Dancing around the mooncup

[alias_sqbr]

About a year ago I decided to investigate alternative menstrual products, partly out of eco-sensiblity but mainly because they sounded really useful.

Years and years ago I bought a felt pad (I think it was a Rad Pad, but if so they have drastically changed their designs) from a closing down sale at a hippy store, which I was pretty happy with until I left it to soak in a bucket and forgot about it, at which point it went mouldy and I threw it out. They said to just fold it around your underwear and let friction hold it up but I also used a safety pin. It was pretty bulky but cottony "wings" were a nice change from plastic. I should hunt down a replacement.

Now apart from the environmental angle, something which struck me recently is that there might be a way to avoid the annoying situation of being stuck at someone's house and unable to (a)Replace your pad or (b)get rid of it. So my next purchases had these issues in mind.

I then bought Eenee Eco Pads. These are just cotton pads with no sticky section which are held on by friction inside a small harness which clicks onto your underwear. These are terrible, at least for me: they keep falling out! Or at the very least getting all squished and misshapen. Still, it is useful just being able to flush them down the toilet.

Finally, the Mooncup: a latex cup which acts kind of like a tampon which you empty and rinse to re-use. I kept hearing good things, so I ordered one online. I am definitely quite happy with it. It took a little getting used to and emptying it is rather..visceral but it's So Convenient for when I'm out: If I have private access to a sink I can empty it and clean it without needing a bin or extra pads etc and even if all there is a is a toilet (as at work: I am not pouring this stuff down the sink where my workmates can see. Eww) I can just wipe it out. I've always found tampons uncomfortable and the Mooncup doesn't bother me the same way, and as an absent minded person it's happily not a risk for toxic shock EDIT: so apparently it is.

The one problem with the Mooncup is that it's kind of expensive given it doesn't work well for everyone. There's a cheaper version called a "Keeper" they had for sale at the Maylands Environment House (where I got the Eenee from) but I don't know how good it is.

EDIT: Lots of very useful information in the comments! Thanks you guys!

Comments

[sanguinity]

There was a semi-disposable thing for sale here for a (short) while that was in effect a mooncup. I liked the reusability, but ultimately hated the design. When they leak, they gush. And I've never had success with emptying it in a toilet stall without making a mess. In the end, I pretty much couldn't wear it to work, and that really cut down how useful it was to me.

I haven't tried one of the more expensive, non-disposable designs, but I've been leery about dropping the cash on them when I knew I had issues with similarly-designed products.

I did use reusable pads for a while, but I could always smell them, which I didn't like. Not raunchy or anything, just I could smell the fresh blood, which made me self-conscious. :-/

:: ...as an absent minded person it's happily not a risk for toxic shock. ::

It's nice to hear that I'm not the only one who can forget whether I have a tampon in or not.

Well, not nice, because of the TSS-risk thing. But you know.

[http://users.livejournal.com/doctor_k_/]

Sorry to break it to you all, but toxic shock has less to do with the tampons themselves, and much more to do with bacteria who love being left alone in a blood-rich environment.
You're still at risk if you leave your Mooncup/Divacup device in place for too long.

[alias_sqbr]

I have no idea how it works for other people, but my mooncup leaks (when full) much like a full tampon, no gushing involved.

I can understand not wanting to make the experiment though.

It's nice to hear that I'm not the only one who can forget whether I have a tampon in or not.

Well, not nice, because of the TSS-risk thing. But you know.

Heh, yes, me too :)

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

Is the reusable cup you're thinking of the Instead Cup? (http://www.softcup.com/)

Insteads and reusable cups are designed completely different. Most people who try one unsuccessfully find the other is great.

[seaya.livejournal.com]

A harness is like the bad old days. *shudder*

I find tampons to be non uncomfortable, well putting them in sucks, but once they are in, you shouldn't feel a thing. and they are thinner than that cup thing. I can't bring myself to do it, because it's thicker than a tampon. I only use tampons when I'm swimming, anyhow. Normally, I use plastic pads with loads of absorption. If someone wants to magically cure my nerve issue and other nether region problems, I'll do environmental stuff. But, since they cannot, I couldn't care less.

[alias_sqbr]

Oh yes, if they don't work for you don't use them. I still use plastic pads since I haven't felt like trying a different enviro one after how terrible the Eenee ones are. Life's too short and difficult to be virtuous about EVERYTHING.

