hey everyone!  i just got my cup in the mail today and started my period the same day (good coincidence!).  i put it in with very little problem.  i guess i'm just a little worried about if it actually opened all the way.  when i twisted the stem, it didnt twist all that easily.  is there any way to tell if it's fully open?

also, does anyone have suggestions for cheap soaps to use to clean it that won't irritate my vagina?

thanks!

Hello all! Been lurking for a couple of months and after finally figuring out how to post on this darn website, I would like to ask some questions! About me--36, no children and using a small Diva. Had a mostly successful first cycle with one major leak (I think it was too high).

I have read here about women to say that their cup is placed correctly when it is latching on to their cervix and this confuses me. I know some vaginas are longer (or shorter) than others, but my understanding is that the Diva Cup is supposed to seal to your pelvic floor. If mine was sealing to my cervix it would be way too high and I am pretty sure it would leak. I also read about women who "kegal" their cup up to get it to sit right, but if I did that I think it would be too high! Can ya'll advise?

Also, I am deployed to Afghanistan right now and the water we use in the shower is technically "potable", but they say not to actually drink it. Am I safe to wash my cup with the water from the shower, or should I use actual bottled water? The water situation makes me nervous here--someone put cyanide in the water of another base nearby (no one was hurt), but I guess if that happens I have more to worry about than the integrity of my cup, huh? :) Sorry, a little combat humor there...

So if anyone can offer me tips on placement (low or high?)and how I might handle the water situation here I would appreciate it! Thank you in advance!

First things first; I'm sorry if I'm duplicating a post, but I couldn't find anything that pertained to this.

Q:
Do you think it'd be okay to clean my cup (Miacup) with Kroger "Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol (70%) First Aid Antiseptic Rubbing & Massaging Wipes"? The inactive ingredient is purified water....(other 30%). I don't see how I couldn't use it, but I wanted to make sure before I went ahead and used it!

Thanks everyone!

I got my DivaCup a few months ago, and I've been in love with it, but the other day I had it in and I needed to adjust it in a public restroom and I dropped it in a public toilet. I'm worried about possibly contracting STDs if I use it again. Will boiling the cup get rid of the risk of STDs?

I've been using menstrual cups for, oh, almost 10 years now, quite happily. The current model is a Mooncup that I've had for maybe 5 years. Yay, menstrual cups!
But: Last cycle I noticed a dark deposit in the stem, at the very top, i.e. the bit at the bottom of the cup itself. Boiling, boiling with baking soda, soaking with biological stain remover (normally my go-to method to bleach the cup) did nothing. No idea whether this is blood that somehow got up there or mold or what, but I want it gone!

Any ideas? I am considering using a syringe to get some bleach up there...

I moved from a rubber Keeper to a Lunette a couple of years ago, and with both I found the same thing: I would forget about it for a day, sometimes, and a horrible smell would occur which would cling to the cup -- and my hands, which even soap would not budge!

This happened again last week, and in the past I have tried methods mentioned on here, except for the neem oil and rubbing alcohol ones, because shelling out $10 for a bottle on the offchance it would work when I would only use it for the one thing wasn't really cutting any ice with my budget.

Neither have I ever gone with peroxide, what with it not being recommended and all that.

Tea tree oil didn't work; it made it smell tea tree-y and bad smell mixed; ew.

Vinegar didn't work, although I had high hopes; it mellowed it a bit, not so funky.

Baking soda and boiling water didn't work, even being soaked for a day.

Someone mentioned leaving it out in the sun, so I washed it out well with hot water and soap and put it outside in full sun ... and, going with tradition, forgot about it. Three days later I remembered it and fetched it back.

It's a MIRACLE. Not only does it have no smell at all, but the sun bleached it back to its original translucent whiteness, as it'd been developing a distinct yellow tinge. It felt all right, not sticky or anything, but I figure if you can put silicone bakeware in the oven a bit of sun won't hurt it, right?

