My dear friends,
Somewhat embarrassing to admit, I'm not getting an annual bonus and Christmas is tight this year.
I will be making bedroom slippers for you all as gifts.
Please let me know your sizes.
You'll most likely agree that it's a splendid idea,
and should you wish to do the same,
I've included the instructions below.
How to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads:
You need four maxi pads to make a pair.
Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part.
The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top.
Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part.
Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers (this is most
aesthetically appealing), etc.
These slippers are:
* Soft and Hygienic
* Non-slip grip strips on the soles
* Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh
* No more bending over to mop up spills
* Disposable and biodegradable
* Environmentally safe
* Three convenient sizes: (1.) Regular, (2.) Light and (3.) Get out the Sand Bags.
I've attached a photo of the first pair I made so that you can see the
nifty slippers for yourself....
Awaiting your response. It's crucial that I get the right size for each
one of you.
Can't stop laughing....
Hope does not take away your problems.........
It can lift you above them.........Maya Angelou
VyNL was running out of time before her period would start without a jam-sponge to catch it. That meant we were in store for a trip to Bluestockings Bookstore on the Lower East Side. We arrived to find cute cloth pads, Diva Cups, Keepers and colorful ways to allow women to stand up and pee (what were those called again? I’d call ‘em pee-pods, but they probably had a better name). While we were looking, we were fortunate enough to meet Kimmie who works there and was ever so helpful and willing to be interviewed on the spot about alternative menstrual products.
She had been through the conventional pads and tampons, but recalled reading Cunt at the age of 17. The section called “On the Rag” introduced her to the possibilities of alternative menstrual products and she has been using them now for 5-6 years.
Although I have fallen in love with the Diva Cup, Kimmie’s perspective demonstrates that everyone is different and we all develop preferences whether conventional or alternative. She had tried the DC but felt that for her, the Keeper was easier to insert and doesn’t pop out or cause leakage. When people ask her which one is better, she explains that it is anatomy dependent and difficult to pick one on general terms. Additionally people have to be careful because of allergies. *For me, I am allergic to latex, so the DC works wonders, however, I think the keeper has natural rubber and latex properties are lurking!
We asked about the return policy and discovered that via the company, both the keeper and DC companies will accept them back. The DC offers a 90-day guarantee. This gives women a great opportunity to try something new without investing in something they might hate at a greater cost than the average pack of maxis.
VyNL had warned me, I was forgetting the questions, so here VyNL…here are the questions:
What about your friends? Do you have many friends who use alternative menstrual products? (Are you happy VyNL?) J
Kimmie says – I probably have more friends who use alternative menstrual products than the average person. I even have a sister who uses cloth pads. I too have used cloth pads. I’ve made my own or used washcloths. (Aha! Someone who mastered the rag for reals!)
AND she’s used the sponge. Sorry for VyNL, but Kimmie alluded to the sponge having more potential cons than pros. For an average to heavy flow, the sponge cannot hold enough and requires frequent emptying. Pressure can cause leakage. It’s better for lighter flows or the beginning/end of your period. She offered a backup suggestion to use a cloth pad with the sponge. VyNL *loves* pads. Actually, I’ve come to believe that VyNL is more of an equal opportunity pad hater – whether they’re winged, woven, hand-made or ragged.
How do you feel about being in a public place (rest room) with alternative menstrual products?
Kimmie responded that the sponge is more inconvenient in a public place because you have to squeeze it out. With the cup, you don’t get blood on your hands. She is pretty calm about emptying the cup and has no issues, though it took a couple cycles to get used to the Keeper. Nowadays, she doesn’t feel it.
Thinking about my own mishaps with the DC the first time I used it sparked the question if Kimmie had ever had any of her own issues while using the keeper.
She said she had none (I guess I am the only one who drops my cup into the toilet) but does recognize that forgetting to empty it or not having backup protection *in case* can be problematic.
We asked Kimmie about the benefits of the product-
Even if we aren’t sure of the environmental footprint left by products, half of the population uses disposable menstrual products. For Kimmie, this evokes a mental image of a landfill of bloody pads- cotton, plastic liners, etc. For me, this makes me think of Staten Island as a giant maxi pad surrounded by a bloody bay. But she has a great point that was reinforced by the images we saw of the thousands of tampon applicators in the sewage plant in the scene of one of the movies we watched in class.
Kimmie also reminded us that it is awesome when you don’t have to spend money on products every month. Sure, a cloth pad might be $12, but you only have to buy one every 3-4 months as opposed to an entire package of pads or tampons every month. Besides, the packing is more compact and convenient too.
