Just to shake things up we are going to bring to a back-to-school rave review from one of our happy customers on sharing the joys of reusables with her daughter.

6 years later and I still couldn’t be happier using cloth pads. In fact, my daughter couldn’t be happier. Well–maybe—I just got her a beautiful Green Lunette cup for her 18th Bday!!! She has been using cloth from day 1 of her period—and I would hate to see her leave home and feel the need to switch to disposables or –gasp—tampons because of laundry issues etc. So I am giving her the gift of a lovely green cup to help her along with her ‘green’ and reusable future Gladrags were my very first purchase for myself and my daughter–and I am happy to order again! -K.B.

We recently received this email from Leslie, a GladRags customer, who reminded us that choosing reusable products now will save you money later on!

Disposable pads have been a necessary evil most of my life. I cannot use tampons yet the pads cause irritation and even rawness. When I learned of GladRags several months ago, I scoured the site. I read every page top to bottom. I admit to snickering when I read a testimony, “How did I live without these”? Well, I am here to say that I agree with that lady. My life has changed for the better since I started using them. A few months ago, my husband (the sole provider) lost his job. I soon had a new appreciation for the GladRags realizing that buying pads would have added a financial burden that we just could not have overcome. So, with renewed joy in my previous purchase of GladRags, I send my testimony and thanks for a wonderful product that has served well in multiple situations.

How have GladRags changed your life?  Let us know; we love to hear from you!

May Monthly Friend: Sarah Fauber

Name: Sarah Fauber
Age: 31
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Current location: Louisville, Kentucky
Occupation: Self-proclaimed Jane of all Trades: nutrition and supplement specialist, childcare and pet-care provider, jewelry designer, soon-to-be self-published cookbook author, and seamstress.

Interests: Bicycling, party and small event coordinating and participating, VH1 “reality” TV shows, cooking and food research, reading.
Dreams: I have always wanted to own my own shop. It would be a place that could incorporate all the things I love to make and do and share with people. GladRags would definitely be available at my store.

How long have you used reusable menstrual products?: 8 years
Reason for making the switch to reusables: I made the switch after 3 years of hesitation. Primarily I was looking for an alternative to tampons that would alleviate vaginal dryness, be cost-effective, and not contribute to waste in the environment. It took a couple of months to get used to The Keeper menstrual cup but then I was so happy with it I bought one for a friend and she’s been using it for the last 7 years. I am continually enthusiastic about other benefits such as the reduced risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome, not having to remove my menstrual cup when I urinate, never having to worry about packing tampons with me because when I need it my menstrual cup is already on my person. And I love reusable pads as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly alternative to my menstrual cup or just as added protection. I’m always informing women I know or meet about reusables.

Funny anecdotes, deep thoughts, or anything else you’d like to share: For years I’ve had bouts of Menorrhagia, excessive menstrual bleeding. Sometimes my periods would be so heavy I would have to use two super-plus tampons and an overnight pad just to make it 3 hours. Occasionally my periods would last for over a month. The first time I was diagnosed with Menorrhagia I had never heard of a menstrual cup but wished something like it existed. The third and last bought of menorrhagia occured about 7 years ago and having my menstrual cup made going through it so much easier. During this time I finally correlated weight gain and consumption of hormone enhanced dairy with my bouts of Menorrhagia. After weight loss and a switch to organic, r-BGH free dairy it has never returned. It would be an amazing opportunity for women to be consulted about menstrual alternatives at their gynecological check-ups. And I’ve often wondered what possibilities would occur if GladRags menstrual alternatives could be a part of sexual education for young women. Here’s a funny little anecdote about a time at work when I was informing a female co-worker about menstrual cups she exclaimed “that sounds right up my alley,” and I replied “literally.”

April Monthly Friend: Viki Carter

Name: Viki Carter
Age: 38
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Current location: Denver, Colorado
Occupation: Hospice Social Worker

Interests: Spending time with my two amazing daughters, my husband, and our Boston Terriers; knitting, reading, music and art.
Dreams: Honestly, I am living my dreams - I love my job, my family, and my life in general!

How long have you used reusable menstrual products?: About seven years now.
Reason for making the switch to reusables: When my youngest daughter was born, we were firmly committed to cloth diapering, both for the environment and for her health. When my period started back up after her birth, I was having a great deal of discomfort and irritation from tampons/disposable pads. I thought; “Wait a minute - I am already cloth diapering - how is this different?!” I ordered some GladRags online, and have never looked back!

