[related-post align=”right”]So there are some people who are a little embarrassed to hear about, um, well…ahem, “feminine issues.” This is not an article for them. This is an article for the other people who like to get all in other people’s personal business, but understand that because of the constraints of polite society, they can’t always ask all the questions they like.
There’s this thing called a menstrual cup! You may have heard of it. It’s a reusable alternative to pads and tampons in the form of a cup that fits comfortably up in your vagina and collects rather than absorbs menstrual blood. Different brands are available in both silicone and rubber, but it’s not my purpose to endorse any particular brand, just to tell you about the ways switching to a menstrual cup had a positive impact on my housekeeping.
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Bathroom storage
I have a tiny bathroom in an old building where storage is at a premium. A big box of tampons would take up approximately 60% of all hidden bathroom space I have. Having a single menstrual cup has allowed me to free up that area for toilet paper storage, hair products, the boyfriend’s shaving accoutrements, and bathroom cleaners.
Sleeping in
I love sleeping in. It’s one of my greatest joys and greatest talents. But if I wanted to sleep in on a heavy flow day, tough luck! I had to get up to change my tampon, or my bed sheets would pay the price. I have not conducted rigorous scientific double blind studies, but my menstrual cup has never failed me in this regard. If I want to be a lazybones who sleeps for 12 hours straight, I can without staining my sheets.
Money
A menstrual cup generally retails for $20-$30 making it a little pricier than a big box of tampons right off the bat. But your box of tampons will run out. I will never have to buy another menstrual cup unless a) lightning strikes my current one or b) I decide to have kids, in which case I’d have to move up to a different model. I’ve been using my cup for 6 years, and I’ve saved tons of cash.
Trash
Blood gets stinky really fast. Ask anyone who works in the restaurant industry, and they’ll tell you, their least favorite job is cleaning out the tampon boxes in the bathroom. Since a menstrual cup collects blood, rather than absorbing it, I can just pour it out and flush it. My trash still smells like regular trash, which isn’t great, but is a world better than decaying tampon smell.
It’s reusable!
After a simple cleaning with hot water (and soap if you like), a menstrual cup is sterile and ready to be used again, as opposed to a tampon which goes straight in the trash with the thousands of its brethren that the average woman will go through in her life. I know that if there’s one thing all our offbeat homies seem to have in common, it’s that they care for our global home.
And for extra bonus hippie points…
Gardening
So apparently menstrual blood is an amazing plant fertilizer. I know, it sounds gross, but let’s put that aside and just think for a moment. It’s a uterine lining. Your body was planning on growing a frickin’ baby in it. So it can probably grow some plants, right? I don’t have a garden to try this myself, but I have friends with menstrual cups who have done this, and swear by it. Many people might have knee jerk reactions to this — hell, I do and I’m the one who brought it up — but blood decomposes quickly, which makes menstrual blood seem pretty innocuous, especially considering some of the chemicals that commonly turn up in commercial fertilizers.
Have questions? Now is your chance to ask things you’d be embarrassed to ask about in person, through the magic anonymity of the internet!
Alright.
Y’all talked me into it. Mine should be here in a couple of days. (Let’s hope I picked the right size. I have an awkward vag).
Me too! Y’all talked me into it. Mine came in the mail yesterday. WHOOO
Yeah, I got mine (Lg Lunette) in at the end of last week, gave it a shot yesterday with a big fat FAIL! I’ll try again after I find my fingernail clippers… I stabbed myself A LOT trying to figure out if it was in right, and trying to get it back out….
I’m not sure if it wasn’t in right, or if it’s too big… :-/
I’m so inspired! After reading all of these comments, I went and bought my first Diva Cup! Thanks for posting this– I never, ever would have considered trying a new method otherwise! Hopefully I’ll be back to rave about it in a month or so!
I don’t know if they were already mentioned, but I swear by MeLuna. They are a German brand, with the option of soft and normal cups..and they recently had a new design out, with even more size options. They also tend to have sales 🙂
http://meluna.eu/?___store=english&___from_store=english
I’ve been using one since I was 18 (I’m 30 now) and I love it. I preach about it to people all the time and seriously, will never go back to tampons! More comfortable, more convenient, better for the environment, way cheaper than anything disposable. amen, amen amen!
I have one of these, but it’s been in my cupboard for about 4 years unused. One day I was at work and the thing tilted inside me, spilling a whole lot of blood out and into my pants. What a mess!! At least with a leaky tampon the accident amount was much less. I may try it again though it was way nicer to use.
