For those of you who don’t know, Thinx is underwear you can use when you have your period. You can either use it as a back up to tampons or pads, or free flow. I wasn’t sure about writing a review about Thinx, but I feel that women might feel more comfortable reading a review of the product from someone they know and can walk up to and ask questions. So here it is, my journey of my first full period week with Thinx. It will be a bit graphic, as I want women to understand how this product works.
A word on other products: I hate using tampons. They don’t feel right, therefore I used pads. If you’ve never used a pad, it feels slightly like wearing a diaper, even if you’re using the thinnest ones you can find. To me, that was preferable to using a tampon, which always felt like I had shoved a dry cotton stick where it doesn’t belong.
When the diva cup came out, I knew I would never try it. You have to empty it out every two hours, clean it and replace it. Um, not at work. No, thanks. Then I heard about Thinx, read a bunch of reviews from women who had tried at least one pair and figured, why the hell not? Yes, they are pricey, but so are pads.
Last month, I bought one pair of Thinx underwear to try out. My one regret: Not purchasing more right away. Therefore, I ordered enough to get me through my period for this month. When I wore the pair last month, I didn’t use anything else. I let things flow and I loved it.
The thing that worried me is that I am not regular and my body likes to kid around when it comes to my period. Sometimes it starts right away and then trickles, sometimes it trickles and then gushes. I haven’t been regular in a few years, since stopping hormonal birth control. Usually I have one heavy day, and a few lighter days, and a few days of mucus. But, not always in that order. Fun, right?
Today, I started what I think is day one of trickle period and I decided instead of a panty lining, to go ahead and use one of my new Thinx underwear. I slid into a pair and sighed. So much nicer than using a pad. It feels like I’m wearing a bikini bottom that is made from slightly thicker material than a bikini usually is. And they are cute! They come in black or beige. I opted for black only, as beige just didn’t seem right. But to each her own. If you decide to get some, get the ones you like!
Day One: Trickle period. Not much blood, but some mucus. Decided to go with the underwear rather than a panty liner. I wore the Cheeky pair. Thinx site states these pair hold up to 1 tampon’s worth of blood. Not having used tampons much, I’m going to shrug on that one. I slipped on the pair at 7 this morning and took them off at 7:30 this evening. There was some wetness, but when I washed the underwear, there was no red in the water.
That’s another thing. You have to rinse the underwear before you throw it in the delicate cycle. And don’t use fabric softener. The site says it’s like kryptonite for the underwear. As a geek, I love that line, but I am keeping it in mind HARDCORE. I do not want to ruin all my underwear by being forgetful.
I guess that’s it for the first day. I am wearing a pair to bed. The Hip Hugger, which is for heavy days. 2 tampons worth. This is the pair I first purchased and I have worn them to bed. No leaking. No worry about shifting either. Because that’s the other thing: pads shift. And that is no fun. That causes leaks and accidents.
All in all, the first day was fine. No smell, a little wet feeling, but not really. And as I sit at home typing this up, I don’t feel any wetness. I am looking forward to tomorrow, despite having my period.
Night one: Wore the Hip Hugger to bed. No leaks and not much blood when I rinsed in the morning.
Day Two: Wore the Sport. According to the website, the Sport absorbs about one and a half tampons’ worth. Today was getting heavier for me, but the Sport held up. It is also rather comfortable and cute. Unlike the cheeky, there is no lace around the edges. It’s just plain old black underwear that is comfortable and absorbs your period blood. When I changed for the night time underwear (Hip Hugger again), I rinsed the sport and there wasn’t much blood. Not a heavy day for me, but I know it’s coming.
As my second day with this underwear, I feel confident, more confident then I usually do with pads, and I am not checking to make sure I’m not leaking. We’ll see what happens as the week continues.
Night Two: Hip Hugger, but probably could have gone with one of the other ones. Didn’t look like much was going on and when I rinsed the underwear this morning, no red could be seen.
Day Three: Heavy day. This is the day I usually think of as my period actually starting. It’s the heaviest day I’ll have, usually. I’m not regular; my body likes to mess with me sometimes. I wore the Hip Hugger today, 2 tampons worth. How do I feel after a full day at work? Fucking. Awesome. I was walking around the office earlier today and realized I didn’t feel like I had my period. I wore my tighter jeans, which I usually don’t do when I wear pads, as it feels as if everyone can see the bulge. Today, while walking around, I felt sexy. Sexy. While on my period. That doesn’t happen. I felt liberated. It was an amazing feeling. I didn’t feel restricted.
With Thinx, there is no chaffing from the pad, no uncomfortable bulge, no feeling of anything except underwear. Oh my god, I’ve waited my entire period life for these. In case you’re wondering, I’ve had my period for 27 years. Even when I was on the pill, I still hated my period. They were shorter during that time, and more in control, but still. Pads and tampons suck. I am seriously flabbergasted. (Obviously not speechless.) I love Thinx underwear.
Also while at work today, I was putting stuff in my locker and rearranging some things and found a small box I had put pads in. I took that box home, as I’m pretty sure I’ll never wear pads again.
I already changed my underwear for the evening. Still wearing Hip Huggers, though. I realized I don’t have enough Hip Huggers for the week, therefore I’m washing (in the machine) what I’ve already worn and thinking of getting more.
When I rinsed today’s pair, there was a lot of blood in the water. I’ve read other reviews where women did not see any red, but they might not bleed as much as I do. It will differ for all women as all women are different, but that’s part of the Thinx tagline: know your flow.
