Bought a mooncup!!

[Helsbells]

Finally took the plunge and bought a mooncup from amazon about 5 minutes ago!!
I decided that I can't even try using one if I don't buy one, so I might as well buy one then give it a go. (I mean it's not really like you can borrow one from a friend to see if you like it before buying one!)

[JillStephens7]

I procrastinated for years before getting mine, thought it wouldn't fit etc. etc. as have have had problems in hospitals with 'instruments' not fitting.

So glad I eventually took the plunge

It's soooper and I love it. Hope you love yours too

xx

[Kezz]

I'm a convert too, it makes life around 'that time' so much easier!

[JulieSherris]

Yay!!

About blummin' time too!

[Jessiebean]

Good work, once you get the hang of it you won't ever look back. I have a Diva cup and use it with reuseable pantyliners. So cheap, so eco friendly and "that time" is shorter and less painful now for who knows what reason. Also much more convenient!
Hurrah!

[sortanormalish]

My uterus was my greatest enemy.
I found the diasy cup and then the angels sang and light shone down and I was freed!

Then I had my inner workings fixed and discovered what a 'normal' cycle is.

I think every girl should recieve one at her first papsmear.

[Green Aura]

There is one small problem with them. Don't get me wrong - I used one and it was fantastic.

But I don't need it any more, so what do I do with it? Can't really pass it on. It's still sitting in its little cotton bag - it was such a good friend I can't bare to chuck it out

[naomij]

There is one small problem with them. Don't get me wrong - I used one and it was fantastic.

But I don't need it any more, so what do I do with it? Can't really pass it on. It's still sitting in its little cotton bag - it was such a good friend I can't bare to chuck it out

that made me laugh! Maybe you could embroider a little moon on the bag and wear it around your neck in celebration of your womanhood!

I keep hearing wonderful things about mooncups etc and really must be brave and try one so thanks for posting Also sometime I will try sewing myself some reusable liners, maybe I could be brave enough to at least try them towards the end when I don't really need anything but do need something...iykwim

Do you think I could wash them with the nappies, do you soak them? Sorry thats a bit off topic

[RobHed]

As a chap, all this has gone wayyyyy over my head - could someone explain what a mooncup is to this poor mortal ?

Cheers m'dears

Rob

[Annpan]

Rob - hope this isn't TMI - A mooncup is a reusable silicon 'cup' that ladies use to collect menstrual fluids at that time of the month. Sort of a replacement for tampons.


I am most upset that I can't use mine But I do have a few reusable pads, I must make/get more.

[Millymollymandy]

Rob - if you really want more info there's a 9 page thread about them here http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... =52&t=6780

I guarantee there will be TMI in some of that thread though.

[RobHed]

Not TMI at all and many thanks for the clarification ! Are there any health problems associated with using silicone ? Can the Mooncup be recycled or can it just be buried and left to decompose ?

Cheers

Rob

[Annpan]

Rob,

The mooncup is infinaetley reusable - well, I guess until it falls apart

It is made from medical grade silicon, I couldn't tell you if it is recycleable but as far as I know there are no health issues created from the silicon itself

But... most 'feminine hygine products' contain masses of nasty chemicals, some women notice a decrease in period pains once they start using a mooncup, often associated with the bleaching chemicals in standard products or with the 'absorbent' chemicals.These standard products are also flushed into our waterways or sent to landfill where they would take several decades to break down. Most of them include plastics of one kind or another.

All of the women I have spoken to who have tried one love it.... except one.

Sadly there are a few of us who have suffered at the hands of nasty post-childbirth surgery and for us it is not an option

[Susie]

[ Also sometime I will try sewing myself some reusable liners, maybe I could be brave enough to at least try them towards the end when I don't really need anything but do need something...iykwim

Do you think I could wash them with the nappies, do you soak them? Sorry thats a bit off topic

OK, TMI answer - I use reusable cloth pads, I bought mine from etsy but you could definitely sew them, I will do this next time (does anyone have a link to a pattern?)
I find mine more effective towards the end - I wouldn't want to be rollerskating down a beach in some white jeans with a labrador like on the adverts if that was all I was using for the first couple of days (perhaps I should give the mooncup a try!). I have one with hemp in it, it is definitely more absorbent than the others, so if you're going to sew some I would recommend that,

I don't soak them - you are supposed to, but mine are ok, and I've had them a good few years now! - I just throw them in the wash fairly quickly, I normally wash them with towels or something like that which goes through a hot wash, so I would have thought they'd go well with nappies.

(Hoping no-one is shocked at my low laundry standards )

[sortanormalish]

Someone, somewhere up there on the thread said something about trying a mooncup at the end of a cycle when they don't need much.

Don't be afraid to take the plunge. Imagine the most absorbent pad you can find, usually the huge nighttime pads most women buy one package a year of. Now imagine the most absorbent tampon, the kind that spread out rather than lengthwise and hold waaaaay more, the ones bigger than a man's thumb before they're used. I was using about 10 a day of each (a tampon with the pad so I could wait a couple hours before going back to the restroom) and I kept a hospital bed pad under me while I slept and carried two changes of clothes everwhere with me.

Then I got a daisy cup (just a different name for mooncup). I still had to go to the restroom every hour, but I wasn't changing clothes twice in a workday. Just one discrete little item, that starts to move a bit to let you know it's full. I've had some corrective surgery since then, but I still use my cup 4 days a month.

I checked, a daisy cup is recyclable, so I would assume the mooncup is too. But you have to take it too a medical supply recycling center. Our local hospital allows people to recycle used med equipment through them. Worth asking about.