Yeast Infection and Cloth Pads - Myth vs. Reality

This video discusses the common candida yeast infection and addresses both the myths and legitimate concerns that surround yeast infection risk with cloth pad use.

[@MiauMichigan]

I suffer from cronic yeast infections and I turned to cloth pads and cups 8 months ago. I don't get itchy or sore anymore as I did with the plastic pads. I use hot water and peroxide to clean my cloth pads. I don't know why no doctor ever suggested turning to cloth pads. It certainty won't solve my problem but it's a great improvement.

[@itsagingersnap]

Same reason I switched!d it's amazing to not have to bleed for a week and then have a full blown yeast infection. lol.

[@greenbutterfly9398]

Doctors don't suggest a lot of things because they wanna make sure they stay in business by "treating", versus healing.

[@hellapainyo]

I've found cloth liners to be more comfortable for when I get razor burn down there, so I can imagine they'd be much more soothing when you have a yeast infection. Plus you don't throw out your panties when you have a yeast infection, you just wash them well! Same goes for your pads!

[@missyt3017]

I started using reusable sanitary pads because I found out I was allergic to throw away sanitary pads. I never knew that I could actually be allergic to the stuff they dip the pads in to make it more absorbent. I was told that a severe allergy to sanitary pads could cause a shortness of breath and even death and being an asthma sufferer I can tell you I've had a hell of a time especially seeing that I used the products everyday after the birth of my twins and suffering from the leaking mommy syndrome. It's been a couple of months since I started using reusable fabric sanitary pads and I could not be happier. There are changes in me which is amazing. I sleep better, I even go to the little girls room much less then I did before and what amazed me more then anything is that I can actually breath better now that I don't have the chemical laden pads against my skin.

[@bgp9634]

You are something else!! I've never enjoyed tutorials from ANYONE, like I enjoy yours.. especially your 'babbling'!!! Thanks for all you do.

[@kat0153050]

I switched to cloth pads about a year ago because I had alternating yeast and bacterial infections for about 6 months in a row after I made the switch they never came back!!

[@Jrhen323]

I hadn't even though of yeast infections! I'm considering the switch to cloth especially since I have 2 girls that are going to be going through this some day and the more I read about the gross plastic pads and tampons the less I want to put that on my body and especially my children! Thank you for the good info!

[@itsagingersnap]

Chronic yeast infections from using disposables was what drove me to cloth and cups.

[@celested6181]

Thank you for making videos such as this one to help dispel some of the misconceptions out there.

[@EagleRue]

I wanted to say that i found your channel in 2015 ish, and I started making and using them. I am just now making my second batch of 12. Also, i used to have yeast infections about 3 times a year using throw away pads. I have not had a single yeast infection since! thank you!

[@zoefloreus7066]

Thank you for posting this! It's the one thing that is holding me back from cloth pads. Glad you tackled this myth.

[@MSG515]

Thank you for sharing. This has been very informative. I have ordered a few to try but I was worried about how I would keep them clean and fresh. Thanks again!

[@sofiaalmeida3770]

Had to pause it to lol @ "you don't need to cleanse it with fire"!! :D

[@aixabal]

Thank you for the information. I've had a yeast infection due to antibiotics recently and going to soak my underwear in peroxide before the next wash. Thanks again! 😀

[@jennykovacic5022]

Awesomely informative, Amy!

[@SimonaShine]

This is my story: I've been suffering from Candida since I was 15(I am 30 now) and I have to say the truth,I didn't go over myself to make it go away,first because for years I thought they were normal,my mom knew about them but apparently she was ignorant about it. So when I got older,I wanted to know more and I found out it was an infection. A few years ago,I found a gynecologist that helped me get rid of it for the first time,the treatment was the right one. I've been through a whole month of clean underwear,no more irritation,no more itchiness,etc. My period arrives,with it's itchy pads,etc. As soon as it's over,the Candida is back!! I couldn't believe how fast it came back! I wondered what was in my blood that determined it to come back,what did I eat. I never,ever thought it was the pads,the chemicals that are in it,never! I just switched to cloth pads and I currently have an inflammation that I have to treat,I got the result after I had a Papanicolaou test and discovered I had ASC-US cells. They are undetermined nature cells and I need to get treatment to avoid other worse things. I am waiting for other results right now and going to repeat my PAP test again,hoping I don't have ... Anything else. Just the thought that pads can cause cancer and tumors and my results are altered,is killing me! :( I'll never go back to reusables again,the cloth ones are so soft and couldn't even feel them,so absorbant! I will wash them with hidrogen peroxide,as you said,thank you. I can't wash them with hot water because they have a PUL layer.

