College, Stargazing and Lunapads.
I first heard of Lunapads on the message boards for my favorite science fiction author, Orson Scott Card. One of his forums is designated for members to talk about anything, and someone had started a thread to complain about the difficulty of purchasing larger size bras in Sri Lanka.
Reusable menstrual products were mentioned in passing, but I was immediately intrigued. I’m the kind of person who has a separate trash can for recyclables, so the large amounts of garbage for pads always bothered me, but I didn’t think a greener alternative existed.
I’ve been using Lunapads, Lunapanties and the Diva Cup exclusively for the past nine months and I love the combination. You might not find hearing such praise remarkable on Lunapads’ own website, but I am a twenty year old student who shares a bathroom in a college residence hall with twenty other women. I am a double major in Mathematics and Astrophysics. Most people look at me funny when I tell them I’m majoring in Astrophysics, but I study Astronomy because it’s fun. I love operating large telescopes, and I actually get paid to show my fellow students planets, nebulae and star clusters using a 150 year old, 15 foot long refracting telescope.
I’m pretty busy with my work at the observatory and my classes, so I only find the time to do laundry when I run out of socks. Fortunately I have lots of socks.
Using Lunapads is not as impossible or as gross as you might think, even in an institutional setting such as mine. With disposables, I would put every single pad in those little white trash cans attached to the toilet stall, where it would sit until some poor (male) janitor emptied the box. Often there would be no bag to line the container, and some women didn’t wrap their pads in toilet paper. I’m pleased to say that no other person, paid or not, has to deal with my menstrual garbage anymore.
So how do you discreetly deal with menstrual products knowing that every time you need to change something, you will be doing so in a public bathroom?
Well, for one, the Diva Cup has a 12 hour change cycle. Even on the heaviest day of my period, I can choose when to change my cup, so I do most of my rinsing when the bathroom and halls are quieter. Sometimes I would change my cup in the shower or pick a bathroom that has an in-stall sink, like the one at the observatory where I work. Inserting the Diva Cup wasn’t easy at first (I’m a virgin and needed to buy some lube), but I once I got it, I never looked back. I can promise you that the learning curve is much more pleasant than contact lenses. What makes the Diva Cup so miraculous is that it allows my menstrual blood to be a simple fluid - you see your period for what it really is, but at the same time, I don’t feel like my period lasts much longer than two days, even though it still goes about seven, because the cup makes my period feel nonexistant after day three.
When I wear Lunapanties, it’s like I’m not even wearing a liner (even though I most certainly am). I’ve always been rather stain prone, but it took owning Lunapads before I discovered that soaking stained things in a dollar-store bucket filled with cold water and a little laundry detergent removes any evidence that I ever bled on pads. It’s the miracle stain cure. Seriously. After letting the pads dry, they’re clean enough to reuse, but I wash them with my other laundry anyway. I’m a not entirely disappointed that I can no longer use my new stain cleaning skills on my sheets, but I don’t leak overnight anymore - ever. I did not, however, freak out when I got spaghetti sauce on my good white shirt last week. I knew exactly what to do - clean my shirt like my pads.
I don’t think I’d ever go back to disposable pads. I don’t miss how the dryness of a tampon caused painful removal, nor do I miss the times when the sticky part of the plastic pad would decide to give me a bonus bikini wax. I can insert my cup as easily when my flow is light as when my flow is heavy, or even if there is no flow. I can also wear pads when I’m not sure if I need one to back up my cup without worrying about wasting them because it’s like I’m washing another sock. The liner system makes my pads last even longer. I love the added security of knowing I am never out of menstrual supplies.
Amanda Z.
Wellesley, MA
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:36 am
I know exactly what you mean about the laundry and socks….I just purchased my first diva cup and liners and am a little worried about that, but will just have to plan to do laundry on a more regular basis.
March 15th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Hi, I’m considering buying some Lunapads. I was wondering if it’s only the cup that you can leave in for up to 12 hours. What about a heavy flow pads? I’m just wondering because I work about 10 hours a day in a place where I couldn’t have any privacy to change or wash the pad.
April 11th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Well, with the pads they give you a gift of a little bag, I’m not sure what it’s made out of, and you can put any used ones in there. There are heavy pads and even a “Heavy Flow Kit.” I find that they do absorb well and have not had any leaking problems.
P.S. You can adjust the amount of liners 1, 2, whatever is right for you that day.
April 16th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Hi Rachel! The DivaCup can be left longer than the pads, but you can always double-up on liners to give you more time between changings - but if your flow is heavy you would probably need to change the liners at some point in those 10 hours - though the Heavy Pad would be your best bet for that type of need. You also don’t need to change the whole pad during the day, just the liners and you can get a nylon pouch to put the used liners in and just wash them when you get home.