regarding mama cloths (aka cloth pads)

[avalanchelynn]

i'm gonna give it a go and after searching and browsing through old threads on recommendations etc, i have ordered a few various brands and styles! and boy i'm excited!

what i'm not so excited is wondering what to do with soiled pads....

i know about the wet soaking method (pro: keeps stains out, con: stinky), dry pail method (pro: clean, con: stains might set)

i've also read how some just toss into washer...

i just wanna find out what generally do most of you do eventually...

hope you spare me a moment and participate in this little poll

and perhaps share with me (and the rest of us of cos!) if there's something else you do which works really well for you

thanks so much!

[ParisApril]

There is no poll option for me I toss mine (dry) into a container (folded) with my cloth TP and then it all gets thrown into the diaper pail with DS' diapers (he just wears them at night) and used cleaning rags(all dry). Then I wash all of it together 2x a week. Line dry when possible. Dry on hot when not. No sense making it more complicated than it has to be with 4 different containers and 4 different really small washes. KWIM?

[thixle]

Mostly, I will rinse them out in the sink, and toss in with the towels/washcloths/whites. If it's just spotting or light flow, I toss them in with the rest of the laundry without rinsing. Occasionally, the stars align and I have a heavy flow and dirty diapers to wash at the same time, and they all go in the same pail, then. But dd's been using the potty for a while, and i would run out of pads waiting for the diapers!
Wet pail is really, really stinky if you forget to drain them every 24 hours (more if it's warm). But, the water is great for houseplants :

[DaMajha]

I have just finished my first cycle using mama cloth, and I will NEVER use a commercial pad again. never.

My flow was probably only 25% of what it has normally been and I had NO cramps at all. Last month, I couldn't sleep because my cramps were so bad, this month, nothing! I just want to shout from the rooftops LOL

I use the wet pail method. I just got an old ceramic canister that used to be in my kitchen, and placed it beside the toilet. Honestly, if you didn't know what was in it, you would never even notice it setting there. I just looks like another knick knack for decoration.

I toss my used pads in the cold water and change the water daily. I pour the used water on my plants. I washed about every other day and hung up to dry. I had NO problem with staining.

Also, I have always had a very strong odor to my menstrual fluid and noticed that it was more prominant with the mama cloth. This caught me off guard at work. I guess I noticed it more because I had always used scented pads to absorb the odor, and now there was nothing there to cover or mask the odor. So, I had some lavender essential oil and put a tiny drop of it on my pads (the side facing my panties). That seemed to completely eliminate the odor, but was not overpowering.

[avalanchelynn]

oh yes, i think my biggest worry is about the smell coming from the wet pail method...

i've read about using tto or lavender eo's to mask the scent, by dripping a few drops into the water...will that honestly help somewhat?

i've got plants in the bathroom, so i suppose i'll be dumping the used water there...but certainly without dh knowing cos the plants in the house are his lol...and his job

wondering if there're any other methods out there?

[DaMajha]

My pail didn't really have much of a smell, except on the last day. I washed it out and then filled it with hot water. I set it in the tub while I took my shower, and put baking soda and a few drops of EO in it, and all of the smell went away.

[Angel_7971]

I throw them into a dry pail and then in with the wash, but do get staining so I have been thinking of going wet pail. On the other hand, who really sees them...

We do have really hard water though and not much gets clean well unless I throw a ton of oxiclean in. I just figured this out though and often forget to add it. When I do I end up with much cleaner MPs.

[avalanchelynn]

checking back in on my own thread and the poll results show that majority use the dry pail method

hi angel 7971! i know about the stains and who sees them..problem is I'M the one who sees them and I'M the one who has issues with stains lol...

now it's been suggested that darker fabrics would help hide the stains, make sense...but i'm wondering (sorry if this's a duh question) but with a darker fabric, how can you tell how much of the pad's saturated and in need of a change, iykwim?

[thixle]

Originally Posted by avalanchelynn

now it's been suggested that darker fabrics would help hide the stains, make sense...but i'm wondering (sorry if this's a duh question) but with a darker fabric, how can you tell how much of the pad's saturated and in need of a change, iykwim?

The navy blue flannel ones i made get *shiny* when it can't hold anymore. And it slightly darkens, just like any other wet spot on fabric. The only problem I have- those are the ones that stained the most visibly! The rust-brownish color of blood stain just pops right out against the blue background. I've found a small-patterned orange or red to show the least amount of stain. I made some using a funky thrift-store pillowcase for the top layer for just that reason.

[odenata]

I rinse mine in the sink and then wash with them with my cleaning rags. I have done the wet pail method, and as long as you change the water everyday, it doesn't stink at all. But forget, and . That is one awful smell.

[eco_mama]

Dry method.

I rinse the pad with my mini shower I also use for diapers and the toss "dry" bag until wash time.

[mntnmom]

I only use liners as back up for my cup, so I just rinse them in the sink and toss them in the next load of laundry.

[hottmama]

I rinse mine in the sink and then toss them in the pail with our dirty family cloth.

[shayinme]

Originally Posted by odenata

I rinse mine in the sink and then wash with them with my cleaning rags. I have done the wet pail method, and as long as you change the water everyday, it doesn't stink at all. But forget, and . That is one awful smell.

You are right, I recently left a pad soaking or 4 days.. OMG, that was beyond nasty, I will never ever do that again.

Shay

[Best Feeling]

Huh, I don't find the wet pail method to be smelly at all. I sprinkle a little baking soda in my dry ceramic pot. Then as I add used pads, I add enough water to cover the pad. I keep everything in there until the end of my cycle so about 4-5 days. Rinse, wash, repeat monthly.

Though, now that I think about it, it is more work than the dry pail method...

[sandy'smama]

If very full I rinse first and toss in the diaper pail 'cos it's convenient. If no pail available I rinse and toss straight in the laundry with anything else just like my undies!

[Benji'sMom]

I've never done the soaking method. I have either rinsed them out and put the rinsed pad in a "dry pail" or just tossed them in the pail without rinsing. Right now most of my pads are just homemade squares of fabric or folded up washcloths so I don't really care about stains, so I'm just tossing them in without rinsing.

[Twinklefae]

I always soaked my pads, frequently forgot about them (prebaby and pre DF) and never had a major stink problem. Dunno. I soaked them in salt water though... read it in an older book. (This was also pre-MDC)

I should add that my pads were rarely soaked, as I used them as back up to my keeper.

[aihcalappa]

I use wet method. Toss pads in an old plastic tub under the sink with water and a splash of hydrogen peroxide. I have not had any problem with odors.

[MiaPia]

I've used both methods, and both seem to work equally as well for me. Of course, I'm not really concerned about stains. When I have a kiddo in diapers (as I do now), I just toss my pads in the diaper pail and wash with my diapers (they get a pre-rinse in cold, then a wash in hot with an extra rinse - my washer has an extra rinse cycle you can choose).
When I don't have a little one in diapers, I have an old plastic tupperware-type drink container that I keep under the bathroom sink, filled with water. When it's time to wash I use the water to water houseplants, then put the pads on the smallest cycle and rinse them. Then I'll add towels or underwear and run a large hot load with them.

With the wet method I really never noticed a smell, and I really don't think I have any more stains with the dry method than I did with the wet.