[@reneej6579]

Simona S. Amy Nux, is this correct? Does hot water affect the PUL layer?

[@reneej6579]

Oops. Typo, sorry, Amy Nix. I truly value your advice. Thanks

[@Merel-fb2uu]

@@reneej6579 Hi Renee, I don't think hot water will affect the PUL layer. It is a very sturdy fabric. I cloth diapered my kids and always washed the PUL diaper covers on hot with the diapers. They could be washed in near boiling water of 95 degrees Celcius! The temperature needed to kill the yeast is warm at 50 degrees Celcius, no where near boiling point. Never had a problem with them breaking or leaking. I live in Europe and used the 60 degrees Celcius setting to wash the diapers and covers, not the 90/95 degree boil wash setting. When I bought the diaper covers they did come with the advice not to dry them on hot in the dyer and a warning not to dry them directly on a central heating radiator or in direct sunlight. Warm/hot water should be fine. With any stubborn stains it is important to soak/pre treat in cold water so the stain doesn't set because of the sudden heat. So basically the order is soak/pre treat on cold, wash warm and line dry to make your pads last as long as possible. Having said that, I've seen lots of videos by peeps who throw their pads in the dryer and find the pads work fine. Hope this helps!

[@reneej6579]

Merel 1379 Thanks Amy. I made my 90 year old Mom incontinence pads and she is very happy to have them.

[@courtneyf664]

Thank you for making this video. I've been wondering about this.

[@DA-gb8vk]

I hope to rid myself from the yeast infection... now I just switched and I'm soo comfortable with em ... I don't get bothered with disposables anymore toward the end of my cycle

[@vic1vicious]

you said it's "not contagious like the flu" and I just wanted to clarify that yeast infections can still be transmitted person to person. for example if you have a yeast infection you're partner can then get the yeast infection in their throat after contact. just pointing out that yes it's still contagious but... sneezing isn't going to pass it on you'd have to touch it and then touch someone else's throat or vagina.

[@The3GMom]

+Vic Cartledge this is true, if you have a yeast infection your partner needs to be treated too otherwise you will just pass it back and forth.

[@amynix2632]

+Vic Cartledge Thanks for adding this. I had trouble figuring out how to word that part. Ha ha. I was so focused on making sure people weren't afraid of their underwear and pads after yeast infection that I forgot to talk about how it CAN transfer. Very important. Also...candida can live on surfaces for up to FOUR MONTHS according to a journal article I read. So. Care is important.

[@Gaarafan96]

My only concern about starting cloth pads was my heavy duty period but starting them I noticed I have shorter periods and lighter periods. I'm glad I switched. But then I got a yeast infection cause I'm prone to infections and I freaked out. I was like well shit, how am I going to clean my pads now. Thank you this video helped me out a lot and I'm not so freaked out by what to do.

[@HaciendaHomestead]

Walter and I are watching your video. Very informative. This is why the Oxy soak is so vital. In my water, I use Oxy and a capful of either Tea Tree or Hibi-Clens in the water for my initial soak.

[@jacquiline605]

+Hacienda Homestead Hibi-Clens?

[@wandwhomefragrance]

+Jacquiline Cardozo It's an antiseptic soap often used to cleanse the skin when you have an open wound or incision.

[@HaciendaHomestead]

+Jacquiline Cardozo it is also used as a surgical scrub and a dental rinse without the fragrance. It's a high level disinfectant. I was in dentistry and some nurses even use a few caps in their wash. I use it in my soaking water.

[@karinahilton2330]

Thank you for this video, very helpful info... I haven't had a yeast infection for a long time but I do get them every time I take antibiotics so its good to have this information for future reference

[@tnicole]

Hi Amy, Thank you for making such amazing videos! I am currently doing a project for a master's program seminar on the topic of reusables and would love to ask you a few questions about your participation in the RUMPs community. It would greatly appreciated because I feel as though the voices of the women in this community need to be heard. Thanks so much!

[@amynix2632]

+Tania Lemus That would be fine. I don't often check messages here on KZbin, but you can find me on Facebook, and I'd be happy to chat or set something up via email through that.

