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

[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 :)

[lauredhel.livejournal.com]

Oh, one thing I meant to put in and didn't: the Wemoons tend to be a little pricier than the others, but they're very hardy. Plus the two-snap design means they fit well in a variety of undies, good if you like boy-leg styles which tend to have a wider crotch. (Some WAH pad makers may custom make a two-snap design if this is a consideration for you?)