Cloth menstrual pads are also known as  "Eco San Pro", "Mama pads", "Mama Cloth" etc.

Cloth pads are not only useful for menstrual use, they can also be used for incontinence or to keep your underpants clean and dry between periods, during pregnancy, or even after sex.  Cloth pads come in several sizes and absorbencies to suit the different uses and needs of the users. Washing the pads can be as easy as tossing them in the washing machine, and with fabrics such as hemp and bamboo, a very absorbent pad can be really thin.  With modern waterproof fabrics they can give you the same security as a disposable, or you can choose to go all natural fabrics for maximum breathability.

Wanna see my personal  PAD STASH :)

Scroll down for an intro to Cloth Pads

Not a new invention - and not just for hippies or poor people!
Disposable pads as we know them are a fairly new invention.  Disposable sanitary products only really became popular around 1920, so until then, most women used some sort of cloth pad.  Even after disposable pads were invented (around 1888), many women still wore cloth until disposables became more affordable.  My mother remembers her first pads were a long strip of (disposable) pad that was tied to a belt (no groovy stick-on stuff in those days).  So we haven't been using the white thin stick-on pads for very long, and women have used some sort of cloth for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years.

One of the first disposable pad manufacturers was Kotex, whose name comes from "cotton like texture", obviously  trying to show women that they felt just like the cotton pads or rags they had been using.  The earlydisposable pads were usually not successful, due mainly to the lack of advertising (as in those days it was not something you could advertise like we do now).  It took a long time for women to give the new disposable option a go.  Now funnily enough its the reverse.  It's often hard to persuade women to try cloth, but once they do, they are usually hooked!

Cloth pads have been as simple or elaborate as the clothing we've worn on the outside.  Women often used strips of folded old rags, which is where the term "rags" comes from (eg. "I'm on my rags") .  Some women used knitted pads (with a cotton core), folded material and even a "menstrual apron" to catch the blood and prevent it staining your clothes.  I believe prior to these, women used things like bunches of dried moss.  I hardly think Cave women had access to Libra purse packs!

Spare a thought for the environment......
Many people today would refuse to take their groceries home in a plastic bag, opting for a reusable cloth bag, or paper  bags.  We are becoming much more environmentally aware, and are always being told to "Refuse, Reuse and Recycle".  Yet what about our menstrual products?  Most are made from bleached paper  (bad for the environment) and a lot of trees go into making sanitary products which are tossed away.  Most pads have a plastic layer (if not comprised mainly of plastics) and most use a plastic coated strip to cover the adhesive.  Pads and tampons are individually wrapped in plastic and then most of these come packaged in a plastic bag.  So not only are disposable pads filling up landfil themselves (although the paper component will break down), they also contribute to a lot of wasted plastic packaging that will not biodegrade.

...and perhaps your own body....
Many women are going back to using cloth pads.  Some for the financial benefits, some for the environment, some simply for the health reasons.  Many women have problems with rashes and sensitivity from the plastics and bleached paper used in disposables.  Getting thrush during your period is also very common.  Why should we suffer through this because of the "convenience" of using disposables?  Even psychologically... with the disposable manufacturers offering quieter packaging, and even scented pads (to hide that unpleasant womanly smell ?!?) we are being taught that it is something to hide away, be embarrased about and almost ashamed of.

Convenience
Is it just me, or are the "convenient" disposables actually mightily inconvenient?  If you've ever run out at an inapropriate time, you'll have wished you used cloth..... trying to persuade a male partner to pop down to the shops and buy a pack of "things" for you while you're stuck on the toilet....  You could end up with a bundle of toilet paper and told to make your own because it's cheaper.

Or perhaps you're with your mother in the feminine products isle and she screams out to all and sundry "Do you need some pads... it was the huge mega maxi pads wasn't it?  did you want the bulk pack?"  Or the ever embarrasing young attractive boy at the register when you are stocking up on your monthly needs, who doesn't even want to touch the packages once he realises what they are.

Then you have to have that tell tale bin in the toilet, with little mummified bundles piling up in it.  Or if you don't go for that option you have to hike to the nearest bin carrying your little offering.... With the male in the household not understanding why the new roll of toilet paper gets all used up in a matter of days once a month..... oh....and don't forget the special "period undies" that have been victims of past leaking pads and are now forevermore stained examples of how well (hehe yeah right) disposable pads work, so you may as well keep using them each month so your nice undies don't join them in the soiled shame.  Or standing at the bathroom sink scrubbing away at an unfortunate mishap.....

How much nicer it is having a nice supply of ready to go pads in my bottom drawer, that I know won't leak, I never run out of, feel lovely, look cool, save the environment, cost me almost nothing to use and when I get a new one to add to the collection, makes me feel excited to get my period. To me, that is convenient!