Category Archives: Women’s Corner

(Warning, possibly too much info, TMI, ahead for some readers.)

I am asked quite often, “What about pads for incontinence?”
You may not know it, but bladder weakness affects an estimated 7% of our population! I find this to be pretty accurate when comparing to the amount of requests I receive for incontinence pads.

A lot of our pads will work just fine for incontinence. However, it really depends on the amount of protection one needs.

Incontinence ‘flow’ is MUCH different from a regular monthly ‘flow’. Our monthly flow isn’t a straight ‘liquid’ where as true incontinence issues are. This means that although a waterproof/water resistant fleece may work perfectly and be 99.9% bomb proof for your monthly cycle, it may not be quite as ‘bomb proof’ for incontinence/urine.

The question is asked then, “Which pads are the very best for incontinence?”

Personally, I feel our comfort contour pads are the best for incontinence. I also feel our pul backed pads will hold up best for ‘worse’ incontinence issues that cause more problems then just a ‘sneeze/cough’ type of light incontinence. If you have these issues, you’ll know exactly what I am referring to. Let’s discuss the very best pads for each type of incontinence issue!

For the sneeze/cough issues, or pregnancy related issues, or even ovulation type of discharge that some women have, our tiny liner and light comfort contour pads are going to be just fine, with PUL backing or even with our waterproof/resistant fleece. These liners are from 6-8 inches in length.

If you prefer a wrap wing style of pad, you’re still going to be fine with our Light Wrap Wing pad, and if you really have very slight issues, even our PantyWraps will work fine! With our waterproof/resistant fleece backing, and/or PUL backing.

I would equate all of the above suggestions with a disposable pantyliner for absorbency.

If your incontinence issues are more then ‘very light’, you’re going to want a bit more absorbency, and probably a longer pad.
My suggestion in this case is usually to go for a Regular Comfort Contour Pad or our Ultimate Regular Flow Pad (these are aprox. 9.5 inches), with PUL backing if you’re really concerned about leaking issues, or you could go for a waterproof/resistant fleece backing if you’re issues aren’t a real issue but you just need extra protection because you just never know when you may have an incidence. Some people’s bladders just don’t want to co-operate all the time, especially after children. And, as some of us get older, our bladders can get a little weak.

I would equate our Regular Comfort Contour pad and the Ultimate Regular Pad to that of a smaller disposable incontinence pad for absorbency.

For those with a need for even  more absorbency, length, and coverage, I highly suggest our Ultimate Heavy Flow Pad, again this is probably best with a PUL backing, but some times, depending on the type of issues you’re having, the waterproof/resistant backing can work fine as well. These are aprox. 11 inches long.

I would equate our Ultimate Heavy Flow Pad to that of a moderate-heavy incontinence pad for absorbency.

For those with a much greater need of absorbency and coverage, the Ultimate II pad may be just what you need. These pads are aprox. 13 inches long and offer our widest centers.

These offer great coverage, yet our customers LOVE how comfortable they are. The shape is designed to fit your body where you need the most absorbency, and flare out where you need the most extra coverage.

I would equate our Ultimate Heavy Flow Pad to that of a moderate-heavy incontinence pad for absorbency.

All of our incontinence pads can be created with an additional layer of zorb, a fast acting absorbing fabric. This fabric is said to absorb 8 times it’s weight and some of our customers really appreciate this addition to our pads. Zorb can be used in any size of pad we offer from our liners, to our heaviest pads. It does create a thicker pad then our pads without zorb, but is a welcome addition to those who need that extra absorption. We pair zorb up with our high quality organic cotton/bamboo fleece inner fabrics and feel that together, they provide a very effective incontinence pad.

I hope this entry in my series of “All about cloth” has helped you understand which pads are best for incontinence. 🙂

And remember…

When in doubt, try it out!
It’s best to try one of each type you feel may work best for you before you buy too many. 🙂

In our pad making process we use two main types of waterproof fabrics, waterproof/water resistant fleece and PUL.

The water’proof’ fleece we use is always, and only, Polartec (formerly Malden Mills) fleece and 99% of the time, it is windpro. Why? Because, although it is a very expensive fleece, 99.99% of the time, it has never, ever, let us down. They do not classify it as ‘waterproof’ but instead it is classified as water ‘resistant’. However, in my years of experience with this fabric and women’s menstrual cycles, unless you make a mistake in bleaching it, or abusing it some how, for cloth pads it behaves 99.99% as waterproof as any other barrier fabric I have ever use.

It is also soft, durable, and very dependable.
All fleece(s) are NOT equal.

