How do period pants work?

Period pants look like and are worn just like regular underpants, with the important difference that they can absorb menstrual blood and lock it inside. They used to be thick and clumsy and feel like wearing diapers but with the development of better technology and textile research, nowadays they are slim, soft, and comfortable. They can be used as your only protection or together with a menstrual cup for extra safety. After use, they are washed, drip dried and ready to be used again. 
 
How long can you wear period pants and for how often do you need to change period pants? 
Period pants can be used all day or night, for 10-12 hours before changing. At times when the flow is very heavy, they might need changing more often. If you want to, you can also wear period pants together with a menstrual cup.  
 
After use, the period panties need to be washed, either by hand or in the machine. To protect the panties absorbency and leakage resistance, they should be drip dried and preferably be washed by hand or in the machine at low temperatures (30-40 °C). Avoid tumble drying, bleach or fabric softeners. Since blood contains lots of proteins, it is great if you use an enzyme (or protease) containing detergent since enzymes loves to eat proteins. If you follow the laundry instructions a high quality period panty last for at 50 washes. 
 
What about the smell? 
You might worry that you or others around you will be able to smell the blood. There is no need to worry! As long as you change the panties at least every 12th hour and wash them properly between uses, your menstrual blood will not have time to start smelling.  
 
So, what is the best period panty routine?  
To start with, we recommend that you have at least 3 menstruation panties, one to use, one to wash and one on the drying rack. However, if you do not want to be bothered with doing laundry every day, you will need more pairs to cover your whole period. If you plan to wait more than two days to do the laundry, we recommend that you rinse out the blood in cold water the same day as you take off the panty and then store them in a breathable bag, for instance a laundry net, until it is time to do the laundry. This net is also good for protecting the panties during laundry. For long days outside of your home, it might be good to bring a change of a spare pair of clean panties in a wetbag or ziplock bag, that then can be used to store the used pantie until you get home again. 
 
A warning! Avoid menstrual panties that claim to have an “anti foul odour” or “antimicrobial” effect. These panties are likely to contain silver or copper ions. The purpose, of these chemicals, according to manufacturers, is to decrease the growth of “harmful” or odor-producing bacteria. Unfortunately, these metal ions will either end up being rinsed out to pollute our waters and water living creatures or be in contact with your skin, to destroy your natural vaginal flora of good bacteria (the metal ions cannot tell the good from the bad).  
 
 
How do period pants work?  
The Flow Undies period pants, has a four-layer technology to absorb the blood and keep you safe, see picture below. Of course, they do not contain any antimicrobial chemicals such as metal ions.

• The 1st  layer is a wicking layer that absorbs the menstrual blood in to the panty to keep you dry. It is made of organic GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified cotton. 
• The 2nd layer is an absorbent layer that holds the fluid inside. It is made of microfibre of Oeko-Tex quality 
• The 3rd layer is a breathable, moisture proof layer that prevent the blood from leaking, It is made from breathable polyurethane 
• The 4th layer is the outside layer of the panty and is made of organic cotton