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to post that I just ended my first cycle using the DivaCup and I really do love it. It was a rough couple of days trying to find out which fold worked best for me and I had some soreness, but reading the post I realized I could use some lube...so I'm going to go get some (water based) in time for my next cycle. I've tried the C fold, punch down fold (which was my favorite until I discovered the extreme 7", The seven fold and my new favorite which I mentioned...the extreme seven, it opens easily with minimal "suckage" LOL some of the folds wanted to latch on to anything in it's path including the sides of my vagi LOL not too pleasant. I'm AM assuming that the extreme seven (haven't seen a pic) is the same as the 7 fold but folded allll the way over to the left side of the cup and down...almost like the cup is folded into a triangle??? anyway whatever I just explained...works wonders. 
Ok, so I love my cup and I had a wonderful period and now that it's the end..I knew I wanted to disinfect it. However, I did NOT want to have a special pan and spoon just for the occasion. Seems like a lot to me. SOOO I thought and I thought and finally said "hey wait...I keep all my old butter containers for left over, I wonder if my cup would fit in one of those, then I could fill it with water, throw my cup in and put it in the microwave for about 3 mins"...so I tried it and it works!!! I've posted pics just so you can get the idea, then you don't have to deal with a spoon and big bulky pot just to boil your cup. I rinsed the container out after use and will keep it to use over and over again and it dosn't take up much space at all (on top of my medicine cabinet in the bathroom). Anyway, I brought the water in the container to a boil in the microwave with the cup in it and the lid of the container resting just on top....VERY CONVENIENT!!!
Thought I would share that with you ladies.
Enjoy!
Jessica









P.S. good way to recycle your plastics. I use things like this for just about everything...I just found a new use!!! LOL

I hope this question isn't too silly, but do you boil your cup in a pot thats specifically used for that purpose? Can you sterilize the cup in a pot you use everday for cooking or would that be unhygenic? It's just that right now I can't afford to buy a cup and a new pot...

edit: Thank you all for your inputs :) I think I might use steralizing tablets - they cost about $6 for a pack of thirty and you dont even need a whole one for each wash. It just seems less risky because I've heard of people accidently dry boiling their cup.

 When you remove your cup, do you just dump the blood in the toilet and then re-insert it without washing it? Do you wash/boil it before reinsertion? Do you just rinse it with tap water?
Have you ever inserted it in the shower? Do you just rinse out the blood and wash it out with the shower water and then reinsert it?

What do YOU do when your cup is full? 

Yep, did all the fix-ups people suggested, put in the extra benefits, and now its finished.

Pamphlet can be found here.

Also, just finished my second cycle on the ladycup, and am still delighted. I spent the whole time worrying about leaks and overflowing - but it was a waste of time. The cup is awesome.

I almost feel like having my period is too easy now. I keep waiting for problems, and there isn't any. I even did my first public toilet change, and it was a breeze. I was a little concerned about wiping the outside with toilet paper when I didn't wash the cup after, because of the leftover fibres. So I wiped only the inside, and just chugged it back in. Would there be any problems with not wiping the outside? I know some folks don't wipe at all, but I get that drip on the edge, so I want to.

Since my menstrual hygeine is awesome now (if i do say so myself!) after converting to a Lunette 2 yrs ago, I thought I'd make an effort to improve my oral hygeine by swapping my dental floss for a packet of those new 'dental flosser toothpicks' -  the ones with the miniature bottle brush on one end and a toothpick on the other. Unfortunately my teeth are so crowded and crammed together that I couldn't use them and they just made my gums bleed.

Not one to like waste I thought...what could I use this this $4.50 pack of flosser sticks for?? And it came to me, I could use it to clean the four holes in my Lunette! It fits perfectly and scrubs them just like a proper pipe cleaner! I was previously using a bamboo BBQ stick (yes, the sort you poke meat onto). They are now part of my 'cup cleaning kit'. Ingenious!

Just thought I'd share!  :)  

Hello everyone!  I'm looking into getting a cup, and have actually spent about 2 hours poking around the forum learning all kinds of interesting things.  However, I still have a few questions that haven't been answered.  I'm sorry if these have been here before, I just haven't seen the threads!

