What did women do before pads?

Women in non-commercially developed parts of the world still use these methods, and reusable cloth pads are making a comeback with environmentally conscious women in the developed world. Disposable menstrual products were introduced to the developed world in 1888. read more

Before the disposable pad was invented, most women used rags, cotton, or sheep’s wool in their underwear to stem the flow of menstrual blood. Knitted pads, rabbit fur, even grass were all used by women to handle their periods. read more

So, women a hundred years ago had a homemade disposable before a commercial one was ever made both as a napkin and a tampon, 150 years ago a sheepskin method was being used that was probably learned from a mother and I find it hard to believe that women ever deliberately just bled into their valuable, scarce clothing when it is so easy to wad at least a rag between your legs. read more