The Quiet Corner

Choose an article from the Reading Room. It opens on this page, so the room sound and the clock keep going.

• Period care in South Korea

  In South Korea, period pads are regulated as “quasi-drugs”. A public scare in 2017 changed what the government tests and what every pack must list. Here is how Korea regulates period care, what people use, and where K-beauty and K-pop come in.

• Period products at work: the federal rule in Canada

  Since 15 December 2023, federal regulations say: “The employer shall provide menstrual products, including clean and hygienic tampons and menstrual pads, in each toilet room.” Here is what the rule says, who it covers, who it doesn’t, and how the law says to raise it.

• Flying and travelling with period products

  What airport security in Canada and the US says about period products, and what it doesn’t. Then packing, format by format, and how travellers keep reusables clean on the road. Rules first, in the rule-makers’ own words.

• Period care in Japan

  In Japan, period pads are regulated as “quasi-drugs”. A labour law from 1947 speaks of periods, but it says nothing about pay. Here is how Japan sorts period products, what that law says word for word, and how often people use it.

• Can you swim on your period? Pool, lake, ocean and hot tub

  Yes, says a Canadian children’s hospital. Here is what health sources say, where they are silent, what each format’s instructions cover in the water, and what the shark archive actually found.

• Period care with your hands, your chair and your helpers

  How each period product is put on, changed and taken off, described by grip, reach, balance, seated use and help from another person. For disabled readers, and for the parents, partners and paid carers who help. No format is ranked. You choose.

• The surprise-period kit: school, work, car, locker

  A period can arrive early, late or without warning. Here is a kit that works whatever you use: the basics, what to add for each format, where to keep it, and where to find free products in Canada.

• Period care and gender dysphoria

  For trans, non-binary and gender-diverse readers, and anyone supporting them. What research and community sources say can make periods harder: dysphoria, washrooms, wrappers and words. Then each product type, with what community members report about it. No verdicts, no rankings, and no medical advice.

• Protecting your bed and sofa on heavy nights

  What readers put under themselves on heavy nights, what makers and health authorities say about each format at night, and the signs that make a heavy night worth a conversation with a healthcare provider. In the sources’ own words.

• Scotland made period products free. What the law actually says

  Since August 2022, Scottish law has required councils to make period products free for anyone who needs them (Scotland’s official guidance says visitors are included), and schools, colleges and universities to do the same for their students. Here is what the law requires, what it doesn’t do, and what exists in Canada.

• Menstrual cups, explained gently

  A menstrual cup is a small, flexible cup worn in the vagina that collects period blood. Here is how it is used and cared for, what Canada requires, and what the sources say.

• Viral period trends, checked

  Cycle syncing, seed cycling, “period flu”, period-blood face masks, swimming and synced-up friends. For each one: what the trend claims, what research says so far, and who to ask about your own body.

• Getting blood out: sheets, mattresses, sofas and clothes

  Blood on a sheet or a cushion is part of ordinary life. Here is what care labels and makers say about cleaning it, what Health Canada says about using cleaning products safely, and what readers describe doing. Start with the label.

• A kind guide to first periods

  For the adult beside a young person, and for the young person reading too: what usually happens, what a small kit can hold, and when to ask someone.

• Strawberry week, red aunt, the monthly things

  People in many languages have nicknames for periods. Some borrow a relative who visits. Some borrow red things, or the moon. Here are some of the words, what linguists say about them, and why some people choose plain words.

• Cleaning a cup or disc, between uses and between periods

  Makers of cups and discs agree on washing between uses. They differ on when to boil and for how long, on soaps, and on when to replace. Here is each maker’s instruction, with its source, and the Canadian rule behind the label.

• TSS: the facts, calmly

  Canadian tampon boxes must carry a short statement about toxic shock syndrome. Here is what Health Canada, HealthLink BC and other health sources say around it, in their own words: what TSS is, the signs they list, and what to do.

• The tampon tax: how Canada took GST off period products

  Canada once charged its federal sales tax on period pads and tampons. Manitoba took its own provincial tax off in 2002. Ottawa took the GST and HST off on 1 July 2015. Here is what the tax was, who removed it, when, and what the law says today.

• Reusable period pads, explained

  A reusable period pad is worn in underwear, like a disposable period pad, then washed, dried and worn again. Here is how makers and health bodies describe the snaps, the layers, the washing and the lifespan.

• Who regulates period products in Canada, and elsewhere

  In Canada, some period products are medical devices and some are consumer products. Here is who oversees which, what “licensed” means, how to look up a licence yourself, and what four other places say, in their own words.

• Period underwear, explained: reusable and disposable

  Period underwear is underwear with absorbent layers built in. It comes in reusable and disposable versions. Here is how it works, how to read a size chart, how to care for it, and what the label tells you in Canada.

• Period care on a tight budget

  Short on money for period products this month? Here is where to look today, what schools, campuses and some workplaces provide, and a few plain words for asking. It sells nothing. It is the short version; the full list lives in its own guide.

• Perimenopause periods: flooding, skipping and everything between

  Periods can come closer together or further apart, and get heavier or lighter. Here is what Canadian and UK health sources say, the one sign the NHS says to get checked even if it happens only once, and what each period product format offers when the calendar stops helping.

• Menstrual discs, explained

  A menstrual disc is a rim with a shallow basin. It sits inside the vagina and collects period blood. Here is how it sits, goes in and comes out, and what Canadian rules say.

• Tampons, explained: with and without an applicator

  A tampon is worn inside the vagina and absorbs flow before it leaves the body. Some go in with an applicator, others with a finger. Here is how each is used, and what a Canadian tampon label must say.

• How to sleep on your period: every format, overnight

  What makers and health authorities say about nights, format by format, in their own words. What to check on the pack. And what readers put between themselves and the mattress.

• Period pads and liners, explained

  Period pads and liners sit inside underwear and absorb flow after it leaves the body. Here is how they are used, what they are made of, how to dispose of them, and what their labels say.

• Where to put used period pads and tampons, city by city

  Toronto’s green bin takes them. London, Ontario’s does not. What two cities say, how to check your own, and what national sources say about flushing.

• Free period products in Canada, by province and program

  Where to get period products at no cost today, what the federal pilot and the workplace rule say, and which provincial and territorial programs we could confirm. Each row is sourced and dated.

• How heavy is heavy? Reading your own flow

  The SOGC gives a clinical number, but blood loss is hard to measure. So health sources also use a short list of signs. Here they are, in their own words, and what each period product format offers on the heaviest days.

• The words, plainly.

  Twenty period words in plain language, from absorbency and wicking to PMOS (formerly PCOS), PMDD and TSS. Each entry names its source.

• Texture. Sound. Smell. Steps. Period care, by feel.

  For autistic, ADHD and sensory-sensitive readers, and the people beside them: what each product type feels, sounds and smells like, with no verdicts. Then routines, rehearsal and a checklist you can print.

• Talking to your son about periods

  Why it matters, when to start, the words to use, and short answers to the questions boys ask.

• Incontinence pads and period pads: what’s the difference?

  Both look alike. They are built for two different liquids that arrive in two different ways.

• Do period pads and tampons expire?

  Some carry a date and some don’t. What Canada’s rules say, where to look on the box, how makers say to store products, and when they say to replace reusables.

• How to wash period underwear, any brand

  Rinse, wash, dry, store. What makers’ care instructions have in common, where they disagree, and why the label on your pair decides.

• What’s inside a period pad, layer by layer.

  From the side that touches skin to the side that touches underwear: what each layer does, what it is usually made of, and what the words on the pack can tell you.

• Period products, explained.

  Six kinds of period product and the comfort-and-care shelf, in one fixed order. For each: what it is, how it’s used, what it’s made of, how it’s cared for, and what its label tells you.

• Come in. The library is open.

  Why we are building a library for period care in Canada, who it is for, how a shop, opening later, will keep it going, and one question for you.

• “Super” on a period pad and “Super” on a tampon are not the same thing.

  Light. Regular. Super. Heavy. Overnight. Ultra. They are supposed to help us choose a product that matches our flow. Does Super mean the same for a period pad or a...