In 2007, the Tulsa, OK, area was hit with a major, surprise ice storm. Many people were without power for a week. In July, 2012, severe storms knocked out the power of 2 million people along the East Coast. Electricity was unavailable for more than a week for thousands. In August, 2012, 60 million people were without power for days in India – that is more people than lives in the United States and Canada combined! It CAN happen here! And what does Murphy’s Law state what will happen on Day 1? Your period will start, whether it’s due or not! Hopefully, you have a couple month’s supply of feminine hygiene products. But if not, here are some ways you can prepare for the inevitable.
- Stock up on a couple of month’s worth of feminine products. Duh! But sanitary napkins do take up space. An easy fix for that is be prepared with tampons – even if you don’t like them, they would work in a pinch and take up less space to store.
- Purchase washable sanitary napkins. Some resources are: Pleasure Puss Menstrual Pads, Glad Rags, and Luna Pads. In fact, Jennifer Mueller has a great review of cloth menstrual pads.
- Make, or have the materials on hand to make, washable sanitary napkins. They are extremely inexpensive and extremely easy. They are even easy to make by hand in the event the power is already out when you need to make them! “J“, writing for Wellsphere, says,
“But even a novice seamstress can create a basic menstrual pad from recycled items in less than a half hour! If I can do it, anyone can. I don’t measure or make sure my seams are straight, because I figure something you are going to bleed on doesn’t need to look pretty.”
The Hillbilly Housewife has a no-sew solution:
“If your sewing skills are lacking, or you simply do not want to go through the trouble of sewing your own pads you can try this instead. Purchase absorbent terry-cloth dishtowels. Wash them before using. Fold them into rectangles about 3 or 4-inches by 10 or 12 inches. Use safety pins to pin them into your underwear at both narrow ends (the front and the back). These are a bit bulkier than home-sewn pads. They are quite comfortable though, and are a legitimate alternative. They may be washed the same as home-sewn pads. I’ve also seen washcloths recommended. Fold them into thirds, or quarters (long ways) and fit them into your underwear. Apparently they stay in place without pinning because of the friction between the terry-cloth and underwear. For heavier flows fold together 2 or more wash cloths.”
Some other options can be found at Penniless Parenting, Jan Andrea, and Our Pandemonium Paradise.
Buy a couple of reusable menstrual cups to have on hand, just in case. The Softcup is what I am going to look into first, because I can get them at Walmart and they are super cheap! Then again, one tends to get what one pays for, so here are a couple of other options: The Diva Cup, and The Keeper.
Whether there is a power outage, a natural disaster, or a nationwide collapse, bodily function will continue to, well, function. With a little bit of forethought and preparation, we can make those natural occurrences as pleasant and comfortable as possible.
Good advice! It’s important to be prepared. I am a longtime user of reusable cups and cloth pads, and I like them so well that I hardly ever use the disposable stuff anymore! Here is my first article on feminine hygiene alternatives, and here is my article with comparison of Softcups and durable cups.
For disaster situations, especially if water supply is limited, a reusable cup is the best option because you can wash it in much less water than cloth pads. In everyday life, a reusable cup is very convenient because you don’t have to swap it out for a fresh one every few hours; just empty it and put it back in. Great for traveling!
I can honestly say that I have never thought about this but oh my goodness I better! Especially if the Zombie Apocalypse happens which I believe it will.. just remember, double tap.