[@Sollarose_mb7x8]

I love your great videos ❤

[@trish9311]

Answered my question, how to sanitize cloth after a yeast.

[@clothyoriginal]

we call it thrush in both areas where I'm from.

[@suebob16]

I'm going to be trying cloth pads for the first time, and it will only be for incontinence purposes. I'm wondering if it will really be okay to wash the pads in hot water. I've read different responses to this -- some users saying that cold water is best or that warm is okay but not hot. I believe the pads I'm getting is made with the PUL fabric, and I don't want to ruin them with the wrong temperature.

[@donna57]

This was very informative

[@ToraOni]

Thank you for making this video!

[@InsatiableCuriosity-q9s]

I told my doctor that the thrush fairy visits me with antibiotics. He liked it and ran with it and now uses “thrush fairy” when chatting to his female patients, to broach the subject. I have always used hydrogen peroxide as a pre-soak. Used it with my children’s terry nappies in their nappy buckets 25 years ago, and just continued. I also add hydrogen peroxide in the washing machine cycle. My machine has a cycle for “stain removal” where it doses from a separate section (I think it was designed for bleach). I just add the powdered ecover laundry bleach (hydrogen peroxide) to the section and have at it. Btw. I’m in the uk and I never use any other product.

[@secretsiren6769]

Silly public, making women's body's a villain . I caint say for other women but since my switch ( I have been using a cup since 2005) my bacterial vaginosis has gone away. I started using cloth in 2015 and have not had any problems .

[@97AshleyRose]

jessica mullane awesome I really need to switch I’ve suffered from chronic infections

[@YvonneC695]

I'm concerned about the hot water melting the snaps on the pads. Has this ever happened?

[@Merel-fb2uu]

I've heard that can happen with the babyville brand (if I remember correctly). But the temperature needed to kill yeast is only 50 degrees Celcius, not very hot. I live in Europe and washing machines have standard settings for 30, 40, 60 and 90/95 degrees Celcius. These days not many peeps use the hottest setting because detergents are so good at removing stains now. The 60 setting would not hurt the snaps at all, and peeps who put pads in the dryer should make sure the setting is not on 'hot'.

[@faireneleong1305]

Can I use dettol solution instead of hydrogen peroxide?

[@DanielleWells]

Hi there! I've been watching your videos for a couple months now as I'm new to cloth and I really appreciate your videos! You seem so well informed about specific issues/topics! I know that you said you're not a doctor....are in the medical field at all or do you just research? I watched one of your videos about the dangers of disposable products....maybe it was just tampons. Anyway, you explained how they're so bad for you, what causes toxic shock syndrome, etc. Wonderful video! Im planning on sharing that video in my own community and with a few personal friends....in your research for that video (or medical knowledge if you're a professional), did you come across any other helpful videos similar to what you made? I want to have a variety of sources to offer those I come into contact with about disposable vs reusable pads/tampons. I figured I'd ask you first just in case you had these in your "back pocket". Thanks so much for your offering these videos, being so candid and real and for sharing your knowledge/research! Have a good day!

[@amynix2632]

+Danielle Wells (Snippets of Inspiration) I have no medical or science background whatsoever. I was a history major. So whenever I talk about things that border on scientific or medical advice, it is always based on something I've read. I try to read legitimate clinical study abstracts or reports/advice from recognized medical organizations or recognized scientific professionals when I give advice, but I am not an authority in any way, shape, or form. The only videos I've used in the past were from a scientist who does KZbin videos, and it was a discussion about furans in plastics. I do not recall her name, but she's here on KZbin somewhere. Basically, because I spent my entire education researching (history majors write an unbelievable number of research papers), it is my natural default to Google until I find something reputable and then read it. There is danger in this, of course, because there are so many people speaking with authority on the internet, myself included, who are not qualified professionals in the field being discussed. Basically, if the clinical study isn't from a dot-edu or a dot-gov, I always read it with very serious skepticism.

[@dc9385]

Amy Nix I have tons of problems with yeast and bacterial infections. I just started using cloth pads last month. I usually bleach my towels and underwear along with hot water. But I didn't want to use bleach on cloth pads. I have been using vinegar and hot water when washing all the new pads I receive and the ones I use. Do you think vinegar would be as good as hydrogen peroxide? I am worried about discoloration with hydrogen peroxide.

[@DanaPatriciaMary1]

It is a great video. I would just add that you do not necessarily need to apply hydrogen peroxide to sterilize pads, because it is a chemical substance. Personally, I recommend tea trea oil that you dillute in water, or vineygar that is even cheaper and natural and works as well.

[@LenaMcGill]

Very good video, Thank you! I'm very new to cloth pads , is hydrogen peroxide safe for the colours on the pads? and is vinegar in the wash cycle good at getting those thrush things killed? or is vinegar harsh on our skin?

[@amynix2632]

In most cases, yes, the H2O2 is safe for color fabrics. I have never had fading due to the peroxide. That said, it's not unheard of. I think it has to do with the dyes used, but most fabrics, you can apply H2O2 directly and leave it for several hours with no fading. Vinegar isn't harsh on the skin in my experience, and it is mildly disinfectant, but I personally don't trust it for disinfecting pads in a diluted wash that way. I prefer using hydrogen peroxide or hot water for disinfecting personal items. That said, I use a 50/50 vinegar solution to clean my kitchen counters, windows, and lots of other household surfaces. The problem with vinegar in the laundry is that you don't have anywhere near a 50/50 solution. I just don't trust it for laundry applications. A LOT of people do, so my recommendation is that you read some scientific studies on the subject and choose for yourself on that. We all have different thresholds for what we consider safe, and for many, MANY people, vinegar is a sufficient laundry additive. Hot water and H2O2 in much more reasonable concentrations is demonstrated to be much more effective, so that's what I use.

[@LenaMcGill]

+Amy Nix Thank you Amy, love your video's! hope you are settling into you new home ok x

[@maditodd4322]

I forgot about my pads in my Wet soak for a month! But guess what I used oxy clean, Foca and tea tree oil in the soak no nasty smells or stains. I also forgot my hesta white cotton pad for a month and soaked into peroxide no stains.

[@aproverbs31woman59]

Thanks for the info!

[@dsparker535]

would putting pads in dryer work as good as washing in hot. also I thought you should only use cold water on pads.

[@amynix2632]

You only use cold water for removing blood stains. One the stains have been soaked or scrubbed out, you wash the pads in regular laundry (unless you also washed them with detergent whilst soaking them...which is also fine). I don't know if a heated dryer would have the same effect as washing in hot water. The information I read specified a hot water wash. Again, this is where my lack of expertise in the science of microbiology limits my ability to advise people.

[@kintsugikronhjort2602]

I enjoyed your video ^^ Thank you for information. Btw: Can you help me with something? You see, I accidentally used fabric softener on one of my cloth pads today. Can I get away with that safely or is it ruined?

[@amynix2632]

It's not ruined at all. I've made that mistake many times without thinking. As long as it's not washed over and over again in fabric softener, it will be fine.

[@kintsugikronhjort2602]

Thank you ^^

[@heidigibbons1207]

Great info, thanks

[@dericasantoo604]

this video was very helpful

[@Errorrrrr274]

What happens if we put headpad on yeast

[@TitiAnita7]

Great video.

[@amber4305]

would this also be good for menstrual cups? using the hydrogen peroxide method? I feel like the heat would melt it

[@ximenaruizcollivadino3487]

I put my menstrual cup on a container with water and I make it boil for 5 minutes and it has never melted or anything. I've using a menstrual cup for 8 months now and I haven't got any yest infection so I guess that what I'm doing is okay. I have never used hydroen peroxide for the Menstrual cup.

[@easycsr5933]

does that stain the colors?

[@amynix2632]

Peroxide has never bleached or stained my color fabrics. I've spoken to some people who say that it did, but I've used in dry form (oxygen powders) and wet form from the brown 3% solution bottle, and I've never had fading or a bleaching effect.

[@easycsr5933]

Thanks. I will try to spot treat, but I may dilute it the liquid solution.

[@97AshleyRose]

Amy Nix so hydrogen proxied works will it mess up the absorbency over time I read somewhere where someone mentioned that it could mess with pads over time would I need to add the proxied in water or anything before pouring it on

[@Apairoffluffysocks]

Cleanse it with fire, LOVE IT. Amy, you are awesome. Great video.

[@lizylize9866]

🔥😂😂🙌🏾

[@destinygaydos9433]

I can't help but laugh at how American that sounded

[@4vrceltic]

Your Hilarious ☺️!