Hello lovelies!

So!  Thanks to this community, I've been a very happy DivaCup user for the past several years.  :-)  Just a question for all of you though, I know that the silicon naturally yellows a little bit, and that has happened, but my cup also seems to have yellowed a bit unevenly, and in some places it loooks more brown-ish than yellow.  Is this just blood staining, or?  I have boiled it recently, and I clean it with soap each time, just wondering about your own experiences.  It doesn't cause any troubles with the cup, so as long as it's not bad, I can't see any reason to switch cups.  :-)

Hey!

My first diva cup got a little dirty, I didn't clean it as well as I should have! (tisk, tisk)  I got a new one afterwards, I like there is no risk of TSS with the diva and the convience of it, it is always there! I am cleaning it better now :) Now I am wondering how to do I get rid of my old cup? Do I put it in the trash or sent it back to Diva?

Also, is it ok if the cup has stains on it around the holes and in the stem?

Thanks for your help,
Beth

I've used a DivaCup since January and everything's great but the stem is stained a dark brown-red and it's difficult to clean the four teeny holes around the rim. Am I doing a bad job of cleaning it? I only use antibacterial soap and hot water each time I take it out. The stain is what's bothering me the most, hopefully it's not a sign that bacteria is growing. =\ Thanks!

I've been using small lunette for over a year and have been very happy with it (before that I used small Mooncup UK and big Ladycup but wasn't entirely pleased with either mainy because of their stems).

I also own a large lunette and was considering switching to it for the first two days of my period when my flow is in its unfortunate stuck-pig-stage (smaller lunette tends to overflow after an hour and a half on my heaviest day - two hours if I'm lucky).
Now, is it wise/possible to use a larger size for first two days of the period and switch to the smaller size for the remaining four days?  Would switching to a small one after wearing the large one for a two days make the small one leak afterwards? Or make it entirely impossible to go back to small one permanently?
Do any of you switch back and forth between cup sizes on regular basis without trouble?

I find the firmness of the big lunette somewhat uncomfortable and the removal a bit painful and wouldn't like to switch to it permanently for now.

Now to the question #2 about Lunette Selene:

The lunette I've been using over a year tends to stain a lot on the last two days of my period; and by the end of the period has a uniform light yellowish colour that even hydrogen peroxide seems to be unable to completely get rid of now (my unused large lunette is still its shiney white). Does Lunette Selene stain less perhaps? Or does the staining show on blue as well?

I've been eying it for a few days now in Leastore and I'm looking for a little push to justify buying the pretty blue thing before it's gone ;)

Thank you for in advance for any advice you can offer me!

 Has anyone used OxyClean to clean their cup? It seems to work for everything and removes bloodstains (like hydrogen peroxide). I'm thinking it could help with odor but haven't tried it. I'm also wondering if it could hurt the silicon material. Any feedback? 

Hey ladies,

I looked through the tags and found some posts on staining, but I didn't find anything on this. Obviously our cups will endure some staining, and after all, it's hard to expect something to stay porcelain clean when it's floating in blood for a week every month. By the end of my period, my cup looks pretty rusty coloured. I don't do any extra cleaning than normal because, like I said, this is expected.

When MyCycle sends me an e-mail saying my period is about to start, it's always been at least a week (usually more like a month, err...) early but I pop the cup in anyway for peace of mind. Since the cup is just chilling in there for a week to a month with just normal discharge and no blood, I've noticed that my cup has re-whitened itself. By the time my period finally starts, my cup looks brand new and clear white!

I'm not sure if I'm just losing it or if our bodies really are that awesome. Anyone know specifically what it is that does this? Thanks. :D

I got a little stain on the rim of my DivaCup last cycle, I could not remove it with water nor boiling. And each day, the stain was getting more "pronounced". I plan to remove it with an hydrogen peroxide/water. I know it's pure aesthetic, but what if I want to show it off?

But with all the conflicting info, I wonder. Has any of you been using hydrogen peroxide on your cup on a regular basis for at least 5 years? If so, how is the cup holding up?

I have a MoonCup UK. For the past six years (since 2003) I've used it and cloth pads exclusively. Seriously awesome, I could never go back! I've converted several friends as well. I love the safety, environmental friendliness, and convenience.