Oh my Goodness! I just had to comment on here that I have owned a Diva cup for about 6 years and I have NEVER been able to successfully use it…until NOW! After reading this post and comments left by others I came to realize the key to my problem with the Diva cup, the fold! With the help of this…http://menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/453392.html and all of the positive comments here I gave it a go once again. I am half-way through my first successful period with the cup and I am finding myself squealing with excitement when I am able to insert it correctly and go about my day. The “origami” fold is the key for me. Thanks for this great post and for all the positive feed back, it was just what I needed to be able to do something that I have wanted to do for 6 years! THANKS! :oD
I think the Origami fold is what I use. You flatten it, and then fold one of the corners down like a triangle? That’s what I do, and it makes a smaller point for easier insertion while also popping open easier.
It’s been eight months and I’m going strong! Haven’t used a tampon since April and feeling great about it! I give this post most of the credit :o)
Why had I not heard about these before?!?? I ordered one (i opted for the DivaCup brand), and I absolutely love it. It’s easy to use, doesn’t go to the dump like tampons, and gives so much more freedom since it only needs to be emptied twice a day.
Thanks for the info!!
I have heard many recommendations for menstrual cups and have highly considered getting one myself. But one thing keeps holding me back- how do you rinse it out in a public bathroom? I would be mortified to rinse mine out in the sink while the lady next to me is washing her hands and would be similarly grossed out if someone was rinsing theirs out next to me.
They hold a lot more than tampons, so it’s much rarer to have to change/rinse one in a public restroom, but if it comes up, just take it out, dump it in the toilet, wipe it with toilet paper and then put it back in. you can wash it the next time you take it out at home. Seriously though, it’s hardly ever an issue, as they do hold quite a bit.
i wouldn’t say it’s much rarer to have to empty in a public restroom. i have a very heavy flow (sometimes having to empty my lg Fleur every hour or hour and a half) so if i’m away from home, i HAVE to deal with a public restroom situation. and i work from home…if i had an outside-the-home job, i’d be emptying in a public restroom a lot more often.
I was thinking compared to tampons, since the capacity of them is so much more (even the biggest tampons only hold 16-18 Ml and pretty much every cup holds at least 1/3 more than that, usually closer to double it). You’re right though, everyone’s mileage will be different.
I was thinking of times I would go through the biggest tampon they make in 40 minutes and I’d have to change it, with my lunette I can change it every couple hours. This wouldn’t necessarily save you from public restrooms (as you say, at work, or even out at a mall or something) but I think it was such a difference for me, and it’s so easy to do in a public restroom, that I forget I still do it all the time even if it is less.
Actually, I feel like the cup is a lot easier in a public restroom than tampons are, in the sense that you don’t have to have your purse with you if it would be weird to take it, and there’s no crinkly noisy wrappers or anything you have to throw away (I shouldn’t be embarrassed about normal female bodily functions, but I like it much better if crinkly wrappers aren’t announcing to everyone else in the ladies room that I have my period)
Thank you so much for your comments Kaledrina- you convinced me to get one and now I am very happy with it!
i just wash my hands before going into the stall, remove the cup, dump it into the toilet and re-insert. Then i wipe my hand with a bit of toilet paper if need be and then go wash my hands again.
I have a DivaCup and love it! When I purchased it, the DivaWash was out of stock, so I purchased a non-antibacterial, fragrance-free bodywash by Tom’s of Maine for it, which has been working perfectly. I ALWAYS boil it at the end of my cycle, also.
It might just be me, but I’m still very skeptical about sticking a cup in my hooha to catch my menstrual blood. I have a very heavy flow (thank you, endometriosis) and I have an 8+ hour a day desk job out of my home. I’m also extremely prone to UTI’s and stuff. It sounds like a combination that isn’t really conducive to making a cup work, as much as I’d like to use one in place of the millions of stupidly expensive tampons and pads I go through in a year. Anyone have a similar situation that worked out?
I can’t speak from experience, but I’ve heard from other people who are prone to UTIs, yeast infections, etc, that te cup is the way to go. A tampon is very drying, and it introduces all kinds of funky stuff to your body (seriously, leave on in a glass of water for 4 hours, and then see how murky the water gets). A menstrual cup is medical grade silicone, so nothing is getting leached out into you body. As for the heavy flow, I’d heard rave reviews from people wit heavy flows, because a DivaCup (or other brand) holds a LOT more than a tampon. Like, they go from changing a tampon every 40 minutes to emptying the cup every couple of hours. Some people even say they have shorter periods. But, again, I can’t speak from experience because I tend to have lighter flows. I still love my DivaCup though!
