Best Reusable Pads and Period Underwear in 2026
Our original guide reviewed nineteen cloth pads. Since then the reusable-period world has been turned upside down: period underwear went mainstream, the market leader got caught with forever chemicals in its fabric, and the company that invented the cloth-pad category changed its name. This 2026 rewrite covers both cloth pads and period underwear — and only brands whose fabric has independently tested clean.
The PFAS Problem You Need to Know About
In 2023, Thinx — the brand that made period underwear famous — settled a class action for up to $5 million over allegations that its “non-toxic” underwear contained PFAS (“forever chemicals”), without admitting wrongdoing. Independent lab testing organized by watchdog Mamavation found fluorine (a PFAS indicator) at hundreds of parts per million in some Thinx and Knix items — while brands like Aisle, Saalt, Bambody and The Period Company tested clean (non-detect). That test list is the backbone of our picks below: every recommendation here comes from the non-detect tier.
Cloth Pads or Period Underwear?
Underwear wins on convenience — nothing to position, nothing to shift, absorbency now rated in tampon-equivalents (heavy models hold 4-9 regular tampons’ worth). Cloth pads win on price-per-year, adjustability (snap-in inserts), and lifespan. Many people run both: underwear for regular days, a night pad as backup for heavy ones. Care rules are identical: cold rinse first, machine wash cold, no bleach, no fabric softener (it coats fibers and kills absorbency), line dry or tumble low.
The Best Reusable Pads and Period Underwear in 2026
1. GladRags Day Pad – Best Cloth Pad Overall
Handmade in Portland, Oregon from 100% cotton, and still the smartest design in cloth pads: a holder plus two snap-in inserts, so one insert is a light day and two make a full maxi. About $18, with a 5-year guarantee — and GladRags estimates one Day Pad replaces around 240 disposables. The Night Pad (~$24-27) adds a 14-inch flared shape for heavy days and postpartum.
2. Aisle Maxi Pad – Best for Heavy Flow (from the Category’s Inventor)
If the name is unfamiliar, the company isn’t: Aisle is Lunapads, the Canadian B Corp that pioneered cloth pads back in 1993, renamed in 2020. The Maxi (2-pack from about $35 on sale, ~$44 regular) layers a wicking cotton top over a super-absorbent core with edge-to-edge leakproofing — the pad we’d trust overnight. Third-party PFAS-tested, OEKO-TEX certified.
3. Charlie Banana Feminine Pads – Best Budget Cloth Pads
The value entry: 3-packs from about $15 (roughly $5 a pad) in Regular and Super lengths, with a zippered carry pouch included — which quietly solves the “what do I do with it at work” question. A well-established cloth-diaper brand, sold through Amazon and Walmart, and the cheapest respectable way to test whether cloth pads suit you at all.
4. Saalt Leakproof Cotton Brief – Best Period Underwear Overall
A 95% cotton brief with Saalt’s absorbent gusset ($29; the wider line runs $15-49 across thongs, hipsters and sleep shorts), in Light through Super absorbency tiers, backed by a 90-day guarantee. Worth singling out for its PFAS story: after a 2021 test found a trace fluorine result, Saalt reformulated — the 2023 retest came back non-detect. That’s the response you want from a brand you’re wearing all day.
5. Bambody Absorbent Hipster – Best Budget Period Underwear
The Amazon giant of the category: silky bamboo-rayon underwear from about $8-15 a pair, heavy-flow versions rated around 4 tampons’ worth, OEKO-TEX certified, in sizes XS-6XL — one of the widest ranges anywhere. Buy three pairs for the price of one premium brand and rotate. Tested non-detect for PFAS in Mamavation’s lab round, which is not something every Amazon bestseller can say.
6. Aisle BOOST Boxer – Best Overnight and Heaviest Days
The maximum-security option: a boxer with thigh coverage that holds about 4 regular tampons’ worth alone — and roughly 8 with the removable BOOSTER insert snapped in (boxer ~$44-55, booster 2-pack ~$10). For heavy sleepers, postpartum, or anyone who has ever ruined sheets, this is the piece that ends the 3 a.m. checks. Budget alternative worth knowing: The Period Company’s High Waisted at about $14.
What Happened to Our Old Picks
Lunapads became Aisle. GladRags carries on unchanged. Hesta’s store has gone dark, and most of the 2016 Etsy-tier brands have vanished. Thinx survives under Kimberly-Clark ownership but shed most of its staff in 2024 — and given its lab results above, it’s no longer on our list. The nineteen-pad roundup era is over; six clean-tested picks is what the 2026 market honestly supports.
Conclusion
Cloth pads: GladRags to start, Aisle Maxi for heavy flow, Charlie Banana on a budget. Underwear: Saalt overall, Bambody for value, Aisle BOOST for overnight. Prefer internal options? See our updated guides to the best menstrual cups and discs and best tampons.
