One of my most popular posts here is where I talk about my menstrual cup (I use the Diva Cup brand). It’s a small silicone cup that you insert into your Vajayjay during your period. It catches the monthly flow, and you just have to empty it and clean twice a day. No pads or tampons needed ever again!
Now before you think gross, nasty, ewww, oh my gosh what the heck is wrong with you – go read my first post where I talk about how this awesome little cup changed my life. Literally – my life is forever changed for the better because of it.
Since that post went up, I’ve had a lot of questions from both friends and readers about using a menstrual cup. One of which is how to clean and care for it. While you mainly should follow the directions that come with your cup, I’ve learned a few tricks of my own.
Staining
Recently, I had become frustrated with the natural staining that happens with my cup.
Haha, just kidding. That’s actually a photo of a cup that caught on fire.
But in all seriousness, there is natural staining that occurs with regular use over time. In my frustration, I began to search for what other people were doing to remove stains and landed on this post on The Crunchy Chicken. There were a lot of great recommendations on how to get rid of stains, and the main one was to use hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen Peroxide: When you start to notice staining that won’t go away on your cup, soak in a mixture of half water and half hydrogen peroxide. Leave your cup in there until it looks like new. I have done this, and my cup came out looking like new. I actually forgot about my cup for a couple of days and had left it in this mixture, and it is just fine – no damage at all. However, I know that a lot of the companies do not recommend this, so this is an “at your own risk” tip.
Lemon: When you boil your cup for once a month cleaning (see below), add a slice of lemon to the mixture. Lemon is a natural brightener.
Sunlight: Good old natural sunlight will also whiten your cup. Placing your cup in a windowsill will help to naturally brighten it. Just don’t put it somewhere that gets extremely hot (like in your car dashboard) – we don’t want it to melt!
Regular Emptying and Washing of the Cup
When emptying the cup and washing, always rinse first in cold water. Hot/warm water allows blood stains to set in so use cold to prevent this. I wash my cup with a liquid castile or black soap. I would strongly encourage you to avoid washing the cup in any kind of “regular” soap.
Once a Month Cleaning
After your cycle has ended, soak in the hydrogen peroxide/water mixture as described above, or you can boil your cup in water on the stove for no more than 20 minutes to eliminate germs.
Other Menstrual Cup Options
If you really are concerned about the staining, you might try the Lunette brand of menstrual cups. They come in colors!! I recently bought the purple one to try out as I hear that it doesn’t show stains, ever! I’ll be talking about this later, and comparing how it works to the Diva Cup.
Are you a cup user? What are some of your tips?
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
What about for folks who work on their feet and have a lot of moving. Can you wear it then, or if you exercise heavily?
Hey Kristin! I actually exercise in mine and it does just fine. It suctions in there and won’t come out unless you break the suction to pull it out.
I am going to have to give it a try
Thanks for the post. I have tried baking soda, but it didn’t help. I’ll try hydrogen peroxide now.
I have never heard of this, but may give it a try! Thanks for the info
I actually have had some very minor leaking with yoga and core exercises – really anything that causes you to use your kegel muscles in the extreme. I just use panty liners or wear my red panties. It is still worth it in my opinion.
Ah…the Diva Cup. LOL I tried it and since my vajayjay um…hooks at the end, lol…well…the cup sort of navigated its way out of reach and I had to go to my gyno to get it removed…neither I nor my husband could get the silly thing out. And I had to take antibiotics for a week and a half afterward. So…I think it is an awesome product…but it might be wise to visit your gyno first and discuss your internal layout.
If I had done this she said she would have told me it wouldn’t work well for me. Apparently my issue was very predictable!
I just started using the cup, and I LOVE it!! It IS truly life-changing…can’t ever go back to that other stuff.
By the way, I think I saw in the instructions that you’re not supposed to use castile soap. Not sure why, though.
Thanks for the tips! I’m going to try that hydrogen peroxide thing soon.
Since it’s made of silicon, it can’t possibly melt on your car’s dashboard.
Remember, this is the same stuff that they make ovenware out of.
i bought one about a year ago and it took several tries to get it right! i always have one really really heavy day at first (like have to rinse it every hour heavy) and it was a mess (literally) to get it in at first. finally got the hang of it and love it! and def. noticed my cramps were lessened. i take it out in the shower and rinse with hydrogen peroxide since we keep a jug in the shower (we usually brush our teeth in there and swish/gurgle with H2O2 during our showers).