The Best Kept Secret in Mama Cloth

This is a topic that makes my husband blush, the forbidden aisle at the store (that he no longer has to shop after an emergency phone call from his wife).  We call it “girl week” around our house.  Every “girl week” I am completely prepared.  I just take this little purple-drawstring bag from the drawer in my nightstand.  It contains my all-time-favorite invention:  The DivaCup.  I whisper about it now and then to my girlfriends…like the best-kept secret…are you leaning in?  I’m not sure why we blush when we talk about mama cloth, yet we’ll right-out-tell-a-stranger -just-what-kinda-stuff-we-wash-outta-those-sweet-diaps-our-babes-sport-around-their-tushies…   

Shortly after becoming a cloth-diapering mama, I began thinking how silly it was for me to be pouring expense into feminine hygiene products.  After all, hadn’t I saved a ton of money by AVOIDING the disposable-aisle of diapers?  Here I was, mindlessly shopping each month for menstrual supplies.

I purchased my first DivaCup almost 5 years ago ~ and haven’t looked back.

Never a fan of bulky menstrual pads, I wanted something that would replace tampons.  The Diva Cup does exactly that.  It is this comfortable little silicone cup that is completely reusable.  When positioned correctly, it cannot be felt at all--truly.  The makers of the Diva Cup recommend replacing it annually, which means that it lasts through at least 12 cycles ~ costing me a mere $2.75 per cycle. 

What about the mess of it?  Well, it is certainly not for the squeamish.  It requires rinsing and a quick wash with hot water and unscented soap at least every 12 hours.  It’s very simple to do in a private bathroom environment, right at the sink, taking just a minute or two.  That said, I would not recommend it for public restroom use.  (Inevitably, every year my menstrual cycle lands on the week that we go camping.  In this instance I opt for the disposable products.) 

When I purchased it I was very skeptical – it seemed too good to be true.  But it really is simple to care for.  I have never tried DivaWash, since my family uses natural/unscented soap on a daily basis.  I simply use what we have on hand and have never had any sensitivity issues.   Every now and then I sanitize my DivaCup by placing it for three minutes in a pan of boiling water.    A nice bonus is that it takes up the TEENIEST amount of storage space.  In my home, and in the landfill.  It has freed all this space under our bathroom sink!  One little tiny product, one little shy secret…spread the word….

 

Guest Blogger, Stephanie, is a homeschooling mother of three boys and lives in Madison, WI.  She began cloth diapering in 2006, stumbling across Nicki’s Diapers back when it was online-only.  She will never forget the day of her pilgrimage to Nicki’s first retail store in New Glarus ~ having never seen all that fluff in one place, and oh-the-joy-of-it!  A happy and loyal Nicki’s customer for going on six years.