Waste-free menstruation: how I got on

Buying a Mooncup is one thing. Using it is another! It's quite different from using tampons. So how did I like it? Don't read this if you don't like reading about menstrual blood!

My first waste-free period took a bit of getting used to. I had done the usual thing of not really reading the instructions of the Mooncup. I just shoved it in and pulled it out! And the former went fine. The latter; not so much. It vanished deep into my body and I struggled to get a firm grip on the stem. And pulling it out took some force! That's not necessarily pleasant. But then I read the instructions again, and found out the recommended position for removing the thing is crouching, and that if it's in too deep you can use you local musculature to push it down a bit. I'm not good at pushing, but the crouching helped. And I was reminded that you're supposed to pop it to break the vacuum. (It's not a vacuum, of course, but you know what I mean.) So when that penny had dropped things got easier.

The Modibodi pants were quite self-explanatory. You just wear them! I had wondered a bit about washing them, but you are recommended to rinse them after use, let them dry, and then pop them in the laundry. Works fine!

I didn't buy more, though; I found washable sanitary pads in the local plastic-free shop. And that's the more efficient way of going about things! Why buy entirely new pants if you can just buy an insert? They work fine! So with these two products together I'm sorted.

I had wondered a bit about washing the Mooncup. Most loos don't have a sink in the cubicle! But you can bring a squirty bottle with you. And some toilets do have a sink right there, and not behind some door. Our new building does! And in nature it works too; North Wales is full of water. And if I deem it clean enough to drink I deem it clean enough to rinse my cup with. I'm not emptying the cup in streams others might drink from, in case you were wondering. I've only emptied it on the moors once and I found a lovely drippy cliff with a swampy bit underneath. Perfect!

I one managed to badly insert the cup, causing it to leak, but I was wearing a pad as well as I wasn't certain of things. So I just tried again and all was well. I'm sold on this! No looking back here...