DIY Cloth Pad - Part 7 (Zorb)

 

 I sewn 2 cloth pads this morning.

One of them will be given to a colleague as farewell gift.   Not sure if she will take it alright but I thought this is the best gift I could give her.    I will attach a nice leaflet about reusable menstrual product plus instructions on how to use and wash.   Hope she won’t faint after opening the gift. 

How about you?  If you receive a cloth pad as a gift, how would you take it if you are not already a cloth pad user?

The top is suede cloth from US which a friend brought it back for me.    Inside, it is a layer of flannel & a layer of Zorb.  A layer of flannel is added between the top and Zorb so that I could sew channel in the middle without sewing through the Zorb.

Zorb is specially designed by Wazoodle for diapers making.  It is very absorbent and absorbs quickly.  It also dries quicker than other comparable material.  I washed the 2 pads this morning and they are almost dry now. (at 2pm).  It is very good if you want to make a heavy flow pad but do not want the thickness.  :)  Oh..  I must tell you how long it took for the items to arrive from Wazoodle, Canada.  More than 2 months by surface mail.  I thought they will never arrive...   If you would like to try out Zorb, I am happy to share some with you at cost plus postage from Canada & to you.

The bottom is a sandwiched PUL I bought from niceclothdiaper when they have 50% sale.  It is really a bit thick to be used as a hidden layer, so I just used it as bottom.

I read that suede cloth is good to wick away moisture.  When I did a test on the pad, it took 20ml water quickly and the top still feel dry when I touched it.  BTW, I read that a super-plus size Tampon takes up to 15 ml.  So 20 ml is really a lot...

Updated 4th Oct:  I think using both suede cloth & sandwiched PUL will make the user sweat, will have to try the suede cloth with micro-fleece or single PUL and see if it is less hot..  I like to have water proof for the pads I sew for new users as I don't want them to have leaking problems and have bad experience with cloth pads.  It is meant to encourage them to use cloth pad rather than driving them away..

What is Zorb?  Check out this link for more information.   Quoting a few key notes here:

Zorb contains only tangled cellulose fibers from bamboo/cotton/viscose and poly micro fiber, the same fibers found in virtually every AIO diaper on the market – nothing else. These non-allergenic fibers are non-allergenic, durable and easy to sanitize.  We manufacture Zorb in the USA and Canadian in modern facilities that are safe & friendly for workers and the environment.
 

For a head to head comparison on thickness, stacking Zorb on a desk against the common fabrics will show you something like this.  1 layer of Zorb is the same as:
•    3 layers of flannel
•    2.25 layers of French terry
•    1.3 layers of cotton fleece
•    1 layer of sherpa.
 

Now, to get the same absorbency, as 2 layer of Zorb, you will need:
•    8 layers of flannel
•    6 layers of French terry
•    5 layers of cotton fleece
•    4 layers of sherpa.

Feedback about Zorb by some cloth pads makers & users:

http://community.livejournal.com/cloth_pads/711850.html

I found a plastic version of traditional sew on snap, another possible fastening method:

If you are new to cloth pads, please read my other posting on Cloth Pads.