Best Non-Toxic Period Products

Do you know that women’s period products can be made with nasty chemicals? Think about it – one of the most sensitive areas of the female body probably shouldn’t have products with potentially troublesome chemical residues near (or in) it for days or a week at a time!

The areas where feminine protection products are used, whether inserted (such as a tampon) or against the surface (such as pads), aren’t protected by layers of thick skin like the rest of your body. No, feminine protection products are used on mucous membranes which are more sensitive to synthetic and toxic exposures.

The average woman is expected to have 350-500 periods in their lifetime. Isn’t time to start choosing non-toxic products for your period?

Chemicals in Feminine Protection Products

Menstrual care products can contain a variety of toxic chemicals. Women’s Voices for the Earth has an in-depth guide of the toxins that have been found in tampons, wipes, etc.

According to Made Safe, the manufacturers of pads and tampons don’t have to disclose the ingredients they use because feminine hygiene products are regulated as “medical devices.”

Among the common toxins found in period products are traces of dioxin (cancer-causing toxins), pesticides, and fragrance. Fragrance is a generic term for a combination of up to 1,000 different chemicals all in one ingredient. And the materials used to make that fragrance don’t have to be revealed.

The following are the best types of non-toxic feminine protection products that I have found.

Non-Toxic Tampons

• Seventh Generation Non-Toxic Tampons
• Natracare Organic Tampons
• Veeda
• Cora Non-Toxic Tampons
• Lola Organic Cotton Tampons
• OrgaNYC Tampons

Non-Toxic Pads

Seventh Generation

This is the first natural feminine protection product line that I tried and I have to say that it’s still my favorite. This is the one that I always use.

You can buy them on Amazon, too.

Seventh Generation Free & Clear has no fragrances or dyes and no chlorine processing in the pads.

The PureFit pads which conforms easily to your body are made with:

• Chlorine-free processed wood pulp
• Super-absorbent polymer
• Polyolefins
• Adhesives
• Silicone-coated paper

The Seventh Generation Regular Ultra-Thin Pads with Wings work great. They easily trap in moisture. The adhesives on these pads are super strong and stay in place all day.

The Seventh Generation Pantiliners are excellent, too. Traps in moisture and stays in place all day. Super absorbent. I wish they still offered individually wrapped ones, though. The bulk box option isn’t convenient for tucking one away in your purse or packing for a vacation.

The Seventh Generation Overnight Pads are obviously much thicker and absorbent than the Ultra Thin pads. My experience shows that the absorbent material tends to bunch up and get molded to your sleep position overnight. So you might not have totally even coverage by morning time.

Seventh Generation has an amazing array of products, including wipes, pads, liners, baby products and more.

LOLA

These subscription-based feminine protection products will be delivered discreetly to your door. And I do mean DISCREETLY. There are no big stickers shouting to everyone what you’re receiving on your doorstep. Even the boxes that contain the feminine products are simple, clean and don’t reveal what’s inside unless you look on the back.

LOLA is made with 100% organic cotton and a non-toxic adhesive and is unscented.

You won’t find any synthetics, additives, or fragrances.

I tried the ultra thin pads with wings and the ultra thin liners.

The LOLA ultra thin liners worked great. They stayed in place and great absorption.

The LOLA ultra thin pads with wings also worked great at absorption with no weird wet residue that kind of just sits on top, like some other products. My only problem was that the adhesive on the wings was minimal and didn’t really stay in place for a long amount of time.

Natracare

From personal experience, I would never ever use these pads again. The Natracare Natural Pads had too little adhesive, which means they shifted out of place – not a good thing. Also, the absorbency of these natural feminine products seemed to be the worst out of any of the non-toxic pads that I tried.

Every woman knows, if there is no sufficient absorbency, what is the point?

Perhaps the menstrual care products have improved over the years, but I don’t want to try again. Natracare does have a wide range of products, including pads, liners, tampons, feminine wipes, maternity pads, baby wipes and more.

Organyc

Made with 100% organic cotton, these pads aren’t bad. They didn’t seem to stay in place or absorb as well as my favorite brands, but they weren’t as bad as the worst brands I reviewed.

They were somewhere safely inbetween.

Offer non-toxic pads brands that I haven’t personally tried include:

• Veeda
• Cora

Non-Toxic Menstrual Cup

• Diva Cup Non-Toxic Reusable Menstrual Cup
• EcoBlossom Reusable Menstrual Cup
• Lena Sensitive Menstrual Cup
• Saalt Soft Reusable Menstrual Cup
• Flex Cup
• Cora Non-Toxic Menstrual Cup

Reusable Sanitary Pads

A reusable cloth menstruation pad? Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Gross!!!

I agreed.

Then I tried them. I still agree that they are gross. But they do work. And they do work well!

I tried a brand called Lunapads (I’m not sure if they are out of business or not, so scroll down to see other alternatives). They are snapped into place around your underwear. Then the supremely absorbent liner insert works great at absorbing flow.

You change the liners throughout the day, keeping the Lunapad base in place. Liners come in different levels of absorbency based on your needs. There are also Lunapads pantiliners.

With a one-time purchase, these reusable pads will save you money over many months of use.

They also come in a variety of colors and designs. Some of them seem a little bit childish, but I guess they’re aimed at ‘tweens. Otherwise, who else wants cupcakes or peace symbols on their feminine protection?

If it wasn’t for the ick factor, I’d probably use these all of the time. But there is that question of – what to do with them when they are “used?” How – and where – do you store them? Because doing a load of hot water laundry just to wash one or two cloth menstrual pads seems to be a waste of resources and time.

Other brands to try that aren’t as cutesy and look more modern are:

• Teamoy
• Leekalos
• Pixie Organic Cotton

If you are interested in these best buys for non-toxic period products, you might also want to read my journey of diagnosing and treating hormonal imbalances and using hormone replacement therapy.