With the correct care and usage, it should give you many years leak-free and comfortable service. As with many good things, it may take a little practice to perfect your Mooncup technique. Hopefully this guide will point you in the right direction!

It's worth noting that the key to successful Mooncup usage, is wearing the cup low. If you wear it high like a tampon, it will leak. You need to wear the cup as low as you can without the stem poking through. The stem will need to be trimmed to fit.

Before you use your cup for the first time, please boil it in an open pan for 5 minutes

It is worth practicing the insertion and removal of your cup before your period arrives. It is non-absorbent so you will find it perfectly comfortable to use at whatever stage of your cycle you happen to be.

Inserting Your Cup
Each user finds different techniques work for them, some find sitting on the toilet is best, whilst others prefer to squat. Whatever you feel most relaxed and comfortable with is probably the best for you! We'll call this the Insertion Position for the purposes of this guide.

So once in the Insertion Position, flatten the cup and then fold it into a "U". Holding the folded cup with two fingers and thumb (the stem should be pointing towards your palm), part your labia and angle the cup up inside your vagina towards your tailbone. Give it a twist and it should unfurl. Using a tip of your finger, check that the cup has opened up fully. You need to pull on the cup to sit it low down within your vagina. Initially the stem will stick out. Note how much you need to trim off and after removing the cup, cut the stem (if necessary) with a pair of scissors. It's best to take off a little at a time. You may find that the cup automatically rises within you when you stand up so you need to make allowances for this. At no point should you be aware of the cup inside you.

Removing Your Cup
The key to comfortable removal, is to break the seal. To remove the cup, sit on the toilet, (or squat on the floor, although it is less messy to sit on the toilet) locate the bottom of the cup/stem with your fingers and either pinch the base or slide a finger along side to break the seal. If necessary, pull on the stem to bring the cup partway down. If not already pinching the base, pinch the base, bear down, pull and twist all at once. The cup should come down easily. If there is resistance, the seal has not been properly released. If you find that the bottom of the cup has moved up too far, try doing 'little fairy pushes' rather than a big bear down. This will eventually bring the cup down to within reach. Alternatively leave the cup in place a little longer and it'll come down when it's good and ready! (Don't be surprised if you experience some 'twanging' the first few times you remove the cup - with practice you will avoid this!) Once you've got the cup down, slide it out and empty the contents down the toilet or into a basin with the water running. Rinse the cup with water and reinsert it. You may find that some blood has travelled down your vaginal passage during the emptying so you may need to clean yourself after you've reinserted your cup. Some women carry a bottle of water with them if they are not able to access water from the toilet itself. Others just empty and reinsert the cup as it is. It won't harm you.

Frequency of Emptying
Each woman is different, but generally 2 or 3 times a day is an average number of empties. You may find that if you are particularly heavy, you need to empty it more. You can leave it in all night, during swimming or other rigorous exercise without leakage.

Care of Your Cup
At the end of each period, boil your cup in an open pan of water for 5 minutes. Check that the air holes around the rim are clear and place the cup back in it's pouch until next time! You do not need to reboil the cup at the start of your next period. You may also use sterilising fluid on it if you prefer. However we do not recommend putting your cup in the microwave oven or dishwasher.

Finally
If you have any problems, questions, or worries, please feel welcome to contact me and I'll do my best to help. This guide is very new, and if you have any comments that you think would help other users I would be delighted to hear from you on 01243 790009 or 07930 339195.