Best Organic and Non-Toxic Tampons and Pads

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Organic tampons and pads are quickly becoming the go-to choice for both eco-conscious and health-conscious buyers. What was once a niche market now has dozens of options for women, which has made these organic feminine products more affordable than they once were, but has also left shoppers unclear which are truly organic and non-toxic. And, it’s not just enough to be natural here. Women want to ensure they’re not sacrificing comfort or absorbency when they make the switch.

So we’ve ranked the best organic tampons and organic pads available to date based on both ingredients and reviews to help as you look for new alternatives in your feminine care.

Best Organic Tampons

Rael is our top pick for best organic tampon based on their comfort, performance, ingredients, and packaging. 

Rael’s organic tampons are made with certified organic cotton sourced from Texas and their cardboard applicator is biodegradable. Their cotton is OCS, USDA certified and non-GMO. Cotton is the only ingredient you’ll find used in the tampon itself. These non-toxic tampons are vegan and their packaging is recyclable. 

This product is made in South Korea and is founded by women.

They offer two sizes for absorbency – regular and super.

We love that women don’t feel they have to sacrifice absorbency to go with an organic cotton tampon, but from our own experience, we’ve found these to often be a better fit offering more comfort than even the leading tampons. 

Best Organic Pads

Flo Organic Bamboo Pads are our pick for best organic pads as we love that they are free of irritants and have such good absorbency while still offering a discreet fit. 

These organic feminine pads are made from 100% sustainable bamboo, certified by Oeko-Tex and Ecocert, and their wrappers are compostable (bonus points for being plant-based and plastic-free). Their organic pads are certified vegan and cruelty free. Their organic maxi pads come in three sizes: a liner, a day pad, and a night pad. Their packaging is made of FSC-certified recyclable cardboard.

This is a woman-founded, UK-based company and the bamboo is sourced and the product is manufactured in South-East Asia.

The company offsets our CO2 emissions through Climate Partner and Ecologi and is aiming to be carbon neutral by the end of 2021.

Best Overall Organic Feminine Products Line

We recommend both Natracare’s organic tampons and organic pads.

Their non-toxic tampons are made from 100% organic certified cotton, chlorine and plastic free, and come with both an applicator and non-applicator option. Their applicator option comes in regular and super, and their non-applicator option comes in regular, super, and super plus. Their applicators are made from cardboard and their applicator and paper wrapper are biodegradable. Their organic cotton tampons are compostable.

Their natural tampons are certified Vegan Approved, Plastic Free, Made Safe, USDA Biobased, and Soil Association Organic.

Their organic pads are plastic, chlorine, and fragrance free and offer thin, extra, and maxi sizes based on your preferred cushion amount. They also come in regular, super, long, and night time depending on your absorbency needs and wing preference. Their organic feminine pads have certified organic cotton cover and contain eco-certified pulp. They are compostable, and their wrapper contains a paper peel strip and pocket.

Their organic menstrual pads are certified Vegan Approved, Plastic Free, Made Safe, USDA Biobased, and have the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. Their cotton for pads is certified through ICEA and IMO.

The packaging for both their organic tampons and organic pads is in recycled cardboard. All of their products are latex, gluten, and SAP free.

Other Recommended Organic Tampons and Pads

Best Budget

Organyc

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Our best budget pick is Organyc’s feminine products. Organyc offers both organic tampons and organic pads.

Organyc’s non-toxic tampons are made of 100% certified organic cotton and come in regular, super, and super plus. Their organic cotton tampons offer applicator-free, cardboard applicators, and an “eco-applicator” that contains 90% plant-based materials and 10% plastic. Their organic pads are also made of 100% certified organic cotton and come in many different cushion sizes and absorbency levels – from a light panty liner to an overnight pad.

Their products are bleached with hydrogen peroxide in place of chlorine. Their organic tampons and pads are plastic, latex, paraben, fragrance, and SAP free.

Their packaging comes from renewable materials and all of their products (packaging included) are biodegradable. Their products are manufactured in Italy, the US, Slovenia, and Germany, and their cotton is sourced from the US. They do not test on animals.

Best Subscription

Best subscription

Lola

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Lola is our pick for best subscription service as it is more flexible, cost effective, and (according to customers) comfortable than its competitors.

Lola offers both organic tampons and organic pads as part of their subscription service. Their non-toxic tampons come with a BPA-free plastic applicator option, a cardboard applicator option, and an applicator-free option. Their organic cotton tampon plastic applicator option offers the most absorbency options: light, regular, super, and super plus, while their compostable cardboard applicator option only offers regular and super. Their applicator-free option offers regular, super, and super plus. These natural tampons are made with 100% organic certified cotton.

Their organic pads come as either ultra thin panty liners or pads with wings in a regular or heavy size. They are made with 100% organic certified cotton, as well as a plant-based bioplastic and non-toxic adhesives.

