As a Cloth Pad Maker, I get asked all the time about our pricing. Here is a price comparison between two forms of Reusable Menstrual Products.
Cloth Menstrual Pads vs Period Underwear.
Thinx Underwear (a popular brand) range from $17-$50+ a pair according to their website.
If all you needed was the $17 pair for example, and you need enough to last 7 days of, let's say heavy bleeding. Let's do the math.
7 days of heavy bleeding. You would likely be changing 5-8 times a day.
Let's say 5.
That's 35 pairs of underwear for 7 days of heavy bleeding and that does not count overnight.
That's $595.00 for 1 weeks period.
So what if you needed the $50 underwear?
That's $1,750.00 for 1 weeks period.
Thinx Underwear are supposed to be disposed of and replaced after 30 washes. (According to the website.)
Say you bought a stash of 40 pairs of $17 Thinx Underwear. And following the manufacturers instructions you threw away and replaced them after 30 washes. How often would you need to replace your $608.00 stash?
If you washed each pair once a month that would be 30 months or 2.5 years.
So you would be spending $608.00+ every 2.5 years. If you only washed each pair once a month.
Now let's talk about Reusable Cloth Pads.
Keeping in mind each pad can be washed more then 100 times. A stash of 40 pads could last 4,000 washes.
If you are washing each pad once a month that would last you 333 months or 27 years.
But let's say you can only wash them 50 times each because wear and tear happen, especially with moving parts/snaps. That number gets cut in half. So let's say a stash of 40 pads lasts you 10 years.
I sell Cloth Pad Starter Stash Bundles (10 Pads) for $189.39. That X 4 (40 pads) is $757.56 for a cloth pad stash that could last you 10+ years.
How long will you menstruate? 30-50+ years?
Let's say 45 years.
You would be replacing your 40 pairs of Thinx Underwear every 2.5 years at approximately $608.00.
That is approximately $10,944.00 over 45 years.
You would be replacing your 40 Cloth Pads approximately every 10 years at $757.56 for 45 years. That would be approximately $3,409.02.
This is all an approximation. Everyone's needs are different. You may need more or less. Lighter flow pads are smaller and less expensive then Heavy+ flow pads.
The 10 piece Starter Stash Bundle I used as an example is 15% off the total of what buying them all separately would cost.
You may only be using your period underwear a couple days of your cycle or just as a backup to a cup or disk.
Like I said, approximation. And I only dug into one brand of period underwear.
But even so. The numbers are pretty drastically different.
**This comparison does not take into account the safety of Thinx Underwear. I am aware that there are law suites against them for dangerous ingredients used in their products. This was simply a price comparison.