Kimmie mentioned that she has used the cup/cloth pads to track her cycles as well. I wish I had asked her to elaborate because I wasn’t sure where she was going with that. But she did mention that she is aware of her mood patterns and the regularity of her cycle. Readers, does anyone else have experience with this?
We asked her if there was anything else she would like to add-
She says that using alternative products has opened discussion with her partners. She doesn’t feel like she needs to sneak off and change a tampon before or after sex. Washing a pad in a sink is more visible and allows for good conversation.
*In class, we had related alternative products to being more in touch with one’s body. Perhaps by being able to talk about it more with others, there is an even greater sense of understanding that spreads from self to a circle of friends/family. I think it’s great that she is so open to talking about it. People need to learn about these things.
She also let us know that while working at Bluestockings, she has been able to sell alternative products at readings and parties. I think that puts an awesome twist on the outdated Tupperware parties.
If you ever need assistance with the issue of alternative menstrual products and are in the area, Bluestockings Bookstore is a friendly place where people like Kimmie are eager to be of assistance. You can even get a great cup of coffee or tea while you’re in. We had a great time talking with her and look forward to hearing from others at Bluestockings. Check them out any day between 11:00 am and 11:00 pm : 172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington :: 212.777.6028
www.bluestockings.com
You can reach Kimmie at kimmie@bluestockings.com
Schwinn
What has your experience with menstrual products been?
- I could never wear a tampon because I was too small. They just really irritated me a lot. And I hated those wing things that were plastic. So I just always wore a regular pad. I remember in the summer time when we would go diving and there would be sharks around and we had to be careful that we wouldn’t get our periods cause we didn’t want sharks to get us.
Have you ever used alternative menstrual products?
-What are those?
Like the diva cup or cloth pads.
-like women on the rag really is women on the rag? No that is to archaic for me. If I used that I wouldn’t get a Brazilian bikini wax and I wouldn’t shave my under arms. I would just braid my underarms and let the monkey be the monkey.
N, 21
What kind of products do you use?
-I don’t use pads anymore because I finally got comfortable with tampons. Sleep in them use them all the time whatever. I used to use the cardboard ones but now I use the plastic ones because they are more comfortable.
Have you ever considered or learned about alternative menstrual products?
-no
J, 43
What has your experience with menstrual products been?
-I have to take Tylenol and anti-depressants because of my period. I get really moody and cranky and depressed.
What about products? Like alternative menstrual products?
-No, I use the PMS symptom pills and Tylenol and Advil.
No, like tampons or pads, things like that..
-I use pads and tampons.
Have you ever considered using alternative menstrual products?
-Well I heard the cup doesn’t work. actually I think I tried the cup like 15 years ago. Maybe its changed. I’m not really aware of it but I would like to learn more about it. I would love to hear about it. I have a really heavy flow and sometimes I really hate having the tampon in me. I know nothing about it so I would really like to know more about it.
M, 13
How do you feel about menstrual products? Have you eve heard of alternative menstrual products?
- -No.
How do you feel about getting your period?
-Really bad. It’s a horrible wretched thing.
V, 44
What is your experience with menstrual product? Have you ever considered using alternative menstrual products?
- -I believe in gravity. I have big diapers. I don’t believe in corking the stuff. It has to come out. I wear the biggest diapers I have ever seen. They are very useful if you have a spill or an emergency, they are very absorbent. I like pads they work very well.
Have you ever considered using a cloth pad?
-God no, that’s disgusting!
D, 47
What has your experience been with menstrual products? Would you ever consider using alternative menstrual products or have you ever used them, like the cloth pad, cup or sponge?
- I remember Granny always telling me about how she used a rag and I think one of my sisters had to use one when she stayed at Granny’s once and I thought that was the grossest thing. I would never use them. I need like thick, I use two and then the tampon. I did once consider using the one that is like a cup but I don’t remember why I didn’t. If it just sounded too weird or if I tried it and I don’t know. I remember hearing about it. But now I just bleed too much and I don’t have the energy to try it.
It's interesting how E, who is a risk taker, be so against trying alternative menstrual products. She doesnt get her period anymore but the imagery she brings up about the cloth pad is very primitive.
And D, who is very conservative and reserved, was so open to sharing and was, at one point, thinking about using the cup. she also said that one of her friends says that getting her period is “your monthly reminder that you are capable of baring children.” This rings true for N, she talked about how she was so excited about getting her period because it was a symbol that she was now a woman and that she could get pregnant.
all of these woman are family members and it makes me sad that only one of them is open to using alternative menstrual products. i find them fascinating and i tell everyone who will listen about them.