1. I'm a plus sized woman.  Like a 22W (please don't judge).  I really want to try a cup, but sometimes reaching my vagina to insert a tampon is difficult.  It's easiest for me to do this (and reach my cervix) while squatting down.  Any other BBW have experiences (positive or negative) to help me make my decision?
2. I have a long vagina to begin with (5"6', but my gyno always has to use a long speculum!), and know that a longer cup such as the DivaCup would probably be best, but because I have an IUD, I'd like a cup with a loop as opposed to a stem.  It just seems like a loop would be easier to grasp (given my size), and would put less stress on my IUD and strings.  On a side note, I've only had the IUD for a month, and will probably wait another month or two before using a cup, to make sure I won't use it incorrectly and risk expelling the IUD.  Or maybe just until my super plus tampons run out, who knows!  Anyway, what are the brands of cups that have a loop?
(Paragard users, please feel free to tell me which cup you use, as the flow is supposed to be so much heavier and I don't want to empty all the time!  How often do you empty, and how full is the cup?)
3. WHERE do you empty your cup?  Do you flush the contents and then rinse in the sink?  This might be a silly question, but I work with 3 men, and would hate to clog the sink with my vagina's ex-contents and really gross them out.
4. Has anyone had luck buying a cup on eBay?  I notice they run about $20, is this cheaper than buying in the store?

Again, I'm sorry if these have already been answered.  I appreciate any guidance you can provide!  Thanks!

well, things were going fairly well until today.  I am getting the hang of things and today when I went to empty my cup, I dropped it in the toilet :o(  I have searched this site over and over but Im really concerned.  It was after a #2 Im embarrassed to say.  The cup landed on the TP so not totally in the water.  I took it out, rinsed it in HOT water, wiped it out w/ alcohol, stuck it in the micro for 5 min, the wiped it out again w/ alcohol and rinsed it in HOT water.  Is this good enough or should I do something else???get a new cup?  Im so upset about this!  Thanks for your help...oh, and those of you who dont remove it while on the toilet, how do you remove it.  I am now looking for new ideas

 I read recently on the Diva Cup website that you can not wash or rinse your cup with non-potable water.  They say this can lead to serious infections and health problems, and provide a faulty link for more information.  I'm living in a developing country, and have been washing with non-potable water, and just realized this is a problem.  

Does anyone have any more info on this?   Anyone else in this situation and have tips for washing? 
 

I went to Meluna’s English website, because I was curious about what they suggest for cleaning, with the different material they use (TPE).  But when I clicked on FAQ, it was still in German.  I'm not sure if its my browser, or if I just goofed up, or what...  But when you use a “translator”, the grammar and sentence structure gets a bit twisted, and some parts are difficult to make sense of.  So I wanted to post my translation of their cleaning tips here for anyone who is thinking of getting this cup (or has it). 

 

( Translation Here... )

my roommate has some of this: http://sliquid.com/splash.htm in the shower. it says it's formulated such as to not disturb your vaginal pH and all that, but i didnt want to use it for cup stuff until i checked with you smart people. the website, if you cant access it, says this:

-100% Vegan friendly
-Intimate cleansing formula
-Removes odor causing bacteria
-Glycerin free and paraben free
-Hypoallergenic and non-toxic
-Formulated as an alternative to harsh soaps and water
-Perfectly balanced to complement and woman's pH

Ingredients:
Purified H2O, Sodium Coco Sulfate*, Coco Betaine*, Coco Amide*, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, EGMS, DMDM Hydantoin
*derived from coconut oil


What think you? Can i use it to wash my (very sensitive and prone to yeast) self? and my cup?

Hi Everyone,

I am a new user for the Diva Cup (I have the smaller size of the two) and this cycle is my third using it. The past two cycles everything was great except minor leaking and I pretty much fell in love and tried to convert all my friends haha :).

Anyways I just finished my third cycle with it but this time my vagina felt really irritated about the second time I put the cup it in. Also, it really hurt and was a lot harder to put the cup in (it pretty much felt like my vagina got smaller and was too small to fit the cup). I stuck through with the pain except for night time, when I used a pad. This was my first time using a pad since I got the Diva Cup and I have to admit it kind of felt like a defeat. 

The only difference I can think of from my last cycles is that instead of boiling it right after my period ended, this time I forgot and then rinsed it with really hot water for a couple of minutes at the beginning of my cycle. Do you think this has anything to do with it, as in I might not have killed all the bacteria or something?

