Lunapads on the Road

A gal recently wrote in to me at customer service asking about what to do with Lunapads while traveling:

Just recently, I was called out of town unexpectedly for 2 weeks. And I didn’t have time to plan how I was going to clean my pads “on the road”. And….well……let’s just say it was an “odoriferous” experience.The big problem seemed to be that I didn’t have a chance to dry my pads. I couldn’t hang them up to dry like I usually do because I was sharing a room with my parents (and my mother insists that I keep my pads totally out of sight.) Plus, we were changing hotels every day, which made everything hard.

While I have travelled with Lunapads I’m fortunate enough to have a boyfriend who had no problem seeing pads strung up on rubber hoses in our various hostel rooms, and I often use the DivaCup which means there’s far less to wash & dry than if I used pads exclusively.

While I did have some advice to share, I thought we’d get some further insight from you gals out there who may have found better ways to travel with cloth pads.

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Luckily, when I have been on the road, I have been with cool people who don’t mind it, but on a few occasions, I have asked my host for a dishwasher safe bowl to soak in (with minimal explanation) and I usually have a bathroom to myself. And Chas doesn’t mind. If I can’t get a bowl, I just buy a tupperware-like container from the dollar store to use. I do tend to follow my normal routine, though I do try to be more discreet in the event someone else from the household should use that bathroom….usually placing the container under the sink or in the tub/shower. Works for me so far.

Keep it simple. I just rinse the pads well, squeeze out as much water as I can and put it in the laundry bag with the rest of the dirty clothes. Or you can use a ziplock bag to keep it separate, but definitely rinse out as much as possible.

Anonymous

I have an old wide-mouth Nalgene bottle that I use for soaking – it’s sealed and can be kept in a bag or somewhere private without fear of spilling, and if I am hand-washing and air drying the pads and want to be discreet about it, I just make sure I wrap the pads up in a towel really well to get every last bit of moisture I possibly can out of them before putting them in a my empty suitcase, slightly ajar, to dry. This has worked pretty well providing we’re staying in one place a while. As for road trips where I’m always on the move, I find my Divacup is the best bet.

rinse the majority of the blood out in cold water in the bathroom sink.

rub in some soap.

put pads on the bottom of the shower while you’re showering, so that the streams of water hit the pad.

rinse well.

squeeze out all excess water.

if the pads are pretty-much blood free by now, you can roll them in a hotel towel to absorb even more water before storing them. I don’t like doing this if there is any blood still though because it gets the towels dirty.

store damp, clean-ish pads in a waterproof container (I use an old, wide-mouthed Nalgene bottle or a wetbag), but even a sturdy ziploc bag will do.

once a day, rinse all the pads in the container until you have time to wash and dry them thoroughly.

if you’re still concerned about odor, you can put a drop or two of tea tree essential oil, or lavender essential oil, in the container with your stored used pads.

Good luck!

jo valenti

Just be careful about which essential oil you choose to use with stored used pads. Many essential oils should not be used this way, but some safe oils such as lavender or chamomile could be.

Kristen

I actually dry store my used pads without an issue.
I figured if it works for diapers, why not pads?

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