Their products are free of fragrance, SAPs, and chlorine. Their wrappers and boxes are all recyclable. 

Their tampons and liners are manufactured in Europe, and their organic menstrual pads are made in the US. They are a female-founded company that partners with organizations like Period Equity and I Support the Girls

Lola offers the ability to make one-off purchases or sign-up for a subscription. With their subscription, you can renew every month, 2 months, 3 months or 6 months. 1 or 2 month subscriptions can be cancelled anytime and you pay as you go. 3 or 6 month subscriptions are pre-paid, which offers additional savings in fewer shipments in return. 

Pricing varies, but for example, a one-time purchase of a box of 18 cardboard applicator tampons is $9, whereas a monthly subscription would cost $8 a box, or a 3 month subscription $7.50 a box.

Best in Stores

Best In Stores

Seventh Generation

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While many of our top picks for best organic tampon brands and organic pad brands can be found in local stores and pharmacies, if you need to pick up reliable organic tampons or pads, we want to make sure you have plenty of options. Seventh Generation is found at most major stores, like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS. 

Seventh Generation offers organic cotton tampons made from 100% certified organic cotton (through GOTS) that are fragrance and chlorine free. Their non-toxic tampons come in regular and super sizes and offer a no-applicator version and a plant-based plastic applicator version. Their cardboard boxes are recyclable. The applicator and packaging comes from wood from certified-sustainably managed forests and any leaflets are from post-consumer recycled paper.

While Seventh Generation does offer pads, they are not made from 100% organic cotton. We’d recommend trying to find one of the products above before considering their Free and Clear pad and liner options.

Seventh Generation is a certified B corporation.

Organic Feminine Products Buying Guide

When you are looking to find the best organic tampons or best organic pads, you will usually start by looking for a product that is made from organic cotton. Why organic cotton? When a crop is grown organically, you know it’s made with GMOs, pesticides, and other potentially harmful substances or practices. Non-organic cotton is the “most chemically intensive crop in the world”, so choosing organic cotton eliminates your exposure to these chemicals, as well as the environment (in particular, our water). Organic farming also utilizes environmentally-friendly agriculture practices and organic tampons are biodegradable. It’s clearly a greener choice. Cotton isn’t your only choice, though. You’ll notice we also have a winner that utilizes sustainable bamboo – another good option, especially if you want something more breathable in a pad.

In addition to looking for organic cotton, you’ll want to avoid organic pads and tampons that have been bleached with chlorine. Dioxins are used in the bleaching process, which are toxic, a carcinogen, and an endocrine disruptor.

Your best bet is to focus on GOTS certified products, as this accounts for both how the cotton is grown and that peroxide is used instead of chlorine for bleaching.

We also suggest avoiding fragrance in your feminine products, as it can often introduce additional chemicals, as well as BPAs in any plastic applicators. Lastly, in addition to the tampon or pad itself, fully compostable and/or biodegradable options (including applicators and packaging – even though applicators can be tough to compost for other reasons, namely if your local facility will accept them) are a great way to consider environmental impact in your purchasing. 

Is it okay to buy non organic pads and tampons? It’s a personal choice, for certain, and tampons and pads are regulated by the FDA. But given how often you may use a tampon or pad, you may want assurance that you’re limiting your exposure to harmful chemicals as well as choosing a product that is going to be less harmful for the environment.

Our Research Process

We began our search for the best organic tampons and organic pads by compiling a database of incumbent and emerging brands in the organic feminine products space. We evaluated, of these players, ingredients first and foremost to see which offered truly organic, natural, and non-toxic options. In addition to the physical tampon or pad itself, we evaluated the ingredients of any packaging. 

Once we had this information, we referenced user reviews and staff trials for these organic pads and tampons focused on absorbency, comfort, and ease of application.

Lastly, we looked at other notable qualities of the brand such as ease of purchase in the US, cost, or additional environmental measures taken by the company.

The organic tampon brands and organic pad brands we evaluated included:

1. &Sisters
2. Always Pure
3. Blume
4. Bon
5. Claene
6. Cora
7. Eco by Naty
8. Emerita
9. Flo
10. Honest Company
11. Honey Pot
12. Just Cotton
13. L Organic
14. La Vie
15. Lola
16. My Box Shop
17. Nannocare
18. Natracare
19. Natratouch
20. O.B Organic
21. O
22. Organyc
23. Puristics
24. Rael
25. Seventh Generation
26. Sky Organics
27. Sustain
28. Tampax Pure
29. Tampon Tribe
30. TOP
31. TOTM
32. Veeda

Sources

1. https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-019-0452-z
2. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20181005STO15110/plastic-in-the-ocean-the-facts-effects-and-new-eu-rules
3. https://global-standard.org/the-standard/philosophy
4. http://www.womensvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Chem-Fatale-Report.pdf