Amy's Rag Bag (USA)

Previous Poll Results
(Shows rating | % of votes | # votes received)
1 0% [ 0 ]
2 0% [ 0 ]
3 11% [ 1 ]
4 11% [ 1 ]
5 77% [ 7 ]
Total Votes : 9

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Reviews
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CoffeeBean Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:02 pm
I have quite a collection from Amy's Rag bag. All on my first visit!

2 Long Silk toppers
2 Long cotton Toppers

4 Slim pins!

Very nicely made, made to last! I love her taste in collecting second-hand fabrics! I love vintage fabrics, so she showed me her stash! They shipped fast and they were nicely wrapped!

To make the explanation easy of the pads:

Toppers hold Slim Pins, Bowling Pins, and PUL pins in place.
Soakers are placed UNDER toppers to absorb heavy flow.

Her prices are very reasonable as well. She accepts TRADE for hand-made goodies! Let it be cookies or second-hand fabrics A very sweet and patient seller!
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savorytruffle Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:08 am
I love these pads and they are definitely one of my favorites. They are really comfortable and I love fabrics she has. Recycled materials, quirky stuff like playing cards or ducks. Laura is also very nice and the pads hold up well and don't get pilly. Rated a 5.
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FireAphid Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:09 pm
These are such great pads! I have a long silk topper and a PUL pin, and I love them. These are the pads I keep in my bag for that just-in-case week if my period comes early or late because they're so customizable and can hold up to any flow without being bulky. When Laura's shop opened she had a little contest for finding typos on her site, and I found one real one and one ambiguous one, and she offered me two free pieces, which arrived less than a week after we spoke about the details. I'm quite picky about colors, but Laura was really careful about it, and I ended up with some really beautiful pads. The pieces are so well designed, with a particularly clever solution for the closure on the toppers; it's completely made of fabric so there are no snaps to have fall off and no metal or plastic pieces touching my skin. Also, all the materials are reclaimed, so it's more environmentally friendly than pads made from completely new fabrics. I love that I can control the absorbency in the pads rather than using an AIO, where I often end up with more than I need. They also survived my standard machine washing (twice so far) with only a little staining and no signs of falling apart.

I really like the contoured shape of the "pins." because it helps hold the whole multi-part pad in place. The only thing is that I wish she made toppers in a narrower size as well the long and short sizes she already has. I was afraid to use the long silk topper as a pantyliner (it's a great absorbency for that), but it's a little wide at 3 inches and I feared it would slide around like other wide pads tend to. Maybe this could be remedied with another loop of fabric for the tab to go through, just like some sellers offer two snap settings on that kind of pad? Anyway, I'd say the biggest selling point overall is the versatile design, so you don't need to buy as many pieces to get through one whole period without doing laundry and you always have the right absorbency for what you need, and the second biggest selling-point is the price, making Amy's Rag Bag an incredible value. Laura is even willing to trade new pads for useful things like reclaimed fabrics and cookies. Overall, I recommend these pads very highly!

Edited by FireAphid on Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:37 am: It's been about a year and a half since I first tried Amy's Rag Bag, and I'm still completely in love and wish I could give them an even higher rating! I've tried out some more pieces of pad (a folding soaker, a flannel topper, a super topper, and a violin), and I can't say enough good things about them. Laura is so great with communication, and the thought that goes into her pads (the design, the coordination of fabrics, remembering her customers' favorite colors!) is really above and beyond what would deserve a 5. Every pad I have from Amy's Rag Bag is in great condition, wash after wash, and they are just so well-made. To boot, they're fantastically comfortable and are just about the only pads that fit in wide-crotched underwear like boyshorts, so they're definitely a staple in my under-wardrobe. The toppers are the perfect size for daily use or as liners alone, and I just love that you can put the longer end on whichever side you need it more. And with such great prices, they're a great way to start out a stash when you're not sure if you'll even like cloth (but who doesn't once they try it?) or how many you'll end up needing. Plus they're such great pads to start out with because they're so versatile; if I do laundry in the middle of my period, I can use the same toppers for the heaviest part of my cycle (with a violin, soaker, or PUL pin) or the lightest (alone) or anything in between. So, yeah, I can't stop gushing (okay, pun intended) about these pads and would encourage everyone to try them out!
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MissAngel498 Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:30 pm
I am new to cloth pads and couldn't be happier with the ones I ordered at Amy's Rag Bag. Not only was my order shipped very fast but Laura explained everything so well to me since I was a first-time user of cloth.

