What We Think of Thinx’s Period Sex Blanket

Thinx, maker of period underwear and suggestive grapefruit ads, is as of this week selling a $370 period sex blanket. But you don’t need to buy anything to have period sex. If you're worried about stains, you have less expensive, effective options.

The proprietary innovation in Thinx products is a special absorbent fabric that lines the crotch of Thinx undies. The company has stitched it into one side of this blanket intended for use during period sex, in order to differentiate it from a regular blanket, a towel, or other inexpensive protective pads. In the undies, the fabric mimics a pad, dutifully preventing leaks throughout the day.

Although we haven’t gotten our hands on the new blanket, I recently spent my period testing Thinx undies for our forthcoming guide, where we’ll be comparing them with other similar pairs from Dear Kate and PantyProp. Thinx’s absorbent fabric successfully stays slim and dry even when soaked. The lining stitched into the undies can prevent up to two tampons' worth of blood from leaking through to clothes without the layer of plastic that sanitary pads rely on.

We found the undies too pricey and too cumbersome to change on the go to be a tampon killer for most people. But Thinx’s special yet spendy fabric makes sense in that context as an appropriate—if imperfect—option. As for a surface to be naked on for a limited period of time, it’s overkill.

There’s no situation in which period blood will exit your body at a high enough rate that you’d need a blanket that can absorb entire tampons' worth of blood without leaking; menstrual fluid is unlikely to even leak through a towel during sex. During your entire period, you expel only a few tablespoons of fluid—slowly, over the course of days.

Still, stains can be a side effect of fornicating-while-menstruating. Putting down a towel is an effective solution to catch drips or smears of blood (our picks for the best towels feel particularly nice against bare skin, and in the bath-sheet size are larger than the Thinx blanket). Follow up with a good detergent (see our guide to the best laundry detergent).

If you're bent on protecting your sheets at all costs, inexpensive pads like these use regular plastic on one side to prevent leaks, more like a sanitary pad. And you can always get a mattress protector to keep a pricey investment clean under any circumstances.

Thinx is not selling the blanket as an all-purpose sex blanket, and we suspect the blanket will have a harder time protecting your bed from other sex fluids like female ejaculate. That has a watery consistency and, unlike menstrual fluid, exits the body rapidly a couple of ounces at a time. In my testing, I poured water directly onto the undies, and it consistently soaked through to the other side. The Icon line of undies uses a version of the Thinx fabric to absorb pee. But even these can hold only up to 8 teaspoons of liquid, or just over an ounce. What does work are the inexpensive pads, which have a plastic backing.

Finally, this blanket is a pain to clean. The instructions from Thinx are kind of a post-coital mood killer:

To take care of your THINX Period Sex Blanket, rinse immediately after use, cold wash on delicate cycle then hang dry away from direct sunlight. Don’t use bleach or fabric softener!

We asked Thinx about the price of the blanket. In addition to the special fabric, a spokesperson noted that “it is beautifully designed to be a decorative throw that can accent and enhance your home.” In response to our question on how the blanket handled sex fluids other than menstrual blood, the spokesperson told us the company has “tested many scenarios on our four-layer technology and feel confident that if using our Period Sex Blanket, your sheets, couch, rug, or whatever other surface you may be on, will be protected.”

Thinx claims that the towel is designed to “smash the taboo” surrounding period sex. But selling a blanket at the same price as several very nice vibrators ultimately suggests that women should be spending gobs of money to make their bodily functions as pleasant as possible.

We have updated this piece with an additional response from Thinx on whether it had tested the blanket’s ability to absorb sex fluids other than menstrual blood.