Funny anecdotes, deep thoughts, or anything else you’d like to share: I am so grateful that using reusable menstrual products has almost “forced” me to be really open with my daughters about this. We talk very openly about Mommy’s period and what it is and what it means. My oldest is showing all the signs of impending puberty, and she wants to use cloth pads when the time comes. Nothing will make me prouder than ordering her her very own set!

*Rolling On the Floor Laughing My GladRags Off

Well, we’ve read your funny period stories and have painstakingly selected our favorite four.  Thanks to everyone who submitted a story for this contest — we loved reading them all!

Now it’s up to our blog readers to decide who will win a Pad Sampler Kit for sharing their silly anecdote with the world!  Vote for your favorite story using the poll below.  Click “Read the rest of this entry” to read each finalist’s entry.  This poll will close 3/24, so vote now!

Be sure to comment after voting — one lucky voter will win a secret prize!  Please include your email address when commenting so we can get in touch if you’re the winner.

*Rolling On the Floor Laughing My GladRags Off

Periods can be a lot of things: uncomfortable, a relief, embarrassing, cause for celebration, a reminder of womanhood, taboo, and more.  But funny?  We think so — and so did Laura S. of Ohio who sent us this story:

One evening on a car ride with my parents, husband, and ten year old nephew, I started singing the song Rock Around the Clock.  When I sang the first line of the first verse, my husband busted out laughing. Only I understood why.  The first line of the verse is as follows:

“Put your glad rags on, join me hon.  We’ll have some fun when the clock strikes one. We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight…..”

Although “glad rags” can mean “stylish clothes,” my husband had only ever heard of the term GladRags to mean your reusable menstrual pads, hence, his laughter! (My husband didn’t believe that I was singing the correct words until we looked it up on the internet.)  So now, whenever he sees me reaching for my GladRags, he asks if I’m getting ready to rock around the clock!

We know you have at least one silly period anecdote — from the time your four-year-old set the table with your “special napkins” to what happened the first time you wore your Moon Cup to school — and we want to hear it!  Goofy photos, like this one of 9-month-old Max wearing a (clean) GladRag as hat, are also valid entries for the contest.  Even better, the submitter of the most laugh-out-loud hilarious tale will win a Cloth Pad Sampler Kit!

How it works: Post your story or image as a comment on this entry by 3/17/10. We’ll pick a few favorites and to be voted on on the GladRags Facebook page.  The story or photo with the most votes wins a Sampler Kit!

So come on, make us laugh!

March Monthly Friend: Mary

Name: Mary
Age: 26
Hometown: Laramie, WY
Current location: Laramie, WY
Occupation: University Staff

Interests: Dogs, cooking, coffee, travel…
Dreams: To be a great mom (in 12 weeks when my baby is due!)

How long have you used reusable menstrual products?: 1 year
Reason for making the switch to reusables: I always found regular pads to be so uncomfortable, sticky, and frankly made me yeast-prone no matter how often they were changed. I know a lot of people are worried about the environment, and I care about that too of course, but the bottom line for me was comfort. I picked up GladRags at my local organic co-op and loved them! I have since switched over completely.

Funny anecdotes, deep thoughts, or anything else you’d like to share: So I noted above that I am 28 weeks pregnant. You might think, why does she even need GladRags??? Well let me tell you… it wasn’t too long into the pregnancy that I began to realize that when you are pregnant, everything drips like a faucet. I was at the library a few months ago in an elevator, trying to crane around to look past my belly to see what was on my pants when my boobs started leaking milk too. I may not be having my period, but if I don’t wear a liner every day it looks like I peed my (stretchy) pants! No fun at all. This is the adventure that is motherhood, I suppose. Since I had used GladRags my last few periods before I conceived, they were the natural choice for protection with the increased discharge and I am so grateful! Not only do I leak but I sweat too and I think I might die of heat rash if I had to wear sticky plastic every day. Yuck. Not only have cloth pads been good for me, they have been good for my baby too. I’ve been inspired to stock up on reusable breast pads and cloth diapers! These more natural options just feel right, and that’s important when I’m making choices for the little girl I love the most.

February Monthly Friend: Teresa M. Stillwell

Name: Teresa M. Stillwell
Age: 37
Hometown: Conover, NC
Current Location: Conover, NC
Occupation: Help Desk Analyst for IT dept at a busy local Hospital

Interests: Nature, saving the environment, green living, photography, and reading. I also love to spend time with my cat baby, Gus, and my husband, Chad.
Dreams: To one day own my own company or be able to work for myself in some self-sustaining way.