VyNL
p.s. i get my period this week that means i am starting the sponge!
I didn’t really get time to update today. I’m so behind and barely got through classes. Left rehearsal early to pass out – I laugh thinking I could still have that same rag sopping up blood from whatever day it was…oh thank goodness for the cup. I probably end my period tomorrow, but alas, this is goodbye as I won’t have time to update. That’s all folks. Don’t take my word for the pad/rag/cloth…I’m sure they’re great…really.
Schwinn
Today was not much different from yesterday except that I could feel myself starting to get sick. We had to run errands, so I was roaming around in public on the rag and it was no different than using a pad or tampon. Today, however, I refrained from cutting the newest rag-so it was noticeable in my jeans…Comparing the thickness of this rag to pads…ladies, your pads are invisible. But I was wearing a long coat anyway and was unfazed. I basically gave up caring about it except for the notion that it was a white rag that would ultimately be stained for good because I only had time to soak it (not fully wash it until I reached home). Since I had to be at work Saturday morning, I rushed home to pack and leave in the evening. I had planned on changing the rag for the trip, but realized I had used the last of them. Fortunately it was thick and wrapped many times…perhaps it wouldn’t be a big deal. Regardless, I wasn’t giving in and buying a box of tampons or pads. Do you know how many I have now? For once, too many.
I set out for NY from Cleveland (an 8 hour journey) and developed a steady lead footed pace. The weather was much better this time around (I had crawled 20mph in a white out for several treacherous miles only a few days earlier). I was getting sicker and had been exhausted over the last couple days. I knew I was returning home only to work at my job and rush my interviews in (which you will hear about later) since my family did not get together and I lost my voice (and the internet!) and could not talk to anyone. I had a paper to write and the regular load of studying for my exams. My head hurt thinking about it and I pushed the pedal to 80mph, slowing when my extrasensory bells and whistles went off to alert me to a cop’s presence.
Idiot me received a phone call at one point and desperately tried to navigate through it –both of us had laryngitis-he had a Pakistani accent to go along with it. So I concentrated a little harder on the phone and a little less on the cops and suddenly had sped right past one. I know this is now well off topic of my period, however, it is here and now when the officer asked me why I was going 86 mph that I wished I was a bit more worked up to tears…I had the perfect opportunity to attempt the menstrual card.
Officer, I am leaking through my rag and need to get to the nearest bathroom AND store to buy tampons.
Officer, if you are going to pull me over, then you are going to have to let me run into the woods and put in a tampon or something!
Officer, there isn’t an open store for MILES at 11:00pm the day after Thanksgiving in the middle of Pennsylvania!!! I started bleeding through my rag and it’s going to get all over my jeans and car…please!!!!
But I didn’t pull the card. I knew I had been speeding. I didn’t think he’d care…I know doctors who haven’t been pardoned when truthfully rushing to emergencies. No one gives two shits about the bathroom card…so my only hope was that this man was the most close-minded conservative Pennsylvanian cop this side of the Poconos…and I didn’t think he’d buy it. Besides, I had no tears. I was so ill and dehydrated and congested that I couldn’t cry anything out. But could you imagine? I am thinking of writing to the clerk with a note that says “please only let a female clerk/officer read this”-and then confiding “embarrassingly” to them:
I am writing to apologize for speeding –the officer asked me and I didn’t know what to say-he was a man –how am I supposed to explain THIS to him? I had been using the same rag since early that morning. He would have been MORTIFIED! I’m so sorry, I just don’t know what to do. I felt so gross and wanted to just get it over with and get on so I could find a store before I practically bled out.
I imagine a male reading it anyway-and laughing or being grossed out. He will either buy it or not, but maybe I can save $167.00 that I don’t have. Think of it as a “get out of jail free card”- every game of Monopoly gets two right?
Yes, my plan was to make cloth pads from a pattern on a website discussed in class. No, my plan was not to forget my diva cup in NY. Yes, my plan was to have the pad(s) ready and waiting for me. No, I’m not one for going according to plan…no, I did not think I would get my period on Thanksgiving, although recounting- that’s 34 days, and that has been my cycle for the last year, give or take the month where I tend to skip forward or backward an entire week. So here we are, Thanksgiving…what are YOU thankful for, honey? Well, I am thankful for my menstrual cycle, that it has come to visit me for Thanksgiving and spend the week…and I have nothing at the moment save for mom’s cheap (read: $.99/roll, not plush and comfy) toilet paper to catch it.
