This post is part of our Artisan Profiles series, promoting authentic artisans and their products. Artisans: get your store featured by joining our free Buy Handmade campaign. Read the others here.
We feature an artisan team that honors menstruators with their handmade cloth menstrual pads. Welcome to Artisans Cooperative, Cozy Folk!
Each human who ever lived came into existence through the monthly cycles of someone with a womb. Even so, throughout history, that part of the cycle where the female body discharges its rich uterine lining has been cloaked in superstition and shame. Today, shame about having one’s period, or the embarrassment of bleeding through to our clothing continues to cause people with periods considerable anxiety.
Cozy Folk, an Artisans Cooperative member, makes washable pads for menstruation, and some forms of incontinence, that normalize our natural cycles, while supporting a healthier connection to our bodies in a destigmatizing way.
While washable pads are more costly upfront than disposable hygiene products, they are a money-saving investment and will last for years. And the owners of Cozy Folk are aware that upfront costs can be limiting factors for people on fixed or low income. That’s why they offer a sliding scale option in their Artisans Coop shop, and locally.
In 2018, Alana and Helen bought the business from its founder, Jenn, and made a new shop on Etsy. They joined the Artisans Cooperative movement in fall of 2023. They believe that everyone with periods, including gender-non-conforming people, should have access to products that are best for their health and comfort. Alana and Helen both worked in farming and were drawn to a less “girly” aesthetic for their products that appeals to and honors a broad spectrum of customers.
Many customers have mentioned experiencing less pain and discomfort during their periods when using cloth pads, a phenomenon Alana relates to “allowing our bodies to surrender, not resisting or feeling negative towards ourselves for being humans with wombs, giving ourselves time to slow down and allowing an increased connection to the changes in our body during our period.”
Cozy Folk cloth pads, with a soft, leak-resistant, breathable Windpro Fleece backing are not irritating like disposable pads often are. They employ snapped wings to stay in place, rather than adhesives that can also cause irritation. Their cloth pads offer more flexibility than period underwear because they can be easily switched out whenever and match changing flows, temperatures or “crotch climate” needs and comfort. The pads come in 3 absorbency levels and 5 lengths, plus thong liners.
Cozy Folk recommends soaking used pads in cold water (no bleach, but vinegar is fine), rinsing, and then tossing them in with your regular wash. Heavy pads, due to the high level of absorbency, can take longer to dry than regular clothes and should be dried additionally or hung up afterwards.
Not to be overlooked is the gratification you’ll experience knowing that your purchase is supporting a local artisan business that is committed to sustainability. They even collect their fabric cutoffs to use for pillow stuffing – part of their expanded product line of things that help folks have more comfort, fun and self-connection during their periods and in their bodies, movements and days in general.
Shop handmade cloth pads, liners, and accessories for crotch comfort on the Artisans Cooperative marketplace: Cozy Folk >>>
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