Why Are Period Panties Becoming Popular With Menstrual Care Brands?
Period panties are gaining attention because they combine menstrual protection with reusable underwear, giving brands a product that can be worn repeatedly instead of discarded after each use. In a 2022 Spanish study of 22,823 participants, 8.7% reported using menstrual panties, while 54.9% used at least one reusable menstrual product. A 2022 UK study estimated 3.3 billion disposable menstrual products were used each year by about 15 million menstruating people, generating 28,114 tonnes of waste. These figures help explain why brands are expanding beyond pads and tampons. Period underwear also creates room for product differences in absorbency, fit, fabric, gusset design, wash durability, and garment style, while the same textile platform can extend into products such as period swimwear.
The product format works because the absorbent system is built into the garment rather than added as a separate item. A typical pair uses multiple layers: an inner surface for moisture movement, an absorbent layer for fluid retention, and a leak-resistant layer facing the outside fabric. Some designs extend the protected area toward the back for overnight use, while others keep the gusset shorter and thinner for light-flow days.
That construction gives manufacturers several variables to adjust. A product intended for heavier flow may use a thicker absorbent zone, a larger protected area, or a combination of materials with different absorption rates. A thinner daytime style may place more emphasis on flexibility and lower bulk.
Product performance depends on how the layers work together after movement and repeated washing, not only on how much liquid the material can hold in a new-product test.
Fit becomes part of that engineering work because protection is affected by garment placement. A gusset that sits too far away from the body can allow leakage around the edges, while excessive compression can affect comfort. In the 2021 Korea Nurses’ Health Study, 7,704 women reported using disposable pads, and convenience of changing was the most frequently selected reason for use at 84.8%. Comfort ranked much lower for disposable pads at 7.8%, while 47.0% of tampon users and 72.1% of menstrual-cup users selected comfort.
This pattern helps explain why underwear-based menstrual care can appeal to brands developing products around wear experience rather than only absorbency. The garment sits against the body for hours, so waistband tension, leg openings, seam position, fabric softness, heat retention, and moisture handling can all affect whether consumers continue wearing it.
Repeated use also changes how shoppers compare price. A disposable product is usually evaluated by package size and the number of individual units, while reusable underwear is evaluated over multiple wearing cycles. A 2021 systematic review covering 44 studies and about 14,800 participants found that reusable menstrual pads had an estimated mean lifetime of 4.3 years across the brands assessed, although the evidence quality varied and the result applies to reusable pads rather than period underwear specifically.
For brands, the longer-use model creates room for premium features that are harder to communicate in a conventional disposable category. A pair can be differentiated by:
| Product area | Examples of specifications |
|---|---|
| Absorbency | light, moderate, overnight, higher-flow designs |
| Garment shape | brief, bikini, high-rise, boyshort |
| Textile | cotton blends, microfiber constructions, stretch knits |
| Gusset | wider coverage, extended rear coverage, thinner profile |
| Care | machine-wash guidance, air-drying requirements |
| Fit | broader size ranges, different rise and leg openings |
The environmental argument is another reason brands are developing reusable formats, but published studies show that the comparison depends on the full product life cycle. A 2022 UK assessment estimated that replacing disposable menstrual management products with reusable options could reduce annual waste by 22,907 tonnes and greenhouse-gas emissions by about 7,900 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent under its modeled scenario. The same study estimated 28,114 tonnes of menstrual-product waste per year, with about 4% lost through flushing.
Those numbers do not make every reusable product environmentally preferable in every situation. Washing frequency, water use, detergent, drying method, garment lifespan, and fabric composition all affect the result. A 2025 review of menstrual products also noted that reusable products require access to clean water, soap, and a private place to dry them.
The material question has also become more important. Consumers increasingly ask what touches the skin, what creates the leak-resistant layer, and whether special finishes or treatments are present. A 2025 study that analyzed multiple menstrual-product categories reported that menstrual underwear and reusable pads had much lower estimated annual environmental release of plastic additives than several single-use categories in its modeled Spanish scenario, although the authors also noted that washing can move some substances into wastewater.
That gives brands a more detailed product-development brief. Instead of stating that a garment is simply “eco-friendly,” manufacturers can document fabric content, washing instructions, product lifespan, absorbency testing, and material selection. Clear specifications also help retailers explain why two products with similar external appearance can perform differently.
