The Dispenser Dilemma

The Dispenser Dilemma

March 27, 2019

All across the country, public bathrooms in every industry—schools, offices, restaurants, airports, libraries and more—remain stuck in a parallel universe. In this Twilight Zone, menstruators who need a tampon or pad in a pinch must rely on broken, empty dispensers to access these products. In most public bathrooms, these defunct dispensers don’t even EXIST. When they do, well…they aren’t exactly your best friend.

SCENE: You walk into work or class and notice a red stain on your pants. You panic: “Did I remember to pack a tampon in my bag?” You rush to the bathroom, your fate lying in the cold hands of the metal machine on the wall. You think to yourself, “Who has time to grab a quarter WHEN THEY ARE BLEEDING THROUGH THEIR PANTS?” You finally find a coin (or maybe you don’t) and realize the machine is broken. No tampon to cover today’s surprise party. Therein lies…

THE DISPENSER DILEMMA

At this point, you might be thinking, “How do we fix this? Is this a change I can personally tackle? Where do I even start?”

Enter Aunt Flow:

free-vend, wall-mounted dispenser from Aunt Flow lays the Dispenser Dilemma to rest and sprinkles period positivity on its grave. Launched in 2019, this miracle machine has helped people in numerous businesses and schools by providing freely-accessible, organic cotton menstrual products. Want more specifics? Let’s break it down.

Product Details

  • No batteries are required – the magic happens with our nifty, patent-pending rotator. 
  • ESTROGEN Aunt Flow dispenser holds 5x the amount of product and takes 1/2 the time to reload (compared to any other menstrual product dispenser) – Reduces the reload frequency and time spent, resulting in time and money saved! 
  • Capacity: 50 Aunt Flow organic cotton tampons and 50 Aunt Flow organic cotton pads.
  • Dispenser is ADA Compliant when placed at an appropriate height and place.

The additional perks? Aunt Flow dispensers provide a clear, period-positive lifeline for menstruators caught off guard by their flows. 

Another question probably on your mind…

Why does it matter?

FACT: Offering freely-accessible menstrual products increases school attendance.

FACT: Providing menstrual products increases work productivity.

FACT: Aunt Flow tampons and pads dramatically improve the bathroom experience.

Mounting a brand-new Aunt Flow dispenser on your bathroom wall or swapping out the current dinosaur dispenser shows employees, students and patrons that you care. It’s people helping people. PERIOD.® Keeping an unusable machine up not only makes no sense for businesses’ bottom lines, but also disadvantages menstruators. Think we’re ovary-reacting?

According to a study conducted by Free The Tampons, 86% of women have started their period unexpectedly in public without the supplies they needed. When there are no freely-accessible menstrual products available in a public bathroom, the results are even worse. A whopping 79% of women have improvised by “macgyvering” a tampon or pad out of toilet paper or something else. EEK! So how does one defeat the Dispenser Dilemma? It’s a lot easier than you might think.

End the dilemma

Toilet paper is offered for free, why aren’t tampons? Help us end the Dispenser Dilemma today:

  • Own a business? Get a quote for your Aunt Flow products by filling out our online form. No worries, it only takes 30 seconds to complete!
  • Know a business or school that needs to provide freely-accessible menstrual products? Contact hello@goauntflow.com or call (562) 320-8265 to help a location join the Menstrual Movement.

Aunt Flow is a female-founded enterprise that stocks businesses and universities with their organic cotton menstrual products.

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Stay in the flow — we’ll send you period positivity + timely updates on the menstrual movement.

claire coder,founder + ceo

claire coder,
founder + ceo

Hi! I’m Claire. I founded Aunt Flow after getting my period in public without the supplies needed.

Founded in 2016, Aunt Flow is a certified WBENC women-owned company based in Columbus, Ohio. At 18 years old, I dedicated my life to developing a solution to ensure businesses and schools could sustainably provide quality period products, for free, in bathrooms. Our products are made with organic cotton (no weird stuff) and we are constantly working to reduce our environmental impact! For every 10 tampons and pads we sell, we donate 1 to a menstruator in need. I call this people helping people. PERIOD.®

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