My only dislike about the fleece we use, is it’s hard to get at a decent price, especially in a large variety of colors, unless you are able and willing to buy very large bolts. If you’ve seen my sewing studio, you’ll know that I do not have the space for many very large bolts. I also do not have the funds to be buying more then 2 or 3 bolts at any one time, so I try my best to be wise each time I buy, and rotate the colors I can add as often as possible to give our customers some variety. 🙂

Within the windpro ‘family’ of fabrics, there are several different styles/types. Our favorites here at Homestead Emporium are mid weight, light weight and shirt weight. If you’ve purchased several pads from us, you may notice that some fleeces are different from others. The ‘weight’ of the fabrics is the main difference.

-Mid weight is thicker then the other two, yet still soft. It is very durable and ‘solid’. Snaps hold very fast to this weight of fleece.

-The light weight fleece is a favorite. It’s still fairly ‘solid’ yet trimmer then the mid weight. Perfect for those who want that ‘solid-ness’ in their pads yet don’t want more ‘substance’. If that makes any sense?

-Shirt weight is SUPER trim, almost as trim as PUL. If you’re not familiar with pul, then I can best describe the thickness of this fleece as being almost as trim as a thick piece of construction paper but much more supple and has a really nice drape to it. However, as with anything, there is one drawback. It’s not as ‘solid’ for snaps, BUT, windpro is such a durable fabric that this usually is not a problem if care is taken not to ‘yank’ the snaps open. Just as you are careful in unsnapping/unbuttoning a blouse, care must be taken when using the shirt weight windpro. For those who really love a super trim, barely there pad, it’s well worth it.

When creating each of our pads, I keep the different types of fleece in mind for each style. The main issue we have with the fleece, and the ONLY reason we are not able to always offer every individual pad, in every type of fleece we carry, is often simply due to color matching. Because of our limited supply, we have limited colors of fleece, but we have endless colors of top fabrics. Sometimes this means either the fabrics won’t look 110% perfect with one another but will still look good. My dream is to one day have a rainbow of windpro, but unfortunately I don’t see that happening any time soon. 😉

Our other waterproof fabric is PUL.

PUL is a knit fabric laminated on one side with Polyurethane. The laminated side is ‘hidden’ within the pad and the knit fabric side is what you see/feel on the back of our pul pads.

My three favorite things about PUL are:
1. it is VERY leakproof
2. it is SUPER trim, if you’re not familiar with PUL, I can best describe it to be almost as thin as paper, but MUCH MUCH more soft and has a very nice drape to it.
3. it comes in a HUGE array of colors

In my own personal stash, I have about as many PUL backed pads as I do windpro fleece backed pads. These are my ‘go to’ pads for when I am wearing jeans and I’m on my way out the door. I feel our pul backed pads are almost as trim as a store bought disposable pad.

Here is a photo of the wrap wings on a mid weight fleece backed pad, and a pul backed pad.

What are the negatives about PUL?
Some feel pul is too ‘slippery’. Personally, I find if I am wearing well fitting undies, this is not a problem. My favorite undies with my PUL backed pads are my dundies. They are wider in the crotch area, and fit really well. There is no ‘wiggle’ room for the pad, and I think this makes a big difference. If the crotch area of your undies are too narrow for the size of pad you are using, or your undies are fitting a little ‘baggy’, then there can be the potential for a PUL backed pad to slide around. This is something to keep in mind. However, if you’re wanting a SUPER trim pad, especially in a nice fitting pair of jeans etc., PUL is really the way to go.

Here’s an example of flannel topped, PUL backed pads:

You just can’t get much trimmer then that when working with cloth!

To recap in short form:
Our main two water’proof’ backing fabrics are windpro fleece and pul.
Both are great barriers. Windpro is limited in colors, PUL has a huge array of colors.
Windpro fleece comes in various thicknesses. PUL is almost paper thin.
Windpro fleece, for some, stays put better. PUL can be ‘slippery’ but not if wearing well fitting undies.

Both are durable and dependable.

I hope this entry in my series “All about cloth” helps you to better understand each of these fabrics, and the differences between them. 🙂

Just a heads up to let everyone know that as of the Friday, Sept. 10th 2010 stocking you will see a few price increases on some of our pads. Most are just a 35 cent increase for pads such as the tiny liner, light wrap wing, regular wrap wing. The Ultimate II will be going up by 50 cents and the most noticeable price increase will be the UltiMax Pad (formerly Ultimate Pad). This is one pad I have tried to keep the price down as much as possible because I realize for some, 15.00 for one pad seems like a lot. However, this pad uses SO much fabric that it’s becoming a ‘loss’ for the biz and it’s just too important a pad in our product line. Thankfully, most women find they only need one or two so the price increase of 1.00 shouldn’t be an issue. We have not raised the price of this pad since Homestead Emporium first opened, yet the prices of our fabrics have increased dramatically over the course of that time, so it really is overdue. The new price is 16.00 for the UltiMax but I believe anyone who uses this pad for very heavy flow, will agree that it is a pad that stands out above the others and is well worth it!

You can see the new pricing here:
http://hyenacart.com/HomesteadEmporium/index.php?info=571

Some pads have remained the same price, such as our thong liner, pantywrap, light comfort contour, and all our other ultimate line of pads.

