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By Megan Baynes, cost of living specialist
Period pants are often touted as a cheaper alternative to their disposable counterparts – but is this actually the case?
Well, a lot of it depends on how long your period lasts, how frequently you have one and which period products you use.
When it comes to period pants, buying in bulk is often the cheapest way to do it. M&S, who are part of a campaign to remove the VAT from the pants, currently sell a five-pack for £35, which means a single pair of pants sets you back £7.
These are at the lower end of the scale too – a five-pack from ModiBodi, who was one of the first companies to sell period pants, will cost you upwards of £56.
For an average period, you would probably expect to use two to three pairs in a 24-hour period (depending on the absorbency – Wuka’s medium absorbency pants are said to hold up to three tampons worth).
This means to get through an average seven-day period (and worth noting that no woman experiences an “average period”) and without wanting to be doing excessive amounts of washing, you would probably want around to buy two multipacks (so ten pairs of pants) with an initial outlay of £70.
A survey done before the pandemic – and crucially before inflation hit record highs – found women spend at least £10 a month on disposable products. That figure is likely to be significantly higher now and means women are spending more than £120 a year on period products.
And yes, some people on Twitter may point out you can get a box of basic tampons or pads for a pound from a lot of discount retailers. But anyone who has used the cheaper products knows that you get what you pay for, and there is a level of discomfort (and leaking) that comes with the basics range.
So this means, if you can afford the initial outlay, period products could be a cheaper and easier alternative to disposable products – and that is without taking into account the environmental benefits, with less plastic being sent to landfill.
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