How long have you used reusable menstrual products?: I have used reusable menstrual products now for 3 years, and I wish I had tried them 23 years ago (of course they weren’t marketed then). I had wanted to try them for years, but every time I mentioned to any friend or family, they would say: you can’t be serious - reusable menstrual products you have to wash - no thanks! I’ve suffered for years from irritation, infections, rashes, and discomfort and dread every month. Now since I’ve discovered GladRags, I almost look forward to my monthly friend. I’ve never felt so comforted and comfortable and not worried in my life regarding my menstrual cycle. For years I’ve worried about leakage, TSS, and other side effects of plastic and chemically altered products that aren’t meant to go in or on your body. Before my cycle was so heavy, and now since I’ve stopped using tampons and plastic pads, not only am I more comfortable, but my periods last about 1/3 as long as they did before and they are not as heavy. My cramps I’ve suffered with since I was 13 have also greatly diminished. I am in awe! I will forever be a GlaRags customer, until I go through menopause, and then will still be grasping my pantiliners till the end :-). I have told all my friends and family and coworkers about reusable menstrual products. I have even brought new boxes and packs for them to look at and have given some as gifts to get them interested in buying. I love the products and I know if every woman would try them, the disposable feminine product business would go broke! I’m on a crusade to save the private parts of all the females I know from the injustice of rayon, polyester, and plastic, as well as a list of chemicals.

A day with out a GladRag, is a sad day indeed!!!

GladRags are your friends
Up until the menstrual end
No more rash on those private parts
No more worries about those chemical darts
No leaks to ever cross your mind
As long as GladRags are on your behind!

We love hearing from women who use GladRags, and sometimes we receive emails that just need to be shared, like this Rave Review from Kiwi:

Dear GladRags creators:

Your cotton pads are so soft and comforting, it’s no short of heavenly. Compared to disposables that used to give me skin burn and made me sweaty, your fluffy pads bring me a sense of relief at a stressful time like no disposable ever did.

The fun colorful prints bring out the kid in me and I find myself collecting them all for their light-hearted, easy-going qualities… I use the pink ones when I feel girly, the red ones when I feel like a goddess, and the light blue ones when I feel calm. They are so much more entertaining and creative than pre-packaged look-alikes.

The disposables are so inconvenient and gross; the inner absorbent lining begins to displace into chunks when wet, and sometimes the plastic “mesh” will rip too, exposing the wet lining. The glue they use on the “wings” was truly annoying, if you didn’t stick it just right on the panty, it would wrinkle, stick onto itself, or stick to your pants. Your GladRags are making these nuisances and worries history.

Lastly, in a world where the female body must be shaved and perfumed and done a million things to to make it acceptable, your GladRags bring about a sense of sanity in the female element: They remind us women that it is OK to be a woman, and that a period is not some sort of shameful “condition”, but rather indeed a fascinating healthy phase.

I think it’s really great you created these products, and please make more fun prints! Maybe hearts? rainbows? trees? swirls, waves, squares, christmas prints?? Keep up the WONDERFUL work!!!

January Monthly Friend: Jamie

 Name: Jamie
Age: 22
Hometown: Egg Harbor Township, NJ
Current Location: Milford, DE
Occupation: Housewife, Bible teacher

Interests: I love wildlife, nature, BBC Dramas, Sherlock Holmes, classical movies, vintage style, and antiques.
Dreams: To live forever on a paradise earth.

How long have you used reusable menstrual products?: Almost a whole year.
Reason for making the switch to reusables: It saves money, is a million times more comfortable than disposable tampons or pads, and is a lot healthier for my body and the environment. My husband loves them too because he doesn’t have to run out last minute when I run out of my “supplies.”

Funny anecdotes, deep thoughts, or anything else you’d like to share: My husband is really cool and supported my use of reusable menstrual pads from the beginning. He is not like some other guys who are easily offended or grossed out by seeing menstrual products. He just accepts it as a normal part of life. He jokingly calls the nighttime pad “the elephant.” I believe that using reusables is much better for your body, and helps you nurture your body and have a more positive attitude.  Rather than hastily wrapping up a used tampon or pad and throwing it away in disgust, washing my GladRags, patiently hanging them up to dry, and neatly placing them back in their drawer, clean, soft and ready for my next cycle helps me feel more positive. I know that it’s healthier for my body and the planet. It almost feels “complete.”