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“Have you seen my menstrual cup?”
As parents, we have all said sentences that we never thought we would. This sentence was not even on my remotest possibility radar until I was desperately asking my husband those exact words when my first postpartum period after baby number four popped up out of nowhere earlier this week.
I remember boiling it the last time I used it. (Yes, it is funny popping a menstrual cup into a pot on the stove like you’re whipping up a batch of Thai tea, but we have to STERILIZE [using my Sgt. Doakes voice, of course].) Then we had some unexpected company and I threw it in the bread cabinet. And forgot about it….until my two year old decided that the bread cabinet is now where he hides his toys.
I have a vague memory of him carrying off my menstrual cup like a little bell and that’s about where I lose track. Did he put it back in the bread cabinet? Maybe. But then he must have taken it again because it’s not there. Did he put it in a toy basket and some unwitting grandparent looked at it sideways and said “what the …. ” and toss it back in there? Did he manage to flush it down the toilet when he was going through that phase? No clue. It’s probably somewhere in our house that we’re preparing to move out of at the end of the year, squeezed into some random tiny space that we will never find until we have a house full of movers and it just drops out of a piece of furniture in front of them, staring up at me like “why, Spongebob, why?!” But, hey, it’s whatever.
Luckily, I am PREPARED. I have pads, tampons, incontinence undies and a backup menstrual cup. If you’ve ever seen Turning Red, it’s like that scene where Ming whips out that huge box of pads and goes off down the list, “regular, overnight, unscented, scented, thin, ultra-thin, ultra-thin with wings…” That. Is. Me.
Or was, when I was an extreme couponer. Yes, I still have the basics stocked mostly for when I have company and they’re in need of some product they forgot at home but I mostly now just use my menstrual cup and period panties.
Why switch?
I personally switched because I went down a non-toxic lifestyle rabbit hole a few years ago and guess what. There’s a bunch of nasty, toxic stuff in traditional period products. PFAs, heavy metals, pesticides, plastics, the list goes on. And all that is in direct contact with a highly permeable (looked for a better sounding word, couldn’t find one, so you’re stuck with it) part of the body. Gross.
That was my first reason. My second was that I hated the amount of waste that traditional products were creating. And that’s just in my garbage. How many menstruating people are on the earth today? How many 50 years ago? And 50 years before that? And one more time? Yeah, the first disposable menstrual products were available for purchase around 1880. That’s almost 150 years of monthly waste per menstruating person. That’s so much. Literally insane amounts. Just for period products.
So what are reusable menstrual products?
Reusable menstrual products are alternatives to single use (commercially “traditional”) period products, typically meaning menstrual discs, menstrual cups, period underwear and reusable pads.
Menstrual Discs
Menstrual discs are essentially a small, shallow bowl that sits inside your body and collects (instead of absorbs) menstrual material. They are flexible, higher capacity (sometimes capable of holding multiple tampons worth of blood!), can be worn for up to 12 hours and allow the wearer to have mess free sex during their cycle. Discs come in reusable AND disposable varieties. (Even if you are using a disposable variety, if you’re wearing it for 12 hours a day it’s still creating less waste than more traditional pads or tampons. Less changing = less product used. Little wins are important too!)
Menstrual Cups
Menstrual cups are a…cup…that sits inside your body and collects menstrual material. The first difference between discs and cups lie in the shape; cups are bell shaped while discs are more shallow. The second is where and how they sit inside your body: menstrual discs sit behind your cervix and are held in place by your body while cups sit below your cervix and stay in place due to suction. The third difference is that you can’t have traditional, vanilla sex while they’re inserted – they take up vaginal real estate. They do, however, have a higher capacity and can be worn up to 12 hours.
Period Underwear
Pretty basic stuff here – absorbent, washable undies you can wear on their own or as a back up for discs or cups. Personally, I wear period briefs overnight for days I have a heavier flow as a back up to my cup and by themselves on lighter days at the end of my cycle. I also wear period thongs on my heavier days as a back up for my cup during the day. If you’re wearing these as a standalone option, you need to make sure you’re changing them like traditional pads every few hours and you should rinse them out before you put them in the laundry so menstrual material doesn’t sit on them, helping to lengthen your panties’ lifespan.
Reusable Pads
Also pretty self explanatory: think “washable traditional pad”. You can use these with your regular undies and they can be less expensive upfront than period underwear. Most people prefer styles with wings and you can find them in different sizes such as overnight and heavy flow.
Products I Currently Use
Personally, I use a combination of menstrual cup and period panties and I have yet to have a leak. I’ve even braved the waterpark with my cup a few times!
The briefs I use appear to have been discontinued but these are the same brand and similar to the style I currently have that are going on 4 years with no signs of wear other than some minor pilling. Bambody routinely comes up in Google searches for “best period underwear” – they are PFAs-free and in the past have held the Oeko-Tex certification. I say “in the past” because, oddly, I can’t find anything (on their website or on any product listing) currently stating they hold it now. They’re super comfortable and, although I do find them to run a bit small, I have them in a size small (my normal size) and they have enough stretch to keep me happy, but stay tight enough that I don’t feel like I’m going to have an accident.
The thongs I wear during the day can be found here. Unfortunately, they’ve received some criticism in the past for falsely claiming PFAs-free products – they even had a class action settlement in 2023 and since then have committed to not adding PFAs to their products and conducting routine testing. (Gonna be 100% honest here and say that I was completely unaware of the lawsuit and it does make me want seek out a safer thong alternative going forward.) Nevertheless, I have had these for 3 years and they still look brand new. They do tend to stretch out a bit in the crotch area after wearing them all day but this has never caused an accident.
I use this cup in size 01 and size 02 depending on where I’m at in my cycle. (Did you know that your cervix position can change during your cycle?!) I like that it’s black so I don’t have to worry about any potential staining and it’s super easy to boil after my cycle to sterilize it. I like the fact that there is also a little loop at the end of the stick part – it makes it much easier to grab onto than just a straight little nub. There is a bit of a learning curve on folds and how to position yourself to get it in place, but it really felt no more daunting than the first time I attempted a tampon. Now if only I could find my size 02…🤦🏻♀️
The Green Choice Lifestyle has a really great, comprehensive post about non toxic period panties that also covers some of the more in depth details about harmful chemicals and how to make the transition to reusable products. There is even a little snippet on safer disposable products as well if you’re still on the fence about switching. Period Nirvana also has a great post (with some really cool anatomical photos of cup vs disc placement) highlighting the differences of discs and cups.
You do need to do some research to find what works best for your lifestyle and practice a little self reflection to really narrow down what your motivations to switch are. (Are you more concerned about less waste vs exposure to harmful chemicals or both? Etc.) It’s also worth mentioning here that some products are better suited to different current needs and can change over time. For example, freshly postpartum moms can’t have anything inside their vagina so discs and cups are automatically out. Answering those questions can really help narrow down what will work for you and what you’re comfortable with.
Maybe it’s disposable, plastic free tampons during the day and period panties overnight. Maybe you’re only interested in discs so you can have mess-less period sex. (Say that 10 times fast.) Even little changes add up. Less waste ending up in landfills, less chemicals in your bloodstream, even less money spent on products you just toss in the bin. It all counts.
