Actually, I thought it was gross at first. Then I thought about it some more, and still thought it was gross, but made good sense environmentally (and financially). Then I saw some cloth pads in the grocery store and decided to buy one just to see what it was made of. I took it apart and did some more research on the internet. I saw that some women said that they had problems with irritation and allergies to the commercial throw-away products, but they don't with the cloth ones. Also, I had cancelled my garbage service and the only pick-up I retained was recycling. (So I need to minimize my non-recyclable, non-compostable household trash because that has to be stored up until I have enough to take to the garbage facility--Bathroom trash is really not something to store up for any length of time.) Well, I decided I'd give it a try.
Using a pattern based somewhat on what Mom of Six provided and partially on the store-bought cloth pad, I sewed together some cotton flannel and some terry cloth and made a set of 7 pads. I gave them a try when I didn't need to be leaving the house much. I was pleasantly surprised. They were far more comfortable than the throw aways because I didn't get the usual irritation. I didn't have any problems with leaking. I tried some different versions of cloth pad patterns since and have come up with a design that seems to work well. The clean-up wasn't near as bad as I'd imagined it would be. However, I haven't quite figured out the best arrangement for efficiently cleaning them without running a separate load, but I generally manage to time my use for those when I need to do a load of laundry anyway.
Pros:
*Cheap
*Reuseable
*Soft, comfortable
*Handcrafted (although I can't really share my pride and pictures without embarassment)
*Environmentally friendly
* no bathroom trash
* saves trips to store to buy pads
Cons:
* not so easy to do when traveling long-distance or away from home for more than a day
* can't talk about it with friends because they'll think I'm nuts or gross or both
* cleanup is a little more logistically challenging than throw-aways, of course