Tree Hugger Cloth Pads are made with top-quality fabrics made to last as a functioning absorbent pad for 5-10 years or 100-200 washes.
But what happens when your pads 'wear out'?
Pads that have lived their full and healthy life will, unfortunately, start to leak through the fleece backing when they have worn out.
How to tell if your pads are wearing out:
The biggest indicator that it may be time to retire your pad is when the fleece backing gets thread-bare. Threadbare means either the fluff wears down to where you can see the weave of the fabric in the fleece, bamboo or minky or in the case of cotton pads, it wears a hole in the fabric. The threadbare top fabric typically isn't a problem except for cotton-topped pads that will eventually get a hole, but for the fleece backing it can cause leaks as the fleece layer is what protects your underwear the most. Your pads can also start to get thinner over time, this is most noticeable with bamboo-topped pads and sometimes minky. It's not a problem (some even see it as a benefit!) but it is something to keep an eye on.
What to do if your pads start looking like they are wearing out?
1. Our best advice is to downgrade your pads. For example, your heavy flow day pads become your light flow day pads, your light flow day pads start being used as pantyliners etc.
2. Start rotating in a few new pads! Your stash likely won't need to be replaced all at the same time so adding a few new pads into your rotation will help lessen the wear on each pad individually.
We truly strive to make the best possible pads and we know they are an upfront investment so the more use you can get out of them the better.
If you are just getting started with cloth pads and want the best bang for your buck here is our list of top fabrics in order of the longest lifespan to shortest lifespan. This can vary depending on many things but overall some fabrics hold up better than others in the long run (and I, Crystal, have been using some of my pads for over 14 years!):
Longest lasting to shortest lifespan:
1. Minky
2. Bamboo
3. Athletic
4. Cotton
5. Jersey
6. Cotton Flannel
(please note we do not carry all of these fabric tops at all times)
Interested to read the pros and cons of different fabric toppers? Read about them HERE
Interested in trying more than one fabric type in one set? Shop fabric sampler sets HERE