Stained Menstrual Cup / Menstrual Cup Smell
What to do about a stained menstrual cup?
Slight discolouration can occur in any menstrual cup and is usually attributed to haemoglobin in the blood. If you have a menstrual cup stain, don’t worry. Stains in a menstrual cup do not impair the function of your Me Luna cup or other menstrual cup brands for that matter.
However a menstrual cup stain can also be removed or reduced by deep cleaning a menstrual cup with baking soda. For a deep clean, place your Me Luna menstrual cup in 100 ml of warm water with 1/2 tsp of baking soda. Leave it in the cleaning bath for 2 to 4 hours. After that rinse the Me Luna cup thoroughly with water! Please note, a deep clean is not recommended for daily use!
You can avoid a stained menstrual cup by not wearing the period cup for too long without rinsing it. To prevent menstrual cup stain, always thoroughly rinse your Me Luna cup immediately after removal with cold water, as well as thoroughly cleaning the period cup with a mild soap. We also recommend to add a little bit of salt to the water when boiling a menstrual cup as salt is a proven eco friendly home remedy for a menstrual cup stain. Using salt will give you a better cleaning effect and help to prevent menstrual cup stains. Adding a small amount of vinegar to the boiling water is an effective way to prevent scale deposits and has a natural disinfecting and deodorising effect. Use vinegar water hot or cold, with a 3% concentration of vinegar.
What to do about menstrual cup smell?
When using a reusable sanitary cup it may sometimes develop an unpleasant odour. If you have been wondering what to do about menstrual cup smell, don’t worry, it is not just you. The menstrual cup smell can develop due to the protein compound in the menstrual fluid, even if you have been cleaning your period cup thoroughly.
The unpleasant menstrual cup smell usually disappears when you keep your period cup in a dry, well ventilated place for a few days as the protein compounds break down when in contact with oxygen.
If the menstrual cup smell is still there, soak your Me Luna cup in either lemon juice or vinegar for around 30 min. After that you need to boil the sanitary cup for 3 – 5 min. Please note a this deep cleaning method is not recommended for daily use!
To prevent menstrual cup smell in the future, make sure you always rinse you Me Luna Cup in cold water once you have emptied it. Boiling a menstrual cup at the beginning and end of each cycle will also help prevent your sanitary cup starting to smell.