New Delhi: Sanfe, an IIT Delhi-incubated startup for designing and developing products for improving female health and hygiene, launched the first-of-its-kind reusable sanitary pads, made with composite banana fiber, which can last up to two years (around 120 washes).

Sanfe Reusable Pad is developed by Sanfe’s co-founders Archit Agarwal and Harry Sehrawat, who are also 4th year IIT Delhi students, based on inputs from several IIT Delhi professors.

The reusable pads are ultra-thin and are highly absorbent with Quadrant True Lock Technology, which makes the pad leakproof and avoids creating any rashes. A patent has also been filed for the design. A pack of two pads is priced at ₹199.

These reusable sanitary pads can be used up to 120 times, after washing them in cold water with detergents after every use.

With these reusable sanitary pads, Sanfe is trying to address the huge problem of disposable pad waste burdening the planet.

According to the Menstrual Hygiene Alliance of India (MHAI), there are almost 336 million menstruating women in India, of which 36% use disposable sanitary pads summing up to 121 million. India has around 12.3 billion disposable sanitary napkins to be taken care of every year, and a majority of these are non-biodegradable.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Archit Aggarwal said: “Due to the taboo around it, women hygiene has been neglected in thought and talk. With our innovations in women hygiene, we want to empower women and make their life simpler. Even for women welfare, government and NGOs regularly distribute subsidized disposable sanitary napkins in rural and semi-urban areas, which is a huge cost and harm to environment, and accounts only for a short-term solution. We urge these organizations to switch to reusable pads and can save up to 75% of the cost."

Professor Srinivasan Venkataraman, assistant professor in the Department of Design at IIT Delhi commended the efforts of Sanfe. “This startup has carved a niche in the domain of women healthcare and hygiene with the launch of another useful product. All the products of Sanfe cater to the important needs of women, use simple science and are sold at affordable prices in the market."

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