Menstrual cups have been the talk of the town in the women’s circle since it promotes sustainable and eco-friendly benefits with women’s convenience and health in mind. With this said, many women are switching to menstrual cups to get the benefits it gives to consumers.
The way one uses a menstrual cup is almost the same as with the tampons —inserted inside the vagina. However, inevitably, some women would think twice (especially the first-timers) whether the product is sanitary enough to be put inside one’s body, right?
Thus, in today’s article, we will be discussing how we can secure our menstrual cup’s sanitation by knowing how to clean a menstrual cup and anything that tackles keeping the menstrual cup sanitary and safe.
How to Insert the Cup Hygienically?
For starters, tampons are just inserted inside since their shape lets us do so. However, for menstrual cups, one should fold them and push them through so that they could be appropriately placed. With this said, keep in mind that in inserting the cup, it is essential that you wash your hands even before handling the cup.
The importance of washing hands is that your finger will go all over the cup in the insertion process because of the folding so that it easily fits inside.
Thus, whatever you have on your hands will hitch a ride into your vaginal canal when you do the insertion. So, make sure that you have correctly rinsed your hands with warm water and no fragrance soap.
How to Properly Dispose of the Collected Fluid?
Now, this is the icky factor that most first-time users seem to have a problem with, but no worries, you’ll eventually get by after using it repeatedly.
Commonly, people pour the collected menstrual fluid down the drain, meaning toilets or sinks. Well, that is how you should really dispose of the blood properly. Just make sure that you leave no trace of bloody mess to the sink or toilet that you poured the fluid at!
Can it be Used While Peeing or Pooping?
For this issue, it highly depends on the user. Unlike tampons, which have a long string attached to them that can get messy, menstrual cups are rather convenient in terms of getting you out from messy situations.
With this said, you can keep wearing your menstrual cup while doing the said activities without any worry. However, some people have noticed it is a bit difficult for them to pee or poop properly.
However, with some women, they have paved their way into experimenting with the cup’s positioning, which appears to have fixed the problem for most users.
How to Clean a Menstrual Cup
Maintaining the cleanliness of the cup is really easy— all you have to do is to rinse it out with warm water and with a no-fragrance soap after emptying the cup, then insert it back inside the vagina.
Remember not to use any soaps with fragrance to wash your cup in the hope of making it smell good since it will mess up the pH balance of your vagina which might lead to an unpleasant vaginal infection.
Just a tip: it is unavoidable to rinse in a public restroom, thus carry a water bottle inside the cubicle so that you can give your cup a rinse over the toilet and wipe it dry with toilet paper.
How Often Should it be Cleaned?
The maximum use of the menstrual cup is up to 12 hours at a time, depending on your menstrual flow. Now, if it is time, just remove and empty out its contents, then rinse it off and pop it right back inside your vagina for continuous protection.
Again, remember to give it a thorough sanitizing after using it for the month, such as boiling it properly in the water to thoroughly sanitize the cup.
How it Should be Stored Between Cycles
Most cups come with a little bag or satchel made of breathable material, which makes it easier to store. Once that you have sterilized your cup (after using it for the month), make sure that it is dried well and is properly put in the satchel, so it stays clean.
Now, if you do not have any satchel, then you can properly store it by wrapping it nicely in cotton shorts or any breathable material. Just a precaution, never put the menstrual cup in a Tupperware or anything air-tight since the cup needs to breathe!
Takeaway
Since menstrual cups are getting fame as of the moment, it is still best that you know what you are getting by being knowledgeable about the said product.
Hopefully, your questions about menstrual cups in terms of hygiene have been answered by all of the discussed subtopics above. With this, surely you’d be able to breathe and rest easy in using the menstrual cup.