My next instinct was to connect to my surrogate brain, the internet, which is a wealth of knowledge, random facts and a lot of useless information that I like to keep close to me in the event my own knowledge falls short and hits a brick wall. Alas, my mother has no internet, but she does know best and handed me several of her rags. By this point, I didn’t really want to deal so much with it, so I sat on the toilet and began playing origami games with the rags.
I settled upon an S-folded formation that was eventually wrapped around several times and tucked. That way, if one portion became soiled, I could stick it into the middle of the folds and rewrap to a clean spot. Aren’t you going to cut that? –my mom asked- Please. I’m so over this. (Did I mention, I don’t really like pads?) For once, I appreciated my mom’s lonely Thanksgiving. Over the years, as my siblings married and moved out and my mom became more of a social avoider, holidays gradually quieted beyond my liking. Once my dad passed away, the sparkle of holidays diminished beyond my sense of understanding that it isn’t the glitter and gold that makes the holiday, it’s the company you keep and the traditions you share. For me, the glitter and gold was my family…but everyone’s in their own world. This year, I tried to prepare myself to enjoy sitting at home over a meal with just my mom as she had already provided plenty of reasons to my aunt and brother why we wouldn’t be celebrating with them. But now as I was sitting there, on the rag- literally-and not quite comfortable with it, I was glad I didn’t have to go anywhere.
Having rapidly grown accustomed to toileting without seeing an accumulation of old blood thanks to the cup, I was once again annoyed with going to the bathroom and seeing a bloody rag। Though, the rag was surprisingly absorbent. Unlike a pad, which can only lay against you, the rag had also somewhat conformed to my figure. With less space between the rag and me, I didn’t feel myself bleeding. Another thing I hate about pads is that I will sit a certain way or get up after sitting and feel blood pass through me. I know it’s such a minute amount, but it feels like I have just peed a little or have reached the threshold of my pad and am now bleeding into my pants. I was convinced that it would smell, but it really didn’t until later in the evening when it began to smell like wet rag. (You may disagree with me on this, but I think all cloth items get an odor to them when they’ve been wet for more than an hour). I changed to a new rag over night and soaked the other.
Schwinn
The downside to ending this cycle is that next month I have endeavored to try making my own cloth pads. I hate pads and only envision this piece of juvenile pink and valentine red fleece with cheesy hearts on it- a jam sandwich between vulva and hipster or string bikini (black to hide blood stains) – smeared with remnants of lining clotted atop the weave, unable to seep into super absorbency; a reminder of why periods can be annoying.
At the same time, VyNL is on her own adventure – to try the jam sponge- which is just a bit too alternative for me। A cloth pad seems tame compared to the spongy unknown. I can’t see it being promising. Though for her sake, I imagine it being less painful?
Schwinn
It’s only been four days, but by this point, it seems pretty natural. I’m a diva cup super pro, yeah! Halloween is coming up and I have no costume. Maybe I can be that. A diva cup. Or a diva cup super hero. I’ve fallen in love with this thing. I just started to laugh because I recalled moments from the weekend of parties. VyNL and I had taken to discussing our cups to the other party guests while laughing about emptying it in the bathroom or the thought of it coming out. I’d better be careful or I might end up guilty of laughing by myself in a public place…one day people will think I am crazy.
Schwinn
I guess I had cheated by the end of Day 1 as I worried I would not be in the proper state of mind to change the cup a second time. During that special time of night where jello shots, cider and spiked hookah pass quickly and time beings to pass much more slowly, the last thing a woman might want to do is stumble to the bathroom in a conflict of euphoria and drowsiness and attempt to empty her menstrual cup, knowing that her first try was a bust. Double-lining seemed to be the way to go, but just this once.
After settling in on my round chair and taking in an excess of marijuana, I wasn’t moving from my spot…not for McDonald’s trip number one nor number two (made by some friends desperately seeking what are fondly known as “nugs”). Several times I thought about the filling cup and the 12 hour caveat – “don’t wear the cup longer than that or it turns into a bloody pumpkin in your vag”, but I was fused to the chair and comfortable. In the morning I somewhat waddled to the bathroom. When I stood still, I was certain it gurgled at me – queefing against the sides of my vaginal wall, “Let me out! I’m a bloody mess!” It was rather amusing.
I began somewhat of a wrestle to pull the cup out. I couldn’t break the seal, pull the tab or get it to slide down. Sure, for one moment I thought “this is what happens when you leave it in longer than 12 hours – it fills so much that the seal vacuums!” Then I even momentarily worried: what if after all of these years of laughing about tampon emergency stories, I went to the ER with this diva cup trapped against my body – for some reason, I felt like the hospital down the street wouldn’t know what to do except speak a lot of Spanish while wheeling me around on a gurney. ