investing in positive messages about periods (in a way that we could never afford to do!) and revitalizing the feminine hygiene  product category.  But let’s not forget that at the end of the day they are still pushing disposable pads and tampons (that happen to be priced up to 50% higher than other disposables.) Disposable feminine hygiene products are an ugly environmental blight to our planet; according to E-magazine, Franklin and Associates reports that over 12 billion pads and tampons go into North American landfills every year.  I haven’t worn a disposable pad in a decade but remember how they feel: sticky, sweaty and made from plastic and other synthetic materials.  Is that cool? I don’t think so.

What’s your take? Do you like what Kotex is doing? What ideas do you have for us to help get our message out to girls and women that Lunapads have always made beautiful menstrual pads that are better for your body and the earth? We want your ideas!

Related articles

• Get your creative juices flowing with Kotex! (adweek.blogs.com)

Now that I’ve noticed a change in comfort and attitude from switching to Lunapads, I figured I’d share some deets about wearing Lunapads, Liner Inserts and Lunapanties:

1. I was a little nervous to take my Lunapad to the public washroom for the first time – how do you carry them discretely? I couldn’t lug my entire schoolbag. Then I realized that my purple little moon pad bag looked just like a makeup bag!
2. To put the pad on, you just snap the wings together around your underwear and slip the liner under the ribbon (called ric rac bands) at the top and bottom. Out of habit with other tags, I put the tag at the back, even though the pads are symmetrical. They are much easier to put on than disposables: no paper to peel off, no sticky stuff, no wings getting caught along the sides.
3. I found I could adjust how far forward or back the pad was by simply tugging it, not unpeeling and re-attaching the whole thing.
4. As a newbie, I found it a little easier to snap the pad to my underwear first, then put on my underwear when I was getting dressed.
5. I had the maxi pads, which, by my unofficial estimation, are about an inch longer than the “regular” sized disposable pads.

(more…)

Ever since I started working at Lunapads, I had actually been looking forward to that time of the month. Too bad it was the cramps that first let me know I was on my period. Yes, unfortunately, I am one of those women who get cramps. So I can’t say that I heart my period. I heart my Advil. And my heating pad.

After reading some inspiring testimonials from other Lunagals that switching from disposable pads to Lunapads changed their attitudes, I was hopeful.  I was not disappointed.

(more…)

Roughly 1 year ago a friend recommended to me that i read the book Cunt: A Declaration of Independence. I took her advice and proceeded to receive the feminine education of a lifetime. This lovely, lovely book brought to my attention the concept of environmentally conscious replacements for the standard pad and tampon; an idea that had not once crossed my mind in my experience as a menstruating girl/young woman.

Upon first hearing about menstrual cups and washable menstrual pads, I found the idea interesting – but maybe not for me. A year later I picked up an issue of Bitch Magazine and – flipping through the glossy pages – found an ad for Lunapads. Here again was this idea of washable menstrual pads. I opened my laptop, typed in the URL, and was greeted by a fantastic and informational website made for women, by women. Never before had I been so excited about my own period! I decided I would give it a try. If I didn’t like the products then at least i would be supporting a really awesome company, and if I did – well, then I would be able to save hundreds of dollars over the years AND help the environment, too.

(more…)

Name: Lara
Age: 42
I’m a college teacher and professional bellydancer.

How did you hear about Lunapads?
Internet search for non-toxic menstrual products.

Please describe your monthly needs:
Approximately 3-4 days & 2 nights average flow, 2-3 days & 3 nights light flow.

What reusable menstrual products do you currently use?
The DivaCup for days/overnight + Lunapads some days

Why did you make the switch?
After being treated for stage3 cervical cells, I looked for all-cotton, non-toxic menstrual products. But I was still concerned about the extra cost, hard-to-find products and amount of garbage every month.  I found Lunapads on the internet, started with pads/pantyliners and loved them! A friend recommended The DivaCup and I love it. I’ve never looked back!

Advice for others?
Your body & the environment will thank you -do it!

Are you ready for a Period Makeover? To apply, simply fill out an application, telling us about your monthly needs. Selected applicants will receive a Lunapads.com gift certificate!