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Original poster

proper TMI thread - wot do you do with your used tampons?

135 replies

Moomin · 21/05/2006 23:02

no-one still flushes them do they?

do they?

i used to when i was younger but can't do it now, feel too guilty. it's such a faff though. i wrap them up in toilet paper and put them in nappy bags to be thrown out. is this ok or just as bad as flushing? i know i should get a mooncup by rights but i won't. so what's best?

OP posts:
Gingerbear · 22/05/2006 14:23

have you asked a question to Mooncup HQ?

suzywong · 22/05/2006 14:24

i once saw an installation at the Sydney Modern Art Gallery comprised of used sanitary towels and tampons. A whole month's had been collected from women around the world, annotated and set out in glass cases.

But that's not what i do

LunaMoona · 22/05/2006 14:26

suzy...did it not...eeer...smell a bit ?

tissy · 22/05/2006 14:26

er, pruni- they do a money back guarantee if not satisfied Grin

my cervix points backwards, and it's not a problem- you don't actually fit the end of the mooncup over the crvix, I don't think. It kind of sits below it and catches the flow.

suzywong · 22/05/2006 14:26

it was sealed under glass

sometimes I wonder if i dreamed it, it was very odd

tissy · 22/05/2006 14:28

well they used to... can't find that bit on the website now!

Orlando · 22/05/2006 14:38

Is a mooncup remotely similar to a diaphragm?

I tried using one of those years ago, with hilarious results. Can't imagine going through the same pantomime whilst in the throes of PMT and emerging from the bathroom with my sense of humour intact though.

Have sneaking urge to try one, though...

plummymummy · 22/05/2006 15:24

OMG there is a whole world out there that I didn't know existed. Never heard of mooncups. I have a question: when one changes a tampon, one tends to hold tissue paper over area until new one is in place (to stop leakage IYSWIM)or sit on loo and let it drip. How does one wash a mooncup and replace it without leaking as I certainly can't reach the basin from my loo and washing the mooncup one-handed doesn't seem very practical (eg while other hand is holding tissue over bits). Used to put tampons in ds nappy bin but don't use that anymore and am ashamed to say that I flush Blush

hovely · 22/05/2006 15:56

well, plummymummy, what I do when I can't reach the basin is empty it, and just wipe it with paper, then replace it, sitting and dripping meanwhile. If it is in a cubicle loo then I take a wet wipe for my fingers before going out and washing. I find I only need one hand usually, but it helps to have some loo roll ready.

motherinferior · 22/05/2006 15:59

I bag and bin.

PanicPants · 22/05/2006 16:02

i flush tampons

and wrap and bin towels.

honestly though how messy is a mooncup, and, this is my worry, don't they leak?

arfy · 22/05/2006 16:06

it hasn't leaked at all with me - whereas tampons do, frequently.

it's not particularly messy, and I'm sure it gets a lot better with practice anyway. honestly, I'm a total convert thanks to Mumsnet, it's fab.

PanicPants · 22/05/2006 16:09

Really? Even with very heavy periods? Since ds' birth mine have been very heavy and even the super plus tampons have leaked. So I'm currently wearing a tampon and a pad.

Would a mooncup cope with that?

arfy · 22/05/2006 16:20

well the reason it doesn't leak is that it forms a sort of airtight seal around the cup and it's also flexible so moves with you more (hmm sounds a bit painful but it's not). tampons just don't do that so I generally find with me they leak. (I've never been able to stand pads)

my periods are much heavier since I had DD but not as heavy as yours so I can't really advise - but I'd have thought you might just need to empty it more often!

RainbowWalker · 22/05/2006 16:26

Have read this entire thread with interest and was just about to ask the same as PanicPants - I'm 40, had 4 kids (one set of twins) one by cs and have constant flooding for first two days of my period with superplus tampons... mooncup sounds like the answer to all my prayers. Are they really that great?

PrettyCandles · 22/05/2006 16:35

Yes they are Smile.

About that link - what wusses! They faked it - surely if you're going to celebrate your menstrual cycle you should use the real thing?

Original poster
Moomin · 22/05/2006 16:37

i know you're not going to get too much negative stuff there but it might be worth having a look at the website RainbowWalker, and read some of the testimonials. i guess it's a new concept for many of us and it's a bit hard to get your head round it. but im soooo cheesed off with tampons, towels, incovenience, cost and feeling like i'm adding to the landfills/polluted seas so i'm going to buy one this month DEFINITELY and report back!! My periods are ok but very heavy for first 2 days - lots of flooding and super plus tampons and towels needed, so that should test the mooncup out sufficiently.

OP posts:
fuzzywuzzy · 22/05/2006 16:39

Natracare do organic cotton tampons with biodegradeable applicators. I think spirit of nature sell them (they're one of the advertisers on the MN homepage).

ernest · 22/05/2006 17:21

I got one and love it too, never could bring myself to flush and embarassed about binning, so I find mooncup great, much more descreet, not at all messy. tbh I went the whole hog & cut up ds's no more needed re-usable nappies and sewed a liner into my 'period pants', so now I don't even need to buy 'panty liners' any more and am 100% eco. dh does think I'm odd though.

BonyM · 22/05/2006 17:31

I bought a mooncup months ago but have been too scared to try it out yet Blush.

Well, actually I did try it in between periods to try to get the hang of it but had a hell of a time trying to remove it and got a bit panicky, so haven't been able to bring myself to try it again since.

Maybe this month...

BonyM · 22/05/2006 17:33

Oh, and I alternate between flushing and bagging and binning, depending on what sort of mood I'm in and whether I've got a bag handy - not good enough, I know. Blush

Katymac · 22/05/2006 17:37

I went into boots to buy one...and couldn't find any

I looked on their website...no luck either

Obviously not a big market where I am

PanicPants · 22/05/2006 17:59

So where can I get one from? Sorry haven't read whole thread but can anyone provide a link for me?

RainbowWalker · 22/05/2006 18:41

Panic Pants, I've just 'taken the plunge' and splashed out on one \link{http://www.mooncup.co.uk\here} they say they delivre within 14 days... maybe if it's all it's 'cracked' up to be this'll be last month of tampons! I too will report back!

Orlando · 22/05/2006 18:53

But are they? Similar to diaphragms? And similarly impossible to put in?

(God-- awful thought. You aren't all too young to have tried a diaphragm are you??)

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