Sign in to view
member only content

Spotted:  The UK-based product design student Cheuk Laam Wong has created the concept for Looop Can, a portable kit to wash menstruation pads designed for women in refugee camps while also providing an alternative to single-use plastic sanitary pads. 

Each kit contains a recycled steel container for cleaning, 70 grams of baking soda which acts as a natural cleaning agent, and a reusable Looop Pad. All that is needed after that is 500 millilitres of water. The container consists of a cylindrical body with a screw-top lid and a spinning mechanism.

Once the pad has been inserted inside the container, all that is required is to screw on the cap and spin the device with their fingers. After spinning, users need to wait at least 30 minutes for the blood to dissolve. Then the pad is rinsed three times. 

After interviewing NGOs in Greece, Cheuk told Dezeen that she saw the need for cheaper, longer-term solutions to non-reusable plastic pads. Moreover, whilst other reusable pads are a better alternative, she told Dezeen that shared washing machines in refugee camps aren’t always available. “Plastic pads can’t work as they rely on NGOs’ constant donation and lack culturally sensitive disposable methods.”

Looop Pads take approximately half a day to dry if hung up indoors, and last up to five years, Cheuk said. Moreover, each Looop Pad comes in three separable parts: a bamboo terry base, a bamboo fleece wing and the pad itself which is made from a polyester-laminated material. 

Cheuk estimates the expected total cost for the entire kit, which is still in its first stages of conception, will amount to approximately €3.53, including the washing parts and pads. 

Written By: Katrina Lane

Explore more: Architecture and Design