In other business news. This week we have some fabulous dyes by two other work at home moms!

First off, I want to thank Eva of Linnea Design for donating some of her fabulous dyed scraps to my girls! Julia (one of my 10 year old twins) decided to use most of these for her facial packages and they turned out beautiful!

If you have a ‘hard to buy for’ person on your gift list this year, one of these sets is sure to please!

The reusable cotton balls also make awesome gifts, and stocking stuffers for ANYONE on your list, any age!

The girls also take orders for larger cotton ball sets and can offer small discounts for over 20 cotton balls of various colors. If you’re interested, just email me at homesteademporium(AT)gmail.com

We also have some more dyed fabrics from another work at home mom this week! Tami of Dunk-n-Fluff has sent some gorgeous bamboo velours. You’ll see a few sets created with her fabrics this week including these:

This week we have quite a variety! I’ve got two pairs of dundies in women’s size 6 instock!

I’ve also stocked some more natural bamboo velour lil’shrooms:

For those who prefer SUPER trim pads, this week I’ve added some PUL backed swirl goods! Check out how trim these regular flow pads are!

And for those who prefer more ‘substance’ in their pads, we have our mid weight waterproof backed pads in swirls:

We’ve also stocked some regular velour contoured nursing pads for the first time. These are a ‘less expensive’ alternative to our bamboo velour nursing pads.

Same great contour shape, still nice and soft at a discounted price!

There’s lots more to see instock! Everything goes ‘live’ at 2pm est Friday!
http://hyenacart.com/HomesteadEmporium/index.php

Thanks for looking! We appreciate your continued support of our family business! 🙂

I just noticed we’re at over 750 fans on facebook!

How about we have another big give away when we hit 1000!?!

Think we can do it? I’m sure we can!

I will be giving away a $100.00 gift certificate to one 1st prize winner!

If we can reach 1000 fairly quickly, I’ll dig into my stash of gift certificates and pull out a few $20.00 gift certificates to give away as well! Just for the fun of it and because you all make it so much fun!

If you would like a chance to be entered into an EXTRA draw for a $20.00 gift certificate, leave a comment here on the blog sharing how you’re spreading the word about Homestead Emporium’s facebook, and a link to where, and you will have TWO chances to win, one on facebook, and one here! It can be as easy as hitting the “like” button here on this post! Just let me know you’ve done it!

That’s it! Join us on fb, and comment here, for TWO chances to be a winner!
If you’re already a fan on fb, you’re already entered for the first BIG draw and possibly more! Otherwise, what are you waiting for!?  Push that facebook button on the right there, and join in on the fun!

When you make a product like women’s reusable cloth menstrual pads, you’ve gotta expect something like this is going to happen some time!

Oh my goodness, what a great way to start out the day (well except for the poor souls who ALWAYs have to try and make things truly personal and attack someone’s craft, but kudos to them too, I enjoy my craft so much I really could care less. lol)

http://www.regretsy.com/2010/07/07/thong-thung-brown/comment-page-2/#comment-61168

If I were not so UNBELIEVABLY proud of how well our ‘little’ family business has done, this might bother me. But honestly, right now, as things slow down because it’s summer time and everyone is off enjoying some fun in the sun instead of sitting at their computers buying menstrual products, I WHOLE HEARTEDLY welcome this publicity!

Those who will be negative, will be so anyways, BUT one has NO idea just how many women will see this (and even men, for THEIR women) and think “Wow! I never knew you could get hand dyed cloth menstrual pads! How great!”

So thank you regretsy, for helping to spread the word! It’s a good word, and any way to get it out there, is a great way!

First, I’d like to share a few recent custom orders. I shared the sweetiebums dyed custom photos on our facebook, so if you would like to see those, head on over and “like” our page! Then check out the photo section!

Here’s some other custom orders from this past little while:

Swirls:

A variety:

Another variety:

Lots of contour styles!

I think it’s time for another contest! Enter for a chance to win a 20.00 gift certificate!

All you have to do is answer a question for me here on the blog. 🙂

If you already use cloth, what is one thing you’d like to tell other women who are unsure of that first step, to give them the confidence to make that leap! Remember how you felt when trying to make the switch, what helped ease your fears/concerns?

If you don’t already use cloth, but feel you might want to, what is one thing that is holding you back? How can we ease your mind about making that first step?

Leave your answers in the comment section. Again, if we get lots of entries (over 50) I’ll give away TWO $20.00 gift certificates! If we get more then 100 contest entries, I’ll give away THREE $20.00 gift certificates!

So tell your friends, especially those who are not sure they want to make that switch. What better way to test the waters then with some FREE pads?!

*Note: Contest is now over!
We will indeed be drawing THREE winners since we came so close to 150! Thanks for playing everyone! Contest winners will be announced within the next few days. Check back to see if YOU are one of our winners!