The Sustainable Way to Deal with Bladder Leaks

Last Updated on September 2, 2019 by lydiaf1963

My son was born 27 years ago. My bladder hasn’t been the same since. What used to be reliably dry became vulnerable to bladder leaks when sneezing, laughing and sometimes picking something up. It hasn’t improved over time, either. It’s called urinary stress incontinence or light bladder leakage and in my case I need to wear a panty liner every day. On days when I forget to put one on, I am almost guaranteed to have a sneezing fit.

Disposable panty liners aren’t terribly expensive but they do require throwing away after each use which just adds more plastics to the waste stream. Another problem I’ve experienced is I’m not a fan of some of the products available to me in Spain. Some of them can be very irritating to wear, which defeats the purpose. And, depending on the brand, absorbance level and your bladder you might need to change more than once a day. It adds up after a while.

That’s where reusable panty liners come into play. Besides being sustainable they:

• are made with cute fabrics and have an absorbent core
• fasten with snaps
• are lightweight, comfortable to wear and easy to carry
• may come with a wet bag, depending on the brand
• will last several years

To clean them, just toss them in the laundry with your other clothes and wash on the cool cycle. If it’s been a particularly active day, you can rinse them in the sink and wring them out before adding to the hamper. They dry very quickly, too, which makes them great for travelling.

There are some drawbacks, however. These aren’t menstrual pads (although they’d make a good back up for a tampon or cup). In addition:

• if you wear boy briefs or similar to prevent chafing the wing style fasteners won’t work
• the lightest weight pads will probably fail in the event of a prolonged coughing or laughing fit
• the upfront cost can be high unless you find a sale

I bought my reusable panty liners from Topsy Daisy. They advertised on Facebook and I took advantage of a BOGO sale. In addition to panty liners they also make menstrual pads in different shapes and absorbances. The core is made from a bamboo cotton terry and the outside is made from PUL; a laminate, water resistant fabric.

Topsy Daisy claims their pads will last up to five years. Don’t let the purchase price put you off. They are constantly running sales so it’s worth signing up for their email list and following their facebook page.

I’ve been using mine since the spring and I have found them to be very comfortable. They stay in place and wick any light bladder leaks away. As mentioned, if you have trouble retaining urine when you laugh and/or cough, you might want to check out the other options on the website.

Etsy also has several sellers making reusable pads.

These come in different lengths.

Amazon also sells a variety of reusable panty liners. These are currently being sold at the same price point I bought mine.

If you sew, you might be interested in making your own. You could purchase a pattern, like this one.

Or you might opt to try your skills at a free pattern like this. There are links to other resources in that post, as well.

It makes sense team up with friends and family to invest in the fabrics and materials you’ll need. There are many different styles to try and lots of fun, vibrant fabrics to choose from.

I have 10 panty liners and that has been more than enough for me. (I’m not entirely sure I’ve used all of them yet.) They’re easy to throw into the wash with other clothes and when travelling I hand washed and they dried quickly.

If you’ve been thinking about trying reusable panty liners to help cope with minor bladder leaks let me encourage you to give them a try. I am very happy with mine!