I think my issue with tampons is they dry me out which makes my skin all irritated, not the size, so the mooncup is better for me. If you have sensitive nerves then it might indeed be uncomfortable, I don't know. Though you do squish them up to insert them, so it's not as bad as it looks :)

[auntpol.livejournal.com]

I find my mooncup way more comfortable than a tampon because it's less "scratchy" and also bends to the shape of my vagina much better than a tampon does. The silicon is really quite squishy!

[flyingblogspot.livejournal.com]

I've had PleasurePuss (http://www.pleasurepuss.com/) pads for around ten years and a Keeper for eight (I get really heavy periods sometimes, so the pads are more for backup / overflow than anything, which makes washing them very easy).

I give both of them 10/10 - the Keeper is awesome for all the reasons you mentioned regarding the Mooncup (and my friends have told me similarly positive things about the Divacup), and the pads are super-comfortable and kick the arse of nasty plastic things. (Also, they close back up into tidy little squares folded in on themselves, so if you need to change one when you're out, you can fold it and snap it closed and keep it in your bag with no problems.)

[alias_sqbr]

Ooh. Where did you get the pads from?

[evil-megz.livejournal.com]

Instead of looking for methods to absorb my periods environmentally friendlyly, I look for methods to stop them happening at all (or at least, stop them happening for more than 2 weeks in every 4, which would be great for me...)

Mirena going in in 2 hours. Eeep.

[evil-megz.livejournal.com]

Ooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[ilumiari.livejournal.com]

I've had my Diva cup for about 2 years now and I wish someone had introduced me to them earlier. They aren't cheap, but I recouperated my losses within a matter of months. Would never go to anything else.

[alias_sqbr]

Your rec was one of the reasons I got a cup myself :)

[firvulag.livejournal.com]

I'll point gemfyre at this post and get her to talk to you. She's been using an alternative for at least 3 years now

[alias_sqbr]

Yes, her posts about it inspired me.

[emma-in-oz.livejournal.com]

Not responding to this post, but asking you as my anti-racism expert. *What* is up with the appropriation debate?

I assume that someone wrote something using the POV of someone they were not. Then they were criticised and responded by saying it was racist to say they couldn't pretend to be, say, an Indian princess. And blah, blah, blah.

I keep thinking I should look at the threads but there are so many, and it all seems so serious, and so humourless, and I just can't face it.

[alias_sqbr]

I know I saw a summary somewhere but can't remember where.

Anyway, VERY dodgy summary noone should rely on:
Elizabeth Bear (from now on EBear) writes a post with advice about writing the Other.
Avalon's Willow writes an "Open Letter to Elizabeth Bear" about how her latest book was so terrible on this score that she couldn't finish it.
EBear writes another post saying how right Avalon's Willow is. She says "I will be moderating very closely so watch yourselves".

All good.

EBear's friends are all "But your writing is great! They're complaining about nothing!"
Emma Bull then makes an argument that the problem is that Avalon's Willow (a)Didn't finish the book to see how it all played out and (b) Isn't well educated enough to understand the way it was written.

This goes to a Very Bad Place. There is evidence that EBear is freezing threads of anyone who says anything rude to any of her friends, but not threads where her friends are being rude to others.

It expands out in other people's ljs.

People on both sides take everything very personally (with, in my opinion, more justification on the side of the POC being told they're too stupid to recognise racism and should rely on white people with degrees in literary analysis to explain it to them etc rather than the white people freaking out because someone implied they might be a bit racist)

For example:
Paul Neil Harris accidentally offends a lot of people without knowing what he's stumbled into then refuses to retract anything when it's explained and when it all gets too heated deletes his LJ.

After this has gone on for some time, EBear posts some vague posts including a rather vague but inflammatory "last word" which annoys people further. (Linked because I couldnt do it justice)

Avalon's Willow gives a timeline which misses this last post from EBear.

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I have no clue who Paul Neil Harris is; pnh is Patrick Nielsen Hayden and his wife Teresa (lj = tnh) threw a hissy fit about him deleting his journal and made everything even more spectacularly Fail.

It's important because they're editors and fairly big deals in SFF publishing, and tnh was threatening that anyone who'd said anything to upset pnh would never get published by Tor and then claiming all those of us who read it as a threat were stupid and lacked reading comprehension.

All in all, you're very lucky to have missed it. The round-up is maintained by rydra_wong, for reference.

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

You need to check out menstrual_cups and cloth_pads. They are chock full on info about these things. There is also menstrual_lib which covers other things as well like sponges and free-bleeding.