I received bowling pins and toppers and, in order to suit my needs, Laura also created Mini Pins and the Guitar Pick. I am happy with all of them, especially the guitar pick (worn with my thong underwear) and the toppers because of the closure.

The materials are lovely and very comfortable!
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andrewsdk Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:34 pm
Amy is a wonderful seller and makes incredibly well-made pads. I like her innovative closure style. Her fabric choices are very well matched. Love the variety.

If you have a light flow, and need PUL protection - get a long topper & PUL pin and skip the soaker.

Love them & she's great!
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Grizz Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:56 am
OK, let me start by saying that Laura herself is the most helpful, "real," coolest seller I have yet to come across, and I'm kind of on a mission of sorts to try as many cloth pad sellers as I can.

She is amazingly intuitive and thorough in discussing your pad needs in an efficient, fun tone, and always returns e-mails quickly. THAT in and of itself makes her business a winner. ALSO, I was totally drawn to her because of the fact that she proudly declares her products "freegan" (AWESOME) and takes COOKIES as payment, and is cheeky enough to even specify what KIND of cookies. ANYONE who understands A) freeganism and B) 'cookies as currency' economics 150% RULES in my book.

Now, onto the pads. I ordered a bunch-o-pads from her after some discussion about my flow. I can't honestly remember the names of all the pieces BUT. And this is a pretty individual, personal BUT: I have a WAY heavier flow that what these pads can handle. They are innovative as hell, well-designed and beautifully sewn, but I am one of those rare, strange women that actually prefers a THICK, SOFT, SUPER-ABSORBENT pad. I want a feeling of solid security that I will not leak or soak thru with my TORRENTIAL FIREHOSE FLOW, and while these pads had so many plusses (which I'll talk more about in a sec), for the most part I will use them as "light day" pantyliners near the end of my period. Even the "soakers" were WAY too thin to really give me a sense of protection. During the heaviest parts of my flow, I would like a pad that can handle at least an hour or two of getting soaked before I have to change, and her stuff's just too thin.

I also HATE the idea of "doubling up" or using more than one pad or pieces to get the protection I need. I have a very active job as a public health nurse and really prefer easy, simple, one-piece thick pads I can really soak, then stuff into my wetbag and change on the go. I'm often forced to use my patient's toilets in their homes or public restrooms during my busy day driving around, and can't fiddle with pieces and bits and systems to catch my flow.

The positive are VERY positive, however.

1. The cloth clasp system of closure. HALLILUJAH!!!!!! Finally, NO SNAPS. I *hate* the necessary evil of snaps and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that this lady came up with such a lovely alternative that kicks the crap out of snaps. YEAH!

2. See above; she uses recycled fabrics and encourages her customers to send her their favorite old PJs or worn-out clothings to make pads out of. BRILLIANT. Freegan, indeed.

3. The best customer service, hands down. I NEED to send her some cookies to make up for anything negative I've said here. Seriously, she's that cool.

So, while her pads were just plain too thin to stand up to my MONTHLY NIGHTMARE EXPLOSION DELUGE, they are, I'm sure, MORE THAN PERFECTLY SUITED to you ladies with lighter flows. I will use the selection I bought from her during my lighter days and swear profusely that the thick pads I use on heavy days have that DAMN SNAP that digs into my bits and wish they had Laura's Amazing Cloth Clasp.

4 stars!!!!!
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hatulitos Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:43 pm
A 5 to Laura
Her pads are the most creative ones I ever seen. I love how she matches the colors and themes. She is so helpful and makes them really fast, great and cheap. The quality is amazing, I won't even notice that the fabrics are recicled and not new. The snapping system usually works fine but a couple of times it opens up, I'm a very active person, so I sew the hole a bit smaller and haven't had any problems.
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