(of blood) Of course, we are speaking about absorbency and what sets our pads apart from other brands.
Our period pads and underwear need absorbent fabric cores to wick up fluid fast, hold a good amount of volume for its size, and wash and dry quickly.
We’re trying to compete as well as possible with disposable pads (if saving the planet wasn’t enough) and we’re pretty proud of the level that we’ve achieved - especially since disposables can’t be washed.
The Magic Core Ingredient
The magic ingredient we use is the fabric “zorb”. Zorb is a non-allergenic synthetic fabric (made in the USA, originated in Canada) that absorbs 10 times its weight in under 2 seconds and soaks up 20 times faster than other materials (bamboo, cotton, hemp, knits).
From the Zorb manufacturer: “Zorb is an innovative, super-absorbent, hypoallergenic fabric uniquely engineered to rapidly capture moisture with a superior holding capacity. Eco-friendly, antimicrobial, nanoparticle free, breathable, PFAs and PFOA free, BPA free, hypoallergenic, CPSIA compliant, and child and pet safe.”
The fabric content is a blend of cellulosic fibers from cotton/tencel/bamboo/other interspersed with polyester nylon. No chemicals or gels. It’s fabric that acts like a paper towel. And drys fast in the dryer too!
Zorb is primarily used in the cloth diaper industry so its primary use is for holding a whole lot of liquid. It is also used in nursing pads, bed pads, bibs, yoga towels, and incontinence products. And of course our cloth pads and period underwear!
Above: Close-up photo of a piece of blood-sucking Zorb
The reason we choose to use Zorb is because of how quickly it absorbs, the large quantity of fluid it can hold and the fact that it is dry in about half a dryer cycle compared to other fabrics that can make pads take two dryer cycles to dry all the way through. Zorb also stays squishy and soft after years of use and doesn't get bunchy and stiff as bamboo and cotton cores can.
- Read here for more about the different levels of absorbency (and number of layers of zorb) available in our pads
- Read here for more about our absorbency levels in our period underwear (which also uses Zorb)
- Read here for more about how the different fabric top choices can affect the quickness of absorbancy and add somewhat to the absorbancy of the pad
Here is a video showing our period underwear (with Zorb) that sucks up 9 tampons worth of fluid. Give it a watch! It’s pretty amazing. The wraparound waterproof sides of the core keep it all in even with compression.
What does USED Zorb look like?
No need for warnings here!!!
If you weren’t already sold on our pads with Zorb cores, we wanted to show you a window into our pads. We have two examples of pads used for a long time and how clean they truly wash. And, look, they stay white! The orange hand-dyed day pad was used by me (Crystal) for 6-8 years (I can’t remember exactly but A LOT!). The purple pad was an unsolicited post (used with permission) by a customer in our private Facebook group. This customer used this pad for 6 years and 100+ uses with no stains on the zorb.
Above: inside of my pad used for 6 or 8 years (Zorb still white)
Above: customer pad used for 6 years and 100+ uses (Zorb still white)
You may note that the bamboo fabric topping on these pads (cut away) has some wear and staining from many years and hundreds of uses. This is a characteristic of bamboo specifically but other fabric tops are stain resistant - see this fabric top comparison article to learn more.
Take the next step!
I hope this was informative! Now you know the big reason why our pads suck so darn much!
If you’ve never tried our pads and want to test out different levels of absorbency, you can check out our starter sets here.
“Game of Zorbes”?
To close this off, here is me (Crystal) on a throne of Zorb (all cut into pieces ready for pads) that Scott (my husband and business partner) thought it was funny to make for me haha. He really does suck sometimes.
