Sanitary pads are one of the most useful inventions of the last few decades, but they come with a huge drawback – they’re made of plastic and must be thrown away after use. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you consider how many women use them over their lifetime, the amount of waste created by this product becomes staggering. Fortunately, there are many easy ways to make disposable sanitary pads at home from regular materials you can find in your local pharmacy. Let’s look at how to make sanitary pads using ingredients you probably already have at home!
Pad construction
To make disposable sanitation pads, you need two main components. The first is the highly absorbent core material, and high-absorbency materials, such as cellulose fibers, can be used. The second component is an adhesive material called super-absorbent polymer (SAP) used as part of pad construction.
It needs to have good adhesive properties with film and hydrophilic materials because it prevents urine leakage when it makes contact with water. Because SAP absorbs liquids effectively even when they are in fluid form, it can keep clothes dry and reduce smells while still allowing airflow through its structure. This prevents skin irritation caused by other adhesives with poor wicking abilities or ventilation problems associated with wet cotton products.
Materials
Disposable clothes and underwear, cardboard, paper (paper towel or toilet paper), cotton fabrics, and plastic bags. Toilet paper rolls are perfect for making a set of disposable sanitary pads. This can be easily made at home by simply reusing used toilet paper rolls and some other materials that could be easily collected from around your house.
This will also not cost you much if you already have these items around your house. What You Need is one roll of toilet paper; 1 pair of used panties; a Plastic bag; Cotton fabric; Cardboard.
How to Make:
Step 1: Cut an empty roll into smaller pieces to fit into one panty cup.
Step 2: Take another piece of cardboard and cut out two small circles on both sides to cover both panty cups. These would act as a holder for which the pad is attached.
Step 3: Cut out four strips of fabric, each approximately 5 inches long and 3 inches wide. Fold them into rectangles with dimensions 5x3x1 inch and stitch up three sides, leaving one side open to stuff with cotton wool/any material that absorbs liquid/absorbent powder (like baking soda).
Place these rectangles and a cardboard circle holder inside each panty cup before inserting the toilet paper roll. The top portion should be covered with underwear to keep everything intact when wearing it.
Step 4: Stitch up the opening using thread and needle after stuffing both compartments with absorbent material so that no leakage occurs while wearing them when wet.
Preparation
Prepare absorbent material. Dissolve jelutong in hot water. Allow it to cool before mixing with wood pulp and cotton wool. The proportions of these materials should be 3:2:1, respectively.
The mixture is then poured into a rectangular mold, giving it a thickness of 10 mm. Steam it over boiling water for 30 minutes before leaving it overnight so that it can dry completely. Cut each sheet into smaller sections to fit between one’s legs comfortably.
Curing
The first step in making a disposable pad is curing. To cure:
- Soak your cut-up pieces of cloth in water until they have absorbed as much water as possible.
- After doing that, take all of them out and squeeze out any excess liquid from each piece. It would help if you had what looks like a small patchwork quilt made up of wet pieces of cloth at that point.
- Put them on top of some newspaper and set it aside to dry—it shouldn’t take long because you soaked it for so long beforehand. Once your pieces are dried, it’s time to sew!
Results
Making such a pad is fairly simple. It involves taking some cut-up pieces of plastic and putting a pad in it, which has already been made. The simple way to do it is by following steps one through four below.
First, you would cut out about three pieces of plastic around 20cm each, but if your fingers are small, you can go a little smaller. Second, place them together and stick them onto each other using tape or glue.
Thirdly add sticky tape or glue to all sides so that they can’t slip out of place when you are washing them and lastly, put in a washable pad so that you don’t have any leakage when wearing it. Simple!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you make your sanitary pads?
We’ve got you covered if you’re trying to figure out how to make your sanitary pads. But if you don’t want all that DIY hassle, check out one of these pre-made options that come with wings and adhesive strips.
If they fit well and keep leaks at bay (if they aren’t too thick), those could be your answer for a good reusable option. There are other washable options like sea sponges or cloth liners, but it depends on how often you wear them and how well each holds up over time.
How do you make homemade period pads?
There is more than one way to go about it, like most things in life. Some people prefer making reusable cloth period pads; some want to buy commercial period panties, and some like making their homemade period underwear out of cloth or menstrual cup liners. How do you get started with your first homemade pad? What materials do you need?
Conclusion
Disposable sanitary pads are a big business, and with few exceptions, if you want to produce them, you’ll need expensive equipment and major capital investment. You might also need an expert who can help you navigate some of these obstacles. Still, there’s very little access to affordable supplies for producing affordable menstrual hygiene products in most countries. As I mentioned before, one of my first steps would be searching for an expert from another country who has expertise in making affordable supplies and working with that person or NGO to create a funding proposal for a project like that. It’s not simple, but neither is it impossible! (If you’ve done it, please let me know.) And on top of everything else, our society doesn’t support women’s health issues.
