No Worries. Period.

There is one important aspect to being a prepper that is not very pleasant to think about. And it's been on my mind a lot lately. What if there WAS some sort of collapse...stores were emptied out, money was no good, or for whatever reason, you weren't able to get supplies for a very inconvenient part of a woman's life? What am earth am I talking about? PERIODS. *shudder*

 What would you do? I have been trying to research what women did in the "olden days." How did they deal with this!?! I know the Indians used to send the women to a hut to "suffer" in privacy. I don't plan on doing that. It was actually quite funny to look at some of the old inventions for menstruation.  Let me just say, I am ever so grateful for the advancements of technology!

You know you want one. It won't be obvious at all. And if you don't like it, you can use it as a back up for a bear muzzle or something.

Which brings me to this post. Yes, there are several really great options to help get you through this AWESOME time of the month!

The first thing I thought of, the DIVA CUP. One of my sisters has one and she told me about it. Want to be a Diva? You can learn ALLLL about it HERE.  I bought one. It was about $25...but I figure, what the heck. I pay about $10 every month for my tampons and liners, this can be used for years! So really...it's a good investment. I have to say, I LOVE IT. Basically...you insert it...it catches everything...nothing to throw away...no leaks....it's awesome....the end. I could do an entire post on it, but I'll let you just go to their link and do your own research. I bought mine from Walgreens.com.

Then, I realized that within a few years my daughter will be hitting the wonderful age of Aunt Flow's inconvenient monthly visits, and honestly, the Diva Cup might freak her out. So, I scoured the internet and found some patterns and ideas for things I wanted to try. First, washable maxi pads. (!?!) My initial thought was...."ewwww." But the more I read about them the more intrigued I was. People even claimed that tampons and other store bought pads were actually TOXIC and would cause your periods to be more painful and heavier. Hmmm. Well, it's worth a try!And they actually turned out pretty dang cute. She picked out her own fabric and is excited to use them. (Yes, that's right. She is looking forward to it. Bless her heart.)

Some of them fold up all nice and cute...

 

And a few of them are just panty liners.  (BTW, they all have a waterproof PUL back or insert so they don't leak!) Also, I used bamboo minky and flannel because bamboo is supposed to be antibacterial. And it is SUPER soft. 

Here are the links to some of the patterns I used. You can adjust how many fill layers you put into them to adjust the levels of absorbancy you want! Also...look into buying some ZORB fabric. It is AWESOME stuff! It holds 5x it's weight in water, so it is super absorbent but not bulky. Nobody wants to wear a diaper, know what I'm saying??? (To those of you who DO enjoy wearing diapers, I apologize. No offense intended.) Anyway, on to the links, which all have great tutorials!

This one is from AskPauline.com 

This one is from NaturalSuburbia.com

 

And this one is from The Soul Stepford

Alright. So, pads are pretty covered. I will be making a lot more, I'm sure. Look on etsy for diaper cut fabrics! There are TONS of great things to make these with. ORRR, if you don't like to sew, you can find them ALL OVER etsy.com! There are some really, REALLY cute ones out there. Check out these from TrojackFarms!  I secretly want some...they are just adorable. $45 for 6. She has a zillion different kinds...even ones for thong panties. *giggle*

Now...let's talk about ZORB a little more.

1 layer of Zorb is the same as:
---3 layers of flannel
---2.25 layers of French terry
---1.3 layers of cotton fleece
---1 layer of sherpa

To get the same for 2 layers of Zorb, you would need:
---8 layers of flannel
---6 layers of French terry
---5 layers of cotton fleece
---4 layers of sherpa

Which got me thinking. That's some crazy absorbent stuff. And I know...EWWW. But still. If you can make washable pads, can you make washable tampons??? So once again...I researched it. A lot.  Apparently they are pretty common!  You can even buy them on etsy.com! 

 

(!?! Really !?!) 

So...once again...I sat and thought about it for a while. If things were to be bad, what would I do. Personally, I am not a big fan of pads. I have my Diva Cup, which is awesome, but what about people who don't like pads and don't want/have a diva cup? So I researched some more. And I decided to make my own. Drumroll please...

 

Yes...that's right. I made washable tampons out of Zorb. I haven't used them yet, but still, I have them if I ever need them. I made a bunch. You can also make them into different absorbancies. The one on the top left is a regular/super absorbancy. The top right is a super/super plus absorbancy, and the bottom one just shows how you roll it up and use it like an O.B. tampon. They are supposed to be easy to wash, as well. (Anyone want a tutorial on these??? I can totally do one!)

Quite the adventure, huh! My husband saw me typing this post and said, "Really??? You are going to post that!?!" :) I think he was embarrassed for me. Yes, dear. I am going to post this. Who knows, maybe someone will find it useful...maybe someone is already doing this (and if so I would LOVE to hear how it is going for you) and, heck, maybe someone will even just get a good laugh out of it! 

All I know is that now I can sleep at night, not having to worry about it anymore. Yes...once a month it really stinks being a female. But now, at least I have a solution for it. And now you do, too! :)