Cups are expensive at first, but pay for themselves really quickly. And I think it's worth it just for the environmental benefits and the convenience. I can now honestly forget I'm having my period. There are also many more brands than you mention. I have used a Divacup (which I accidentally set on fire - I forgot I was boiling it and it boiled dry) and now a UK Mooncup.

I'm waiting on a sample pack of cloth pads to arrive too so I can give them a whirl, but I think I'll still prefer the cup.

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

Oh, also, Keeper (the latex cup - all the others are silicone) was available for sale on a site out of Brisbane once, but it was more expensive than ordering it from overseas.

I got an e-mail from Mooncup a couple of years back asking me not to post the stickers they gave me around the place because they were going through the proper channels to get TGA approval for sale in Australia (unauthorised stickers advertising them wouldn't be good PR). Haven't heard how the approval is going.

[loic.livejournal.com]

I've heard only good things about the mooncup.

[alias_sqbr]

I've heard a few bad things (in that it doesn't work for everyone) but I'm probably privy to more conversations on the subject that you are :)

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

moooooooooncup? (http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/8985/busourenkin1310dq7.jpg)

[alias_sqbr]

I couldn't remember where that was from, googling mooooooooon got me some ambiguous results, and you get different results for mooooon etc. HMM!

[silkcorset.livejournal.com]

I've recommended the DivaCup to just about everyone I know. They have a guarantee where if you don't like it, you can return it in -- I think it's 3 months ? -- and they'll reimburse you.

[alias_sqbr]

Really? Huh. Good to know when reccing it to people, thanks.

[lauredhel.livejournal.com]

Safety pins? Harness? Yeesh! Modern cloth pads have a snap under the wings. Uncomplicated and functional.

Check out Girly Bits (http://au.clothpadshop.com/about.php?T=about_store&VS=14), Sustainable Hemp Products (http://www.sustainablehempproducts.com.au/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=ClothBreastpadsMenstrualPadsandIncontinencePads), the rest of the Cloth Pad Shop (follow the Girly Bits link), Wemoon (http://wemoon.com.au/), Ozebaby (http://www.ozebaby.com.au/category.php?SC=8), the Wee Wuns (http://www.theweewuns.au.com/store/), Outrageous (http://www.outrageouscloth.com/) ... hmm, I probably have a few more around. Check out Obsidian's info page (http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~obsidian/clothpads/). I can personally vouch for the Girly Bits, Wemoon, Outrageous, and Obsidian's products. Wemoon stocks a little compartmentalised satchel to hold used pads (wipe with toilet paper if there's surface mess, fold up and snap, no mess), or you can use any small PUL wetbag or plastic bag for transport.

No way am I ever going back to adhesive paper products after having bamboo velour against my bits.

(p.s. All the Eenee products are bloody awful worst-of-both-worlds designs with pretty marketing and dodgy-as-hell environmental claims. In a country where landfill is relatively plentiful and water scarce, flushability is not a useful environmental attribute. Their nappy pad products come up with a _higher_ land-use-for-raw-materials score than conventional disposable nappies.)

Please don't let Eenee put you off. And I see now they're trying to claim a patent on the slip-in design, which has been used in some reusable pads for years, such as Sckoon. I much prefer snap-on all-in-ones.)

(p.p.s. The Mooncup UK is silicone. As far as I know, the only latex cup is the Keeper. More cup info, again, on Obsidian's site, including comparison photos of a bunch of different cups.)

[alias_sqbr]

Wow, thanks for all the resources. I think I've gained more info from making this post than I've disseminated :)

[fred-mouse.livejournal.com]

I've had a keeper for a couple (or three) years, and find it reasonable, although there are days when it is uncomfortable because my innards are tender (but that would be the case with tampons as well). I find it a great improvement over tampons, because I bleed so heavily for the first day or two - a 'super' tampon lasts ~ an hour at the worst, and while the keeper isn't much better in terms of time-to-leaking, I at least don't have to have huge quantities of stuff with me every time I leave the house!

My only real problem is using it in public toilets - where I can, I use accessbility toilets, so that I have a sink available (and three children watching). At work, I take a water bottle with me when I go to the loo, so that I can rinse it out, as I find that if I just empty (I don't like wiping it, because then it is too dry to go back in comfortably) it is quite smelly by the end of the day.

[alias_sqbr]

A water bottle! Brilliant!