What do you think about alternative "feminine care" products?

liz105

ok, I want to ask a couple of questions to ladies who use mooncups and washable sanitary protection, best to understand the logistics of these things eh?

Mooncups, assuming you only have one, when it comes to 'emptying time' (and I assume also 'washing out' time), what do you do if you are in public loos or work loos, or the sinks are not necessarily next to the loo? How do you 'sort yourself' discreetly without 'incident' (further leakage).

Also, on the washables, if you are out all day and say its 15 hours before you can get home, do you have issues 'storing' the used items (carrying a large handbag, smells etc), and also assuming you need to wash them pretty much straight away, do you find you have your washing machine on constantly during that time of the month? I only do two washes a week and would be curious about the extra cost/water/heating the water that washing every day (in my case seven days) would entail!! Also, storage of used items before I got a chance to wash them.

Im not necessarily 'for' or 'against', just curious

LilMissEmmylou

liz - just give it a wipe with some loo roll, i find the outside never really is the problem, its the inside so not too much of a problem to pop back in i find my periods much lighter and less painful from the mooncup

lollipop also stock reuseable san pro and u can find your nearest agent through https://www.teamlollipop.co.uk

rosieben

liz105 wrote: »

ok, I want to ask a couple of questions to ladies who use mooncups and washable sanitary protection, best to understand the logistics of these things

Also, on the washables, if you are out all day and say its 15 hours before you can get home, do you have issues 'storing' the used items (carrying a large handbag, smells etc), and also assuming you need to wash them pretty much straight away, do you find you have your washing machine on constantly during that time of the month?

re the washables - If I'm out for the day I just keep a small plastic bag in the bottom of my handbag. I suppose you could use a small make up bag? the washables I use fold inside out and fasten with the pop fasteners so not as unpleasant as you might think.

I think most of us just soak in a plastic container somewhere discreet (mine has a lid and is kept under the basin and not noticeable) and wash when I do a normal wash. I usually rinse them well before I put them to soak anyway.

foreversomeday

liz, the washables tend to be designed so that they fold up small - about the size of an unused disposable sanitary towel - which you can pop into a sandwich bag (airtight so won't let smells out - although I'm informed they smell a lot less than disposables.)

People don't seem to wash them straight away, but I suppose if you do have a longer cycle you could do a wash halfway through and therefore re-use the same pads for that cycle so you would need to buy less to begin with.

Dormouse

liz105 wrote: »

Mooncups, assuming you only have one, when it comes to 'emptying time' (and I assume also 'washing out' time), what do you do if you are in public loos or work loos, or the sinks are not necessarily next to the loo? How do you 'sort yourself' discreetly without 'incident' (further leakage).

I do try to plan the emptying times to when I am at home and/or next to a sink. Thankfully, the Mooncup needs emptying less often than you would change a tampon, so it's relatively easy to plan these things. In an emergency, if I am in a public loo, just wipe it with toilet paper and it'll be fine until you can do a proper washing out.

AnnieH

I've been curious about the mooncup for a\while now as
I hate using tampons, and find towels uncomfortable and messy. I've just ordered myself one off ebay so I'll se what it's like.

njc_2

When I was at college, there used to be stickers on the inside of most of the ladies loos advertising the mooncup & that was 10yrs ago. You usually see adverts for them at festivals these days. I believe female astronauts use them.

This is a bit gross, but some people find using tampons can increase pain cos sometimes the tampon can swell up when it is full & press on the bladder or cervix. Also if a woman tends to pass clots during her period at certain times, then if a tampon is quite far up it can slow down the passage of a clot through the cervix which feels uncomfortable.

Overall tampons are probably the worst (if most convenient) method of protection - why do you think they tell women not to use them after childbirth or gynae surgery?

I have got some washable pads off ebay for light days. The seller makes them herself & can do different colours, make them longer, more absorbent, etc A bespoke washable pad service in fact! You can also get patterns to make them yourself.

I personally would steer clear of hormonal methods of birth control that also affect periods as I found I have a personal hormone profile that just doesn't get along with them & I only found that out as I got "womens problems" as a result and it was too late. If you do want to take them, even the pill, I would recommend checking your family history to see if there is any history of gynae problems & getting your hormone profile tested to see if you are particularly high in oestrogen which could indicate you need to consider which artificial hormones you take.

It would be best if girls were made aware of all the choices available then they can make their own choice. Maybe one day we will see a mooncup advert on TV? Different methods suit different people & at different times in their life.

Strapped

Just to say, I'm another mooncup user, for about two years now. Would heartily recommend - it's saved me an absolute fortune as well as the landfill saving. I ordered mine from the mooncup website (before Boots started stocking them). Make sure you get the right size if you've had a baby ;-)

calleyw

I am serious thinking of getting a moon cup after incident with a tampon.
I have a mega fear of leaving one which I just have done :eek:

But I can't just use towels as too heavy and I don't want to go on the pill to stop or lighten my periods.

Would also make it easier at work as I work in a very small company and no disposal bins.

Will be having a look when I get home on-line.


Yours


Calley

GreenNinja

The thought of walking around with a big thick "brick" between my legs fills me with absolute horror! After approximately 20 years of using tampax and enjoying the comfort and freedom of them there is absolutely no way I would go back to using sanitary towels especially if you have to clean them and rewear them.
I know its bad for the environment to use disposable sanitary protection but I would like to see the "disposable" nappy - allegedly it takes 100 years or something to decompose, dealt with first I think its a much higher priority.