Reusable period products: Expert explains hygiene, safety, and what you should know before switching

Explore the shift towards reusable period products and learn about their hygiene, safety, and benefits for your body and the environment.

Most women cannot name a single ingredient in the pad they used this month. That is not their fault. Period products in India aren't required to disclose ingredients. Not one. Unlike the food you eat or the moisturizer you apply, the product sitting against your skin for hours a day, every month, for thirty years has no required label.

That changes when you start asking questions

What are some reusable menstrual hygiene items? (Adobe Stock)

By Tavishi Dogra

Tavishi Dogra is a Deputy Chief Content Producer, Health & Wellness, at Hindustan Times. She has over 9 years of experience writing about fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, translating medical research and expert insights into practical advice readers can trust.

Career journey and experience
Tavishi began her health journalism journey in 2017, and has since reported for RSTV, Financial Express, Jagran, HT Media Labs and Zee. She joined Hindustan Times to simplify wellness subjects by cutting through jargon.

From decoding health trends and interviewing doctors to testing fitness routines herself, Tavishi always approaches content with one filter: “Will this help someone make a better decision today?”

Subject expertise
With 9+ years tracking India’s health conversations, Tavishi knows the gap between clinical advice and daily life. She knows fads from fundamentals and curates science-backed, expert-recommended solutions.

In fitness, she breaks down bodyweight training, recovery, and posture fixes for desk-bound readers. In nutrition, she translates guidelines into affordable, desi meal tweaks. In mental well-being, she focuses on stigma-free, actionable tools — all backed by research, expert input, and lived context.

Education and professional background
Tavishi holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and began her career reporting on public affairs for broadcast. Those early years in policy and TV shaped how she writes today: fast, factual, and human-first.

Editorial Philosophy
I write with one single goal: To simplify health in a world full of noise by finding what’s actually doable, safe, and evidence-based for my readers. I test claims against research and user experiences. When all else fails, I speak to the expert who sees 50 patients a day, not the one with the most followers.

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Here is what the research shows. Most conventional sanitary pads contain up to 90% plastic. Synthetic fibers. Chemical coatings. Added fragrances. All of it is in contact with some of the most absorbent tissue on the body. “The rashes, the irritation, the recurring infections that millions of women have accepted as just part of having periods. For many, these are reactions to materials, not to menstruation itself. The problem was never periods. It was what we were using,” Certified Functional Nutritionist Sujata Pawar, Founder of Avni Wellness, tells Health Shots.

We're now seeing a global shift

Scotland made period products free for every citizen. France and Germany have made sustainable options tax-exempt. In Australia, they stock them next to regular groceries. This is not a niche wellness movement. It is a mainstream public health reckoning, one that centers on a simple idea: women deserve to know what they are using. India is arriving at the same conclusion.

Quietly, quickly, and on the consumer's terms:

1. The options are wider than most people think: Cloth pads, Period panties, Menstrual cups, Menstrual discs, four categories, four very different experiences. Cloth pads are layered, absorbent fabric with no plastic, no synthetics, washable and reusable for years. Period panties look and feel like regular underwear, with a built-in absorbent lining built in, making them the easiest switch for most women. Menstrual cups are medical-grade silicone worn internally to collect flow, not absorb it. One cup lasts a decade. Menstrual discs sit higher near the cervix, which many prefer for exercise and longer wear. No single product works for every woman. The point is having a real choice.
2. Now comes the hygiene question: Cold rinse, thorough wash. Dry fully in sunlight. Sunlight is a natural disinfectant, and skipping this step is where problems begin. Done right, a reusable product is no less hygienic than any garment worn against the skin daily. Look for dermatological testing, natural fibers, and the absence of synthetic dyes or chemical treatments. If a brand cannot tell you what is in its product, that is already an answer.
3. Start with one product at a time: Most women who make a partial switch end up making a fuller one, not out of environmental obligation but because their skin finally stops reacting. India discards twelve billion pads every year. Eight hundred years to decompose. Thirty years of ingredients nobody disclosed. The information was always the missing piece. Now you have it.

(Disclaimer: At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up to date with the latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority. They were provided to HT Shop Now by the brand for testing and evaluation. Our opinions remain independent and based on our personal experience with the items. Please patch test the products before use.)