For menstrual cups, I’ve had the Keeper, the Diva Cup and the Moon Cup. It’s been a close race, but I think I like the Moon Cup best of all. To be clear, they’re all great. There’s also many more menstrual cups on the international market besides these three. I have no intentions of bad-mouthing any one of these great alternatives to tampons.
Most menstrual cups can hold nearly three times the fluid that a super absorbency tampon can without the same risks of toxic shock syndrome. Most importantly though, tampons make me feel like I’m dying, but menstrual cups make me almost forget I’m on my period at all.
I had most recently been using the Diva Cup, which I liked a lot. Unfortunately, upon learning that you should not clean cups with tea tree oil, curiosity got the best of me and I put tea tree oil on it to see what would happen. Needless to say, I needed a new cup. When I used the Keeper years ago, it irritated me a little because I have a slight sensitivity to latex, so I didn’t get another one. I remembered liking the Moon Cup, which is product from the makers of the Keeper that I had sampled once. (It’s not weird, I used to own a brick and mortar natural mothering store and wanted to test all my potential products before purchasing any to sell to customers.) So, I am again the proud owner of a Moon Cup.
Comfort
The Diva Cup was comfortable. I usually didn’t even know I had it in. Occasionally though, I would notice it when I was using the bathroom (but not changing the cup). It wasn’t a big deal. With the Moon Cup though, I actually keep forgetting I’m even wearing it. That includes during all bathroom breaks. On a comfort scale, the Diva Cup for me was a 9.5. The Moon Cup though is a 10. I have to leave the cool carrying pouch hanging near the toilet just to remind myself that I’m on my period. So, I don’t know how much more comfortable you can get.
I never noticed that much of a difference, but now that trying out alternative menstrual products has become a hobby to me, I understand why it turns out I like the Moon Cup a little better. The Diva Cup is slightly longer than the Moon Cup. For women who have a cervix that is positioned kind of low (which is apparently me) the shorter length of the Moon Cup makes all the difference. The shorter size of the Moon Cup seems a little more universal because it fits perfectly for women regardless of cervical location. Also, the Moon Cup also has a lighter feel than the Diva Cup does.
At first, the length of the stem of the Moon Cup made me nervous until I just started trimming the stems off of every cup I used. I never needed the stems, and prefer to have no feeling at all from a stem of any brand.
Insertion
Even though the Diva Cup was not a problem for me after the initial non-reading-the-instructions debacle, the Moon Cup feels easier to insert. It also unfolds a little easier once inside and pops into place with more gentle ease.
The Specs on the Silicones
Diva Cup
- Canadian Company
- Grip rings
- Four holes up near the rim
- Model 1: (women under 30 who have never given birth)
- 57mm
- 10mm stem
- 20-23ml capacity
- Model 2: (women over 30 or women who have given birth vaginally or by c-section)
- 57mm
- 10mm stem
- 26-27ml capacity
Moon Cup
- Made in the United States
- Smooth finish
- Double spill proof rings on the inside
- Six holes under the second rim
- Style A: (women who have given birth vaginally)
- 54mm
- 25mm stem
- 15ml capacity
- Style B: (women who have never had a vaginal birth)
- 54mm
- 25mm stem
- 10ml capacity
Get your own cup from Everything Birth by following this link to the online store.
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Thanks so much for this wonderful posting. It’s so great to see how much you like your Moon Cup.
I hope you will want your blog visitors to look at these comparison photos on The Keeper’s website: http://www.keeper.com/photographs.html. They show the amount of waste that is caused by one woman’s use of disposable tampons in a) 1 month, b) 1 year, c) 10 years and d) a woman’s menstruating lifetime (ie, 35-40 years). I think you’ll be amazed that we had to use a DUMP TRUCK to show the amount of waste ONE woman causes in her menstruating lifetime by using disposable tampons.
On our site, we also have some fascinating audio interviews, including one with Suzan Hutchinson, a woman who almost died from Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) many years ago, and is now a spokesperson for NOT using tampons. (Yes, unfortunately, TSS is still around. Alas.)
Thank you so much.
Julia Schopick
Marketing Director
The Keeper, Inc.
I saw those pictures. It was amazing. We shared the graphic on our facebook and I shared it on my personal one as well. It is AMAZING. Thank you so much for the personal reply on this post. It makes makes me even more proud of my purchase! I will check out that interview. Thank you for for the tip!