I was debating whether it's time to buy a new cup. It's really not necessary, my cup is just fine, still working absolutely fantastic after more than half a decade. I've noticed several people here have multiple cups though, and it seems to me like a good way of supporting a company.

Then, today, I went to the Mooncup UK site and saw that I just missed their cutoff date for ordering from the US, that they no longer ship to USA addresses. At the bottom of the page it says:

Advance warning: from 1st February 2009 we will no longer supply Mooncups to customers with a delivery address in the USA.

(Obviously they need to update their site, since this warning is no longer advanced.)

I'm so heartbroken, this just hit me like a blow. I wasn't paying attention. If I'd known this, I would've bought a couple more.

I searched back in the community a ways, and I can't find mention of this development recently, but perhaps someone posted about it a long time ago, and I missed it, or maybe it's not marked under the tag, or maybe I'm just not seeing it (highly likely, I'm getting over the stomach flu).

Is there any place selling them that WILL ship to the US, or any US sellers of the MoonCup UK? I am guessing that maybe I could be happy with another cup, I've just loved my MCUK so much, and it fits me so well (I can't feel it, it rarely leaks, it's held up to my rough handling for more than half a decade), I wanted another one. If I can't find another MCUK, for those of you who have a MCUK and other cups, what is the cup closest to it? Not just in size, as I can see from the charts, but in flexibility and so on? (I am vegan, so no Keeper for me.)

And, unrelated, I admit, I don't seem to take care of my cup as fastidiously as others here. I don't boil it, and I've never soaked it in anything for stains. My cleaning method has always been to wash it well during my period with hot water, wash it with mild soap afterwards, and use a fingernail scrubby brush to brush off stains (but it's not 100%), and then wash it again with mild soap right before I use it for my next period. So it doesn't look as pristine as the photos I see here.

Not sure whether I should, or not. As mentioned I've used it for YEARS, and the stains have obviously not presented a problem, but is there a reason to worry about it, or is it purely aesthetic?

I’ve been reading through past posts on here, just accumulating knowledge that will help me throughout the life of my cups.

One thing I’ve taken notice of is the things everyone is using to clean/de-stain their cups. I’ve seen vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, soap containing tea tree oil all mentioned, but the DivaCup website (http://www.divacup.com/en/home/faqs/) under the FAQ’s says: “Please do not use vinegar, bleach or hydrogen peroxide as these will damage the silicone. Follow the instructions in the FAQ ‘How do I clean The DivaCup?’.” And under the ‘How do I clean…’ section, it also says, “Do not use vinegar, tea tree oil, scented soap, antibacterial soap, hydrogen peroxide, bleach or harsh chemicals as these may damage the silicone and ruin the cup.”

The DivaCup website also suggests replacing the cup once a year.

I know these cups are made from medical grade silicone, the same type used to make artificial replacement heart valves. It wouldn’t fly if these valves needed replacing once a year. I realize that, as these cups are reusable, the company does have a vested interest in more people buying more products from them more often, but every other product that does give a lifespan for their cups is closer to 10 years, which I think is closer to the reality of the situation.

Do the cleaning products mentioned earlier actually compromise silicone of the cups? I don’t want to assume that the DivaCup company is saying not to use (what sound like on this community to be ) the best methods of stain removal in the hopes that people will decide to replace their cups when they become stained. But I don’t want to use anything that will damage my cup either.

So, using the currency converter, it seems a miacup is around 41 bucks for me and a large lunette would be 42 dollars with shipping for me from leastore.  They even out to be around the same price.  

How does a miacup compare to a lunette?  How does it compare to cleaning?  I know my Diva has discolration already.  I know lunette website recommends people under 20 and virgins to have small size whereas I'm not a virgin but I'm 21.   I really like thier stems because I know my Diva pokes me but I need it for removal.  The large lunette has a higher capcity and that might help my leaking(or I'm not inserting it right).  How does the material compare between the two?  I noticed a difference with the diva and Mooncup US.

I currently own a small diva cup.  I'm 21.

OK, so my cup was getting pretty funky looking and I couldn't seem to remove the staining.  I was frustrated and threw it in some water with biz stain remover in it.  It cleaned it up like a charm!.  Afterward I washed it thoroughly several times and boiled it as well to make sure any residue from the stain removal process was gone.  Now I am second guessing what I did and wondering if it is safe to use for my next cycle. What do you all think?

Hi,

I am just wondering as a lot of people boil their cups.... is there anyone who rinses/soaks their cup with cold water first before sterilising it and has never experienced stains?

I've done a search through my cupboards for anything looking like hydrogen peroxide but all I cam up with was bleach, and that doesn't have anything written on it saying what was in it. I also found a powder bleach that said it doesn't contain chlorine bleach. I live in Australia so it it possible this stuff is hydrogen peroxide? I just don't want to soak my cup in (diluted) anything without knowing if its safe for the silicone and for me. Is that absolutely the only thing I can use to get stains out of my cup?

I have had my Diva cup for about a year now, and I LOVE IT! To clean it, I usually boil it, or use a hydrogen peroxide/water soak. I have just now noticed tiny brown specks around the bottom rim of the cup, and lower edge of the rim, if that makes sense. I have tried boiling and scrubbing them off, but they don't come off. Any suggestions of what to do?

Hi everyone,

   I'm asking this question for a friend. She said that her cup had turned "blood red", and she wanted to know if this is normal, or if there is anything she can do about it.


Additionally, I'm running an alternative menstrual products workshop at my college, with cups and cloth pads as the stars of the show. Do you have any suggestions, or information sources that could be helpful? Also, if you can remember back to when you were just beginning, what did you need/want to know before switching from disposables?

Thanks so much!

I was wondering if it would be safe to bleach my cup with NapiSan? The active ingredient is Sodium Percarbonate? (I use it at the moment to bleach my baby's nappies before washing them.) I would still sterilize the cup after - I just want to get the colour out, preferably without buying yet another cleaning product. I will get hydrogen peroxide as well if I have to, but was hoping to avoid it.

Separate question:

Would it be too weird to put the cup in the same sterilizer as the baby bottles? I mean, clean silicone is clean silicone - this is just the sterilizing bit after the bleaching and washing. They both came out of my body, after all, but I think my husband would be freaked out by it. OTOH, what he doesn't know what won't hurt him since he doesn't wash or sterilize the baby's bottles - but that's a whole 'nother issue!

Any opinions?

Hi ladies
I've been using my Mooncup for about 9 months now, and it had slowly started turning a yellowish color, but I was knew this was normal and it was discoloring so slowly I really didn't notice. However, after my last cycle, the upper third of the cup has dark brown smudge-ish stains all over it. So my questions are
(1) What can I do to get rid of the stains? I tend to show it off to people, but if it's got these gross stains I'm a little less inclined. My girlfriends think my cup is gross as it is. I tried a dillution of rubbing alcohol for a few hours today, but that didn't seem to work.
(2) Why did it stain all of a sudden? My two hypothesis are, a) I just started on the Nuvaring (I think I posted here about it several weeks back) so I don't know if perhaps there is a chemical reaction or b) I boiled it for the first time just before my last cycle, because I had run a workshop (lol, I posted about that too) and lots of people had touched it.
Thanks in advance!

EDIT: After this cycle, a mild soap scrub and a 1:2 hydrogen peroxide soak worked like a charm. She looks just like new! thanks again.

Menstrual cup love is... feeling slightly smug as one of your friends rushes frantically around a foreign city in the middle of the night trying to find an open shop where she can buy tampons because her period has come unexpectedly early and she only has one tampon in her bag.

I do feel a bit mean about that. On the other hand, it's coming up for 1 year 6 months since I first starting using a Mooncup (uk) and I can't imagine ever going back to tampons. Eck.

Now to the question. My year-and-a-half old cup is totally grungy looking. I put it in sterilising solution last night for about 20-30 mins and then spent a further 15 mins scrubbing it with an old toothbrush to try and get it looking a bit nicer. The problem is the lettering, which is still absolutely disgusting.

Is there something stronger I can use on my cup to get it clean? I've read that some of you guys use a Hydrogen Peroxide solution... is it possible to buy it in the UK because I've never seen it here.

Thanks.

I'm curious about this, as I sometimes see questions about both subjects. I do not boil my cup, never have, and I have had it for over a year and it looks pretty much the same as it did the day I bought it. I'm wondering if maybe boiling increases discoloration? 

So, do you boil your cup or not? Is your cup discolored? Have you ever used a product to remove discoloration?

so i read a lot of posts about cleaning solutions for the diva cup, and there seems to be a bit of controversy. from what i gathered,

- boiling is not recommended by the diva cup company; a lot of people do it, though it's not absolutely necessary.*
- hydrogen peroxide is effective for getting rid of stains and smells, but will it harm the silicone?
- rubbing alcohol won't harm the silicone, but does it get rid of stains and smells?

i'm living in a college dorm, so i'd rather not boil it if i have to. hydrogen peroxide vs isopropyl alcohol? is there better 'cure-all' solution for this thing?

thanks in advance!

*edit: apparently, boiling is recommended by the diva cup company. o.O one of the posts i read mentioned that it wasn't.

hey everyone. i've been using a divacup for the past 5 months but just recently found this community. i'm so glad i finally have someone to talk to about my cup problems. anyway.. i have a question for you guys (i will probably come up with more later, but for now i only have 1 :P) how do you keep you cup from turning a goldish color? i clean my cup regularly (boiling it) but its starting to turn brown/gold and i would like it to be back to how it was when i recieved it. is there any solution or something i could rub or soak it in to make it look new again? thanks in advance

Oookay... it's been a long time since I've posted here (or even visited, really). This is primarily due to the fact that my period, being the strange beastie that it is, has been somewhat absent since my first run-through with the Diva. Well, okay, not entirely, but it's not caused me major problems. Getting the cup out is now pretty routine for me; I still do get bloody fingers many times, but I haven't been having nearly so many issues with being unable to get it into a grabable position. Insertion ease depends on the day... sometimes I just CANNOT relax, but I generally succeed in the end. My major triumph this go-round has been to somehow magically succeed in getting my index finger up my vagina when my cup's in. This was previously impossible, and I don't know how I've managed it, but I have. This makes checking/releasing the seal easier. Also, thanks to babyslime, I've found my cervix and can make sure the cup is properly positioned around it.

All of that was basically just an update, in case, for some reason, anyone remembered me and cared. Now, the problem...

The stem of my Diva (which has been trimmed to the first little ridge) has inexplicably picked up brown stains, which seem to be getting worse with time. I've never noticed them before this cycle. They won't go away with scrubbing, scraping, or soap, as far as I can tell. I've noticed that there seems to be a fair amount of watery brown mucous in my vagina, too, so I'm guessing that's the source of the stains, but I'm at a loss for why it won't come off my cup. Thoughts, anyone?

~Monkeyscience, sorry if she grossed you out

So, a while back, I was feeling particularly in love with my diva cup (size 1, smaller), and I took a bunch of glamour shots of it.  I wanted to share them with you.  The cup has been used for at least two years now, and it's acquired a nice golden hue. 

Hope you enjoyed!

I have been reading many of the posts but I have not seen the answer to my question.  What kind of soap do you use to clean the cup after you remove it?  I have a diva cup and I was thinking of buying the diva wash.  I find it to be a little expensive and I would love to hear about less expensive alternatives.

When I'm done with my cycle, I'll remove my cup & give it one last, good rinse (usually in the shower), but it is almost always slightly discolored. I've found an absolutely fool-prrof way to get rid of any stains: I fill my small-size Diva about half way with hydrogen peroxide, spill it into a glass, and fill the rest of the glass up with hot water. I usually just leave the glass on my bookshelf for a few days (I know it doesn't need quite that long, but it won't hurt it & I'm lazy), and it'll emerge looking just as it did when it arrived in the mail.

My question, though, is this: On some days, the cup will be sitting at the bottom of the glass. Otherdays it'll be floating at the top. Does anyone else soak their cup for a few days? Does your cup sink, float, or varying stages of both? Just for curiosity's sake...