This article (and all the awesome commenters) finally convinced me to take the plunge and buy one. This is my first period since I got it, and so far, my feelings are cautiously optimistic. My period always starts with a couple days of spotting, and it was really nice not to have to worry about wearing a pad during those days. Now that it’s a heavy flow day, just not having to freak out about whether my tampon is leaking or that’s just the string is making me much less miserable.
I have to say, it’s been a challenge to figure out the best way to get it in place, and I did actually give up once. Overall though, I think this experiment might just work out. Thanks, OBH!!!
UPDATE: My feelings on this topic are still mixed. The cup fills up in four to six hours on my heavier days, and it is definitely messier to dump that than it is to change a tampon. I’ve gotten pretty good at it, though. I did end up with a wicked yeast infection at the end of my period, though – I’m not sure what that suggests. I’ll definitely be using the wash I bought with the cup more frequently during my next period. I think I may also stop using the cup toward the end of my period and allow the final spotting to be caught by a pantyliner. Overall, I’m not sold yet, but I do appreciate not having to cart supplies around with me.
Update to the Update: I used the cup again this month, and this time, no yeast infection! I did a couple of things to actively avoid getting one. First, I washed the cup at least twice every day of my period with the fancy wash made by the cup company. Second, I rinsed the cup in vinegar water after washing every evening (gotta keep that PH low!). Third, I stopped using it when my period had slowed to spotting and the blood was no longer bright red. YAY for no yeast infection!!!
However, after folding it for insertion I’m starting to have trouble getting it to pop open, which is leading to more leaks. So I’m still not 100% on board. Does anyone else have these problems? I’d love to know how you manage them!
Getting it to pop open: If you can breathe in and UP, lifting your diaphragm, your whole “assembly” of lady-parts will lift up, and try to suction air into the vag–I find this to almost-always allow the space for the cup to pop open. Then you can bear down and press a little of the air out, so that there’s more space inside the cup–otherwise, when it gets fuller, some air will bubble out and create minor leakage.
I’ve been using my DC for five years. Totally life changing. 😉
Thank you for the article, and thanks to all you readers who posted comments!! I started thinking about reusable menstrual products to put in my go bag. (I figure when the zombie apocalypse hits I’m not going to be able to buy tampons anymore…) And my google searches led me here! I decided to take the plunge, and bought a Moon Cup, and several pads from Party in My Pants. I can’t wait for my period!!! I’m actually getting impatient for once, and so is my husband. He wants to know how well it works too haha. Thanks again!!!
Long live the menstrual cup!! I’ve had my Diva since 2005 and it has literally changed my life. I haven’t replaced it– I just rinse with hot water during the cycle and soak it overnight in a hydrogen peroxide and water mixture to clean it and unyellow it after each cycle. No problems with my IUD either, although I do have to be careful when I break the seal so I don’t suction anything out I guess.
In public restrooms I just get a wet paper towel before i go into the stall and cean it that way… I do find that I have to change it fairly often, but I think it’s mostly because im paranoid… The thing is rarely actually FULL when I feel like I need to dump it, haha.
I’m also a huge advocate if cloth pads. It feels amazing to know that I produce no unnatural waste simply by being on my period,
Thanks to all you ladies who have been posting about the wonders of a menstrual cup I was brave enough to go out and get my own Diva Cup and I must say I am LOVING IT! The first day or two were a little rough- there is a reason they give you multiple fold and insertion options… I had to find the combo that worked for me. I was having trouble getting it to fit in correctly the first day and was having some leakage but once I figured out how to place it correctly it has been great! I can’t even feel it and I only have to replace it twice a day which is WAY less than the disposable products I used to use! I have been considering this for years and didn’t know anyone who could give me a recommendation until now. Thanks again everyone!! 🙂
I’m pretty stoked to see that this has become one of Offbeat Home’s Top Posts of All Time. Also, my dog totally chewed up my Keeper so now I’m giving the Moon Cup a go. Ladies: Keep you menstrual cups away from chewy dogs!
Love my Diva cup! I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been using one. I started with the Keeper; then my dog got hold of it. I started out with the after-childbirth DC but it was too wide/long, so I switched to the before-childbirth model, I’m 50 and have had 2 kids, and it works perfectly. But, yeah, keep them well away from your pets. I lost one that was in an overnight bag that got left open and another one when I set it on the edge of the bathtub and forgot about it. Oops. I found them for $20 at, I think, Vitamin World or the Vitamin Shoppe online. The local health food store was selling them for $38. My fiance can’t understand why everyone doesn’t use them; he thinks they’re the coolest things ever. LOL
I had a brain surgeon friend who who drift casually into the blood bank at the hospital on Friday afternoons and emerge with a bagful of all the expired blood units. He sprinkled them around the border of his vegetable garden to keep out predators like bunnies and woodchucks and skunks—even deer. It totally worked!
In regards to menstrual blood being used as fertilizer, given that I imagine you’d want to dilute it before applying it anyways, seems to me that you’d get the same effect by soaking reusable pads and using the soak water as a fertilizer.
Confirmed. This is what my mother does.
I am 46, have had heavy periods all of my life, I am at the very beginning stages of menopause, it has caused me to have more “normal” periods, less heavy but more frequent, not a problem though.
I researched these and have wanted one for quite some time, I finally purchased one (Diva Cup) and I am wearing it right now for the first time, well it’s been a couple of days now, my first Diva Cup period. 🙂
I must say that the first few times I inserted it and removed it, there was a learning curve, I am very comfortable with my body and touching myself, so that helped tremendously! Now I’m removing it, cleaning and inserting it like a pro, I love it and will not go back to tampons. It is going to make trash disposal much easier too, we don’t have a trash service, we have to take care of it ourselves, we separate the burnables from the non-burnables, not having to worry about nasty bloody tampons is going to be great. 🙂
Wretha
I purchased one of these for all the obvious reasons, but have a hard time fitting it properly. It either constantly feels like it is about to fall out or it becomes difficult to remove. Advice?
Natalie, go to YouTube and do a search for the subject, you will find lots of videos with hints, tips and tricks.
I am a newbie about all of this and it helped me tremendously. I have just gone through my first Diva Cup period and I like using it, much better than tampons.
Wretha
I stumbled across this page via pinterest. Great topic and a lot of useful info. I’m wondering how this divacup differs from the Instead cups they sell at Walmart and such. I’ve tried those but they leaked horribly and couldn’t understand what the rave was about when folks talked about how great cups were. Have any of you used the disposable ones from Walmart and how do they differ?
Most disposeable cups are kind of like little plastic bags with a stiff rim to hold them in place. But the Divacup and others like it are made entirely of rubber or silicone, and hold their shape. They are flexible enough to be comfortable, but they do not fold or crinkle once in place. They are also worn in a different position. I had terrible leakage the last time I tried a disposable cup and couldn’t get it to sit right ether. But I’ve never had any leakage with the diva cup.
Well! I just (finally) purchased my first Diva Cup, Thanks you all guys for talking me into it, I’ll post back once I get it!
It came in the mail last night! I was about 24 hours into my period already, so i went straight into the bathroom to install(?) it! used a pad as well just in case. I don’t think i got it in quite properly, and we did get just a little leakage last night, but i emptied it in the shower this morning and it did carch an awful lot more than it leaked! win! so i think i’ve got it back in properly this morning so i’m excited to see how we go tonight!
but so far… I love it!
I found the Diva cup hard to remove and would shift down on me during the day. Instead I got a diaphragm for $20. Really great capacity and as an extra bonus (if you empty it first) it works great for sex during your cycle. If you forget to empty it beforehand you might get a little leakage. You’d be hard pressed to have sex with a Diva cup in place. If you haven’t gone the IUD route you can use it with spermicide for contraception at other times of the month. Personally I found sex was one thing that would help alleviate cramping and the diaphragm makes it mess free.
I just got my Mooncup about a week and a half ago, and as if waiting for the perfect timing, got my period later that evening. I can honestly say I have never had a more comfortable period in my life. This thing is a godsend and I wish I hadn’t waited so long to get one (they’re notoriously difficult to find/expensive in Australia, so it was actually more cost effective for me to get one from England but I kept putting it off)
Guys…. guysguysguysguysguys…. do you know what’s amazing!? Having a bath on the first day of your period! never done it before cuz didn’t want a bath full of blood…. not an issue with Diva Cup!