This one's for the ladies

[Gnisy]

I have been wondering for quite a bit about this particular thing. The question is also based on a just-wanna-know basis. How did women in the past deal with their monthly meeting with the red without sanitary napkins and tampons?

[Drusilla]

Hi Gnisy, this might help though other writers argue that women, particularly poor women bled into their clothing, or even 'trailed' blood, which I find highly unlikely.

http://www.geocities.com/womansoldier/monthlycycle.htm

[jno]

remember that it was very rare. Women started later and finished earlier, and in the middle ages would have spent half their lives pregnant. So it might not have happened more than 20 or 30 times in a woman's entire life.

[honkytonkgal]

They used rags and boiled them in hot soapy water.

[Rubberduckie]

Honkytonkgal's right; I can remember my mum telling me about rags and what a pain it was to launder them.

[Gnisy]

My grandmother told me they used wires that they have to tie around the hip and thigh areas.. or something like that. The padding would be placed on the wire. Sometimes the wire cuts into the thighs if the women wearing them walk around too much. Ya, I know. Ouch! A friend of mine said that women in the past just place rags all around and sit there for a few days till they stop menstruating.

jno has a rather interesting concept to explain why it wouldn't be necessary to invent proper sanitary napkins back then. thanks, i never thought of that =)

Anyways, drusilla.. the most shocking thing about the page u sent me was that someone actually did a PhD thesis on menstruation technology in the 19th century. I mean... excuse me??

[david small]

They used rags, and washed them. Where I was from it was known as being on the rag.