I'm an older lady and have been using these for light bladder control. In fairness, the title does refer to them as menstrual pads, but if you're wondering how they do for minor bladder leaking, here's my experience. I purchased two different styles; one style longer, with one entire side covered in absorbent liner; and the other style shorter, with just a strip of absorbent liner down the middle. For my purposes, the first style worked better than the second. Here's why (warning: TMI ahead):
"¢ The snapped portion tends to slide toward the narrowest section of the underwear; typically centered between front and back. When that happened, the longer pad was able to reach the area that needed protection. The shorter ones constantly need to be tugged back into place throughout the day.
"¢ The style with the narrow strip of liner placed the edges of non-absorbent backing along the leg crease. For me, this non-breathable fabric against the skin means a constant battle with yeast, because that skin never really dries out. The fully lined style did not produce that result; my skin stays dry. No yeast problems.

As for comparing them to disposable bladder panti-liners, here are some pros and cons:
PROS
"¢ Reusable/affordable.
"¢ Very soft.
"¢ Able to handle minor leaks with no problem.
CONS
"¢ They do not have any of the odor control that disposable liners have built in. For me, it's fine for around the house, but I still keep disposables on hand for use when I'm out and about.
"¢ I'm leery of putting the non-absorbent fabric in the dryer. I suspect the heat will shorten their usable life. If line drying, you will need to purchase enough to have on hand to use while others are being laundered/dried. (Not a huge problem in my opinion, but just something to consider.)

Bottom line: I like and use them around the house, which means I don't need to buy disposables anywhere near as often.

These are super absorbent and wash nicely. Just ensure you soak them and wash in cold water. Come with a dirty wet bag.

This review has to get a little detailed, but I'm attempt to make it as delicate as I'm able.

I've always been a person with a heavy flow and somehow, despite not being very active, prone to having leaks even with longer and winged products. But I have wanted to be kinder to the environment and have access to a washing machine in house, so I gave these a try.

The first time I used one I was at home all day in more casual clothes in case of any leakage"¦and there was. Unfortunately, this continued throughout my use of the product due to what I personally consider a design flaw, although I'm not sure how one could fix it or if it is user error on my part.

It's the wings. If I had anything leak onto the wings, due to gravity and being made of the same material, it would soak right down to the snaps and leave marks on everything in its wake. This is due to the wings being a seamless and absorbent part of the pad, unlike most winged products on the market.

On the plus side, they cleaned well and I felt they did hold a great deal.

In contrast, the issue I stated before is a problem and they are unfortunately bulky and feel a bit odd to wear.

I'm thankful I tried them, but I do feel they weren't for me.

A while ago I ordered on Ebay a set of 5 of these same shape 13" long pads in regular off-white bamboo cotton material and I have loved them best since. I am not sure they are from the same seller, though. The back end of this pad is very wide (wider than the front) and is great when sitting or laying down. The ones from this shipper are identical in style to my trusty old favorite,, just with charcoal bamboo top layer. The best part is they ARE actually thicker than my old favorites from Ebay, as there is a second/doubled micro-fiber layer in between the bamboo and the PUL backing in these new pads. I just stripped them; I am excited to use them end of this month. I ordered 2 sets of 5, so I got 2 wet bags as well. I was not expecting the seond little wet bag, I guess they have pre-packaged the sets of 5. Bonus! With the others I already have, I will just use these bags for other things (I have an old pretty gift box I store all the pads and such in on a shelf in my bathroom (easy access). I like to use the wet bags for holding toiletries when we travel..

OK some basic info for the newbies to cloth and reuseables:
STRIPPING: washing new cloth products (like pads or diapers) 2x in PLAIN HOT WATER to strip them of any chemicals or residues from the creation of the material and manufacture of the actual pad, then dry them and they are ready for use.. Vastly increases the absorbancy from the first use.
PUL : a type plastic backed synthetic material. Not 100% leak proof, there is a limit of liquid/moisture it can hold back.. But at that point you should know your pad has all it can take anyway!
GENERAL MAINTENANCE: As with all products with PUL backs, do NOT use fabric softener which decreases absorbancy of the materials (it coats the fibers and ruins your strip, you have to do it again) or laundry soap with brighteners - those blue flecks. The brightener destroys the PUL quickly. Brighteners are also why your iron-on style decals and lettering crack and peel off your tshirts so quickly - similar material which breaks down. There are more expensive options, but any free & clear detergent works. However, my favorites are Mrs. Meyers or Seventh Gen detergents because they still smell good (I like a scent! They use natural ones). I was a Tide girl, but within a month of using the seventh gen for my son's diapers and baby clothes, I switched to it for all our laundry.
STAINS and CLEANING: I live in Florida (hot and humid) so I NEVER soak them til laundry day. I rinse them out really well in the sink after use (or when I get home if that is not an option) and throw them in the laundry basket for regular wash day. Otherwise they WILL grow mold. I DO soak them for several hours in very warm or hot water in a bucket (or your utility sink if you have one) with a good oxy-cleaner (think Dollar general brand, 20 Mule Team by Borax or Arm & Hammer laundry booster - do NOT use OxyClean brand, they mix detergent and brighteners in with the cleaners and it is WAY more expensive than any of the other three!! Anything that just says sodium carbonate, sodium tetraborate, or sodium bicarbonate is fine). Then I dump the water and add them to my son's laundry. (He is still young, so he gets a lot of stains and a lot of decal tshirts, so I use no fabric softener in his load and always add one of the three mentioned laundry boosters to help get out those grass stains, food stains, etc and I tend to leave the lid on the washer open so it goes through the cycle up to the drain and rinse part, then restart the cycle and close the lid... just extra time with the boosters to soak the stains..
Sunlight and line or rack (like a wood dish drainer) drying is also good, cloth side up only, you wanna keep the PUL side from too much sun. The sun will also bleach out stubborn stained bits.

Ok, enough. Just hope it was helpful for some of you new to this or wondering why others rave and you can't seem to get them to work as well as the reviewers say. And again, these pads are AWESOME.

So, I want to preface this review by saying I have endometriosis, and my cycles are SEVERE. I'm typically bedridden for 8-10 days and change regular pads every 30-45 minutes. Financial responsibility? I give these 20 stars! They hold up wash after wash after wash, and they are so comfortable. I could never go back to regular pads. I have used these for over a year, and I love them, but this is the first time I have tried this particular brand. I purchased them because of the size, thinking it would help with my especially heavy days. The size is absolutely perfect. I do have others that are more absorbent, but again: I have SEVERE bleeding. I can go 2-3 hours in these, and they have been able to give me back at least a few hours of normalcy during that time. For reference, I can get 4-5 hours in some other brands in terms of absorbency, but the size wasn't the greatest. If you have a normal period, BUY THESE. If you have irregular, super heavy periods like me, BUY THEM. They wash super easy, and you'll get your system down for rinsing them. I keep a small thing of laundry soap and I hand wash them (and still wash them in the washer). I'm just OCD.

I have read a ton of reviews complaining about the patterns. I just have gotten lucky, because these are some of the prettiest pads I have received. The "wet bag" is a bit small and has a child's book pattern on it of a princess cartoon rabbit which I don't understand. I don't use that at all"”but the pads are great! I am a little fussy with the absorbency, but they are still awesome, and I save a ton of money. Maybe try a simple pantyliner underneath your first time if you have a heavier flow just to test it, but I'm going to order a few more in this size. Oh! And bonus? These have 2 snaps! They don't slide around or move in my underwear at all.