A menstrual cup question

[Merename]

I bought one like 6 months ago and was brave enough to use it last month, and went ok! But come round to this period, when I came on it was not convenient to get the thing out of the cupboard, go downstairs, boil the kettle, sterilise it, THEN wrestle the thing in, all while chasing after small kids. I just haven’t gotten round to that bit and period nearly over. Any tips? Should I boil it when I know I’m due, so it’s ready when I need it - does it need to be a certain amount of time before? How do you overcome the laziness factor?!

I sterilise mine at the end of my period then put it in the bag in a drawer so it's ready for next time. I suspect that I'm far too relaxed (by Mumsnet standards) over this but I've been using mine for nearly 10 years and never had an infection!

I sterilise mine when my period is over (5 min boil) then wrap in clean piece of kitchen roll when dry (air dry) and put away for next month. No infections or issues in around seven/eight years.

Mostly I just give mine a good wash in soap and water and put away.. no problems over the years.. I sometimes now soak it in sterilising solution, like for baby things, in a plastic thing upstairs then put away.

I just give it a good wash with soap and hot water and put it away, then I boil it sometimes, but not every month.

I figure that my DH doesn't sterilise his cock in boiling water every time we have sex, so as long as anything that goes in there is clean, then it's fine!

I wash and rinse thoroughly after each period, air dry and store in the little bag. I boil it every few periods with a tiny bit of bleach to get rid of stains and then rinse thoroughly. I'm not sure if I should be doing that or not but I have used the mooncup for 17 years now and no issues.

I figure that my DH doesn't sterilise his cock in boiling water every time we have sex, so as long as anything that goes in there is clean, then it's fine!

Hahaha that is a very good point! Sometimes just soap and water would be cleaner than DH - vaginas are designed to cope with less than perfect sterility aren’t they? Was just going by what the instructional video said, but of course they would say to sterilise all the time.

Will go with the soap and water and sterilising now and again when I can be arsed method- thanks so much.

Rarely sterilise mine. Same as other posters wash throughly in hot soapy water.

Hang in there. It's seriously a game changer once you've nailed the technique.
Game changer gets over used and has lost its meaning a bit but in this case, it really has changed periods for the better, once nailed.

Good wash with soap. Though once I popped it into the kettle and gave it a quick boil!

I used to just wash mine with soap for years. Eventually though they do start to seem unclean though I found.

Now I stick it in a small pot with a milton tablet once a month.

I've killed two mooncups by forgetting about them until the pot boilled dry, now I boil in the microwave instead so it stops automatically. I don't do it very often, soap and hot water is good enough.

I boil it at the end of every period.

I boil mine at the start of my period, usually the day before as I have an app that reminds me, Clue - highly recommend!

When I'm using mine, I soak it in the bathroom sink in hot water and Femfresh each day for a few mins when I'm in the shower.

I got a wee microwave steriliser for it off Amazon for sterilising at the end of each period - you put boiled water in and fire it in the microwave for 3 mins, then can store it in there till next time (after tipping water out). It's called So Cup Menstrual Cup Steriliser but there are other brands available too.

Wash in hot soapy water is fine.

clean with hot soapy water. Have been sterilising at the end in a pan of boiling water, although I dont see the point really as the vagine isnt a sterile envirnment!

then put away in its little bag till next month

Can’t remember the last time I boiled/sterilised mine. I usually just give it a good hot soapy wash at the end of my period.

I wash with hot soapy water in between 'emptying'
At the end another hot soapy wash - dry completely and put away.

I wash it with soap and hot water every day that I'm using it, the give it a boil when I remember

I've used a cup for years and never had any issues.

I have an old jam jar in the bathroom cabinet and use that to soak my Mooncup with half a Milton tablet. 15 mins is long enough, but it can stay in the solution for up to 12 hours until I want to use it. My first day is generally pretty light so I use period pants while the Mooncup is sterilising.

I use Milton tablets too

And boil it every now and again

DD stole the little bag to put some random crap in so don’t have that to store it in, but like the idea of a dedicated something, will get a wee jar or something to keep it in bathroom cabinet. Hate the smell of Milton tho so will just do a boil in a pan now and again. And I’m afraid I could never fund a business like Femfresh or endorse the idea that vaginas are somehow dirty or need special cleaning. But that sounds ungrateful- thanks so much to all of you, I’m getting a sense of how to make it work for me and excited to be free of pads etc.

Another tip that may be obvious, but that took me a few cycles to realise is that I actually just put mine in the day before I'm due anyway, at least overnight or during the working day, so it's not a case of rushing to sort it out when I start.

(I only worked this out a few months in when i was fretting about whether I'd be able to sneak it out to the toilets with me during a long day of meetings, and realised that there'd be no harm in it being in anyway)

@Merename I only ever buy Femfresh to use on the cup because it's soap free and soap free products are what I was recommended to use to wash my cup. I would gladly welcome recommendations of other brands

I mean to sterilise mine at the end of each period, but in reality I rinse it, then when it looks like my next period may be starting, I boil the kettle and chuck it in boiling water for 10 min, then it's ready to go.

I find it has to go in before period starts in earnest, or too much blood is already too far down and just makes a mess for the whole duration.