Even though this was my heaviest day, I didn’t have any problems. There was no smell coming from down there and also, there is barely any trace of blood on my skin. There would often be with pads. The underwear does an amazing job of doing as advertised: whisking away the blood.
Today, I am seriously happy with Thinx.
Night Three: Heavy flow night; I used the Hip Hugger. I think that one is my go to for nights. More coverage. I only have 4 pairs of those though, which means I had to put everything I had used previously in the washer. (I let them dry on a rack after rinsing/pre-washing.) My only worry was whether or not a pair would dry well enough to wear tomorrow.
Tonight though: no leaks. Light blue sheets clear of any traces of blood. I felt like I needed to change my underwear though. They felt a bit wet and definitely heavy. There was a smell (like there were with pads) when I went to the bathroom. Here’s another thing I like about Thinx: I took my underwear off in the shower.
I took care of the toilet stuff, but sometimes I drip. I decided to pull my underwear back on, step in the shower, then take off my underwear. No worries about drips that way! I felt relieved to be able to do that. When I rinsed, there was blood to rinse, but it rinsed quickly.
Note: One of my other pair of Hip Huggers did dry enough to wear today. This should be another heavy day for me. I know I want to buy at least two more pairs of HipHuggers to cover me for an entire week. I don’t want to gamble with a pair not drying well enough again.
Day Four: I was wrong. Today was my heavy day. It was rough. Unfortunately, three or four drops of blood made it onto my jeans before the end of the work day. It was really close to the end, so I didn’t panic. I went home at the end of the day, jumped in the shower, rinsed off the really bloody underwear and pulled on a new pair.
It may have been my fault that there was leakage. The underwear I wore today may not have been completely dried from the wash. I want to give them another try on a heavy day and see how that goes. I haven’t given up, as this is still the best method for my period that I have found so far.
Night Four: Heavy flow still and no leaks. I’m sold for night time usage, at any rate.
Day Five: This is going to be interesting. I am currently wearing the Sport and will change halfway through the day as I am going to an outdoor concert for most of the day. I didn’t want to wear one pair for the entire day. I felt that might be pushing things too far. I don’t know how heavy my flow will be today, as my period is not regular. I’ll be walking around a lot more than I usually do and that’ll help me figure out how well these do with activity. I am very interested to see what happens.
I changed into Hip Huggers about half an hour before I left for the concert. It’s outdoor, therefore no real bathrooms. I didn’t bring back up and I almost wished I had. By the time I left the concert, my jeans had blood on them. It wasn’t a lot, it was as if my jeans were rubbing the underwear wrong and a little red ended up on the jeans at the seam in the crotch. It wasn’t as if blood was leaking out, like it would for pads (or tampons, I imagine). It was as if the materials were rubbing against each other and some was seeping through. The blood washed out easily in the washing machine.
Here’s the thing that kind of intrigues me. I was bleeding more heavily than usual (happens about 2-3 times a year). This was not a light day. This was a full on bleed day. Usually, I have one of these a month, not three. I had three heavy days this month, and I didn’t know that would happen, and it happened to be when I was trying out a new method. Mother fucker.
Ok, rant aside, here’s the intriguing part: It felt like the underwear was full, and despite sitting in public transportation and my car for a good 2 hours to get home at the end of the night, they didn’t leak the way I thought they would. Yes, there was blood on my jeans at the crotch, but nowhere else. I seriously expected to have a bloody mess on my hands. It wasn’t as bad as that. I thought that the mess would seep out from all areas and it didn’t. Not thrilled that my jeans had blood on them, but no one could see it but me. I was disappointed, but not disappointed enough to stop using Thinx.
When I arrived home, I showered, and rinsed the underwear. It had as much red as the previous two days. I also didn’t have any other underwear to use, as the ones in my drawer were the Cheeky and I knew I was going to continue bleeding a bit. I wore a pad to bed that night, which annoyed me to no end. It wasn’t as comfortable. It did the job, but I hate using them.
Night Five: Pad, as no underwear were dry enough to use. No leaks, but felt rather uncomfortable when I got up in the morning. Usual chaffing. Grrrrr.
Day Six: In the morning, I went back to Thinx, but I wasn’t sure how that would go. They take a long time to dry and I still only had the cheeky. I wore one in the morning and switched to a second pair in the afternoon before heading over to a friend’s place. Since I was going to a friend’s place, I didn’t feel secure not changing. Both pair did the work they were supposed to. No leaks, no worries. My period slowed down and everything seemed under control.
Night Six: Wore Hip Huggers, not because I thought I needed them, but because I really appreciate the full coverage for nights. No worries there and not much blood when I rinsed them this morning.
Day Seven: Wearing the Sport. Not bleeding much. Seems to mostly be mucus. No leaks, no red when rinsing. Not as much excitement as the past three days, thankfully.
Night Seven: Wore Hip Huggers to bed, mostly for peace of mind. There was no red when I rinsed.
Day Eight: Yep, I have long periods. I wore Sport again. At this point, it’s bloody mucus, no actual bleeding. Things are ending. This is where I call my period for the month done, I think. All in all, though I did have some spotting, I really liked Thinx. They are far more comfortable than pads, and don’t make me feel like I’m wearing a diaper. I’m going to continue with Thinx for my next month and see how that goes. To be fair to the product, I’ll add a note or two after next month’s period to see if there are any other issues with spotting. I am not regular and therefore, don’t always know what my flow is going to do.
If you decide to get some Thinx, it’s probably best to start out with one or two pair to see if they work for you. If you have questions, feel free to ask. If it’s not too personal, I’ll probably answer.
If you feel like trying them out, and want $10 off (and feel like giving me $10 off more, here is a referral link.