Consumer research supports the idea that reusable menstrual care is no longer limited to a very small niche. In the 2022 Spanish survey of 22,823 people, 69.7% reported using non-reusable menstrual products and 54.9% reported using reusable products. Menstrual panties were reported by 8.7%, compared with 60.6% for disposable pads, 49.7% for panty liners, 48.4% for menstrual cups, and 42.6% for tampons. Because participants could use more than one product type, these figures should not be read as mutually exclusive market shares.
That overlap is commercially useful. One consumer can use period underwear at night, a tampon during exercise, and a pad on another day. Another may use period panties only as backup protection. Brands therefore do not need every product to replace an existing product completely.
The strongest commercial use cases often come from product combinations rather than a single-product routine.
The same pattern opens several segments for one brand portfolio. A basic brief can serve regular daytime use, a higher-coverage style can target overnight wear, and a performance-oriented garment can be designed for travel, exercise, or swimming. The company can then maintain one menstrual-care identity while serving different situations.
Digital retail makes this segmentation easier to explain. A product page can show gusset dimensions, absorbency categories, size charts, washing steps, fabric composition, and photographs of the interior construction. That level of information is useful because period underwear has more technical specifications than a standard underwear purchase.
Retail packaging can also become more detailed. A 2022 systematic review found that reusable menstrual-product research covered leakage, acceptability, safety, cost, and environmental considerations across 44 studies, but the authors rated much of the available evidence as low quality. Brands publishing their own testing methods can therefore provide information that is easier for buyers and retailers to compare.
Product testing needs to cover more than initial absorbency. Manufacturers can evaluate liquid uptake, strike-through, edge leakage, wash durability, fabric recovery, seam strength, membrane performance, and drying time. Testing across repeated wash cycles is especially relevant because the garment is designed for reuse.
Suppose a manufacturer evaluates 30 samples and subjects them to 50 wash cycles. The resulting data can show whether absorbency remains stable, whether the elastic loses recovery, and whether the leak-resistant layer changes after laundering. The exact number of cycles and sample size will vary by manufacturer, but documenting the method is more useful than giving a broad claim such as “long-lasting.”
The washing requirement also shapes customer experience. Disposable pads and tampons leave the consumer with a finished product after use, while period underwear needs rinsing or laundering, drying, storage, and rotation. This is why brands often sell multi-pair sets rather than one garment.
A simple rotation model illustrates the difference. With 4 pairs and a 4-day period, a consumer may need one pair each day while another pair is being washed or dried. With 8 pairs, the same user has more flexibility. The commercial opportunity therefore extends from single-item purchases to bundles containing 3, 5, 7, or more garments.
Manufacturing consistency matters as the category expands. A small change in absorbent-layer thickness can alter capacity and drying time; a different membrane can change breathability; a revised waistband can change how securely the gusset sits. Product specifications therefore need tighter control than the appearance of the finished underwear might suggest.
The market also brings regulatory and consumer-safety questions. Menstrual products are used on or near sensitive skin, and period underwear may be worn for several hours at a time. Brands selling in the United States, the United Kingdom, or the European Union need to account for the applicable product, textile, labeling, chemical, and consumer-protection requirements in each market rather than treating all regions as having identical rules.
Material documentation becomes especially useful when retailers ask about fibers, dyes, elastics, coatings, or water-resistant layers. A manufacturer with organized test reports, material declarations, lot information, and care instructions can respond more consistently than a supplier relying only on a marketing description.
The category also connects naturally with adjacent apparel segments. Once a company has developed moisture-control fabrics, waterproof layers, absorbent inserts, and sizing systems for menstrual underwear, related designs can be adapted for swimwear, activewear, leak-protection garments, and other products where fluid management matters.
That product-family approach is one reason menstrual-care brands continue to pay attention to period panties. In 2019, a comparative life-cycle assessment found disposable tampons and sanitary pads had greater environmental impacts across the assessed categories than reusable menstrual cups, while a separate 2022 assessment placed menstrual underwear among the lower-impact options evaluated in its modeled scenarios.
For manufacturers, the opportunity rests on combining apparel design with measurable menstrual-care performance. For consumers, the product needs to answer practical questions with specific information: how much it is designed to absorb, how long it can be worn under the stated conditions, how it should be washed, how it performs after repeated laundering, and which garment shape fits a particular routine.
As the category develops, brands that publish measurable specifications, test repeated-use performance, explain materials clearly, and offer several garment formats can address more of the reasons consumers already choose reusable menstrual products. The 22,823-person Spanish study from 2022 shows that reusable and disposable products are already being used side by side, giving period underwear room to function as a primary product, a backup product, or one part of a wider menstrual-care range.