How to prevent and get rid of smelly cups. DO NOT THROW YOUR CUPS AWAY!!!

Oh Lord I've been posting all over today! Last post. I just wanted to post a solution to a problem that a lot of women prbably are embarrassed to ask about. I was on yahoo chat the other night, and a good friend of mine who is using a Diva Cup I believe, is having a problem with a horrible smell radiating from her cup. I talked to someother ladies who used cups since the day they hit the market, long long ago. Well, obviously they don't need them now, but you get the point. Cups are made with little tiny holes, and if you haven't noticed, take a look. It's hard to tell sometimes, but there might be very old vaginal flud/mucus stuck inside EVEN IF THE CUP HAS BEEN BOILED. After so many days, or weeks even, this will cause your cup to smell extremely bad. To prevent this from happening, take a large needle, thumb tack, or pin and clean out the holes thouroughly. Then, once this is done, boil the cups again. After boiling, clean them out again just in case.

If this has not resolved the smell, there might be residue from the soap you have been using to cleanse your cup. Try using Dial body wash or Dove. Eve I think also makes a soap that is fragrance free, and leaves no residue. It is important to use these soaps because unlike our bodies, fragrance and residue will build up on the cup and it will never shed like our skin.

NO FEAR, YOU DO NOT NEED TO TRASH YOUR CUP. Simply follow my instructions with the pin, first off. Then, dilute 2 tablespoons of water with two drops of tea tree oil and cover your cup. Let the cup sit in the sun or outdoors for a day. Once night falls, take your cup inside and boil it. Then, clean the holes again and let it sit out. By now the smell should be gone, except maybe a hint of tea tree. If you still smell either the tea tree or the bad smell, repeat this process. Always rinse with cold water after boiling. Some colored cups will fade in the sun, but setting a cup outside can work just as well.

I did hear from someone that everytime we boil silicon we're sort of "opening its pores" so it absorbes the things around it. But I don't know if that's true. Just try to replace your cups every few years just in case, if you feel like it's time.

just to recap:

- clean holes thoroughly and frequently
- use residue free/ fragrance free soap
- boil after each week of use

Do this and your cup should never smell on you K bye!!!

Very true, usually a seriou cleaning can help smell. I've never had a problem with it, but I am kind of militant abotu cleanign my cup, lol.

I have also learned that most stains can actually be scrubbed off! Which leads me to believe that they are actually residue, rather than a stain. If you take some soap and a regular bath rag, and scrub REALLY hard, a lot fo the staining will rub off.

Also, to prevent stains beforehand-- after you have meptied your cup, first rinse the blood off with COLD water. Then once its gone, go ahead and used hot water with soap, etc. For some reason, hot water and blood combining on the cup cause mroe staining. I suppose its just like clothing, hm? Its also recomended that you use cold water to wash blood out of fabircs.

I often find that rubbing alcohol can get rid of smells too. But do not soak your cup in rubbing alcohol... I spoke with a medical silicone expert, and he said that as long as rubbing alcohol is allowed to completely dry and evaoprate away-- is it safe on medical silicone. So you just wet a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol and wipe it all over the cup. This will sterilize it, and help rid the material of odor. Then let id dry completely, and rinse well.

I found a baking soda paste worked well on stains. I've never had a problem with odour, but I expect it would help there too. It's quite abrasive, and alkaline, so you need to rinse it thoroughly afterwards so it doesn't irritate.