Cloth Menstrual Pads

Inter labial pad

These are a tampon-like item, designed to be worn outside the body, against the opening of the vagina, held in place by the labia. The idea is that they collect menstrual blood or incontinence leakage without being internal, but are more compact than pads, and as the collection is against the vagina, they are less messy than a pad.

(I'm a hopeless artist, and this is not to scale, but I wanted to show how its worn Externally)
(shown longer than they actually are)

I thought I was quite innovative when I thought of making these from cloth... which had evolved from a rolled up wad of toilet paper I'd used when I was going out and didn't want to risk leaking anywhere (the toilet paper could soak up some blood and I could drop it in the toilet and make a new one, thus saving my pads for a bit longer) then about a year later I found MUM that mentioned disposable ones, so it wasn't as revolutionary as I thought :(

I made my own cloth ones of these which I called an "Ini-pad" (which is now trademarked, so I can't call them that any more). I make these from a rectangle of flannelette that I sew into a tube with one end closed, fill with small pieces of cut up cotton or hemp terry (packed in tightly) then sew closed the end (I left an unstuffed tab for pegging it on the clothes line). I also make them as a rectangle of cloth (hemp usually) that you roll up to use (some have ribbon ties to keep it rolled up), or even knitted. These unroll to clean and dry quicker than the tube type.

I have also seen women cutting a small circle of cloth and folding it in half and inserting it into their labia in a sort of ^ shape.

Most women think they will be uncomfortable, but you'd be surprised. I make mine about the thickness of your finger... so you could try rolling up a hanky or toilet paper and seeing if you find it uncomfortable before you go making or buying any.

They can be useful for extra backup if you don't like internal protection.. or for light flow users who want to sleep nude or something. You can't wear them while urinating as they will become soaked. They can also dry out the skin if your flow is light and you wear them for a long time. So they do have some disadvantages....But they can be very useful.

The first commercially available disposable inter-labial pad was called the Padette (and later renamed the Insync) and is no longer being made. The "Ini-pad" name has been trademarked to this company (which doesn't appear to be selling them yet, using a picture of the padette http://www.femininehygiene.com) There is another disposable version, which appears to be using the folded circle method, called the unique miniform.

My versions are available through www.obsidianstar.net

Red Ginger were planning to make the only other cloth interlabial pad I know of.