Thanks for reading this and I appreciate the help :)

 

I'm very excited about using cups & think they are a great idea.  I bought the instead cups to start with.  I'm on my 3rd day of using them.  I have a few questions/concerns & haven't been able to find what I want when I searched so I'll just ask my questions here:

~ I know of one other poster that uses her insteads as if it was reuseable & that's what I plan on doing.  Is there anyone else that does that?  Those that do when/if you boil use between cycles how long are you boiling it for?  Storage between cycles?  how do you handle that? 

~ now the first couple of days i had no issues, but those were my light flow days.  I can have very light months or VERY HEAVY months then there are months i'll have light or heavy days...lol.  i started off this month light & no problem with the instead, easy to insert, easy to remove, no leaking, but like i said very light flow.  today my flow is heavier & i've noticed some leaking plus i can feel it in there today.  it doesn't hurt, but i feel it there.  i'm inserting it the same way.  any thoughts on what i may be doing wrong?

I am on my second month of the Divacup - LOVING it! -  and am concerned as to how I should be cleaning it daily. Looking through the memories didn't give me the information that I needed.  The instructions for the Divacup say to wash it with warm soapy water when you change it, but I am not sure what type of soap to use.  I generally have bath & body works antibacterial soap, and a variety of LUSH soaps availabe. We don't usually keep Dove or Ivory soap in the house. 

At the moment I am rinsing it with warm water every time I take it out. Is that enough, or should I find something else to rinse with every time?

While discussing cups with friends who have recently had babies one of them mentioned sterilization bags that pop in the microwave for 3 minutes and are used for bottle nipples, pump parts etc. I was wondering is anyone else had heard of them or had tried them on cups... I thought it might be easier than boiling & you can reuse each bag up to 20 times!

The pH of the lunette wash is 3.5, the pH of the Diva wash is 5.5. Those are both acidic as is the pH of the vagina . Here is a fascinating page about the pH of the vagina. :

http://www.sweetspotlabs.com/vulvaphbalance.shtml

It says, "Should the vagina's pH change and become more basic (less acidic), weakening this natural defense mechanism, other bacteria will proliferate in the vagina. "  

Most soaps and cleaning agents are basic. This could be one reason that people might get infections from using a cup. A generic soap, even if it is "mild", is basic. Also, hydrogen peroxide is slightly basic. Obviously, you are going to try to rinse it thoroughly before inserting, but maybe a residue remains. That could be a big reason why people get infections from cups. Has anyone had this experience?

So, typical, I have a yeasty cup. This is my sort of luck, so I'm not surprised. I read about soaking it in apple cider vinegar, but what if I just covered it in gentian violet-or soaked it, I guess. (i'm unfamiliar with the consistency.) I know it would dye it purple...which is almost an incentive unto itself. ;) If it matters, I have a size 1 diva. Would it harm the cup to cover it in gentian violet?

I am a cup user, and I also have lived for the past 2 years in a college dorm with public restrooms. This really wasn't that bad, as I rarely saw other people in our restroom so I could empty my cup, step out of the stall, rinse and reinsert. Now I am an upperclassman, and I get to move into the nicest dorm on campus, we have suite style bathrooms that pose a bit of a problem. Our sink is in our dorm room, with a room with a toilet and shower stall in a connecting room that connects to another dorm room. I'd also like to keep my cup use a secret, not that I am embaressed about it, I just don't think that is something everyone in my suite should know. Any ideas how to make the cup work this year? Should I go back to tampons for just this year?

Hi everyone :) I just moved into an apartment where we have a toilet room (literally just a room with a toilet) and then on the other side of the apartment, a bathroom (sink, cabinets, bath). I'm wondering how I should wash my cup? Thanks!

Just checking...you could autoclave a silicone rubber cup, couldn't you?

I'm not planning to, but it came up with a friend who was saying she was totally grossed out by the idea of buying a used cup, and while I understood, I am pretty confident it could be made safe. Couldn't it?

EDIT: Just to answer some of your questions, I think my friend is just mentally grossed out by the idea of sticking something up her vagina that was in someone else's (who she didn't know) vagina. That makes this kind of an academic discussion at this point, as she won't be buying a used cup. I'm new to cup usage, but I think I have one that works for me (Diva) and hope I won't have to buy another one for a bit. However, when I do, I would consider used. I understand the initial mental gross-out factor, but, logically, I can't find that it's any less safe than sex (and by safe I mean likely to give me some disease the other person had, be it yeast infection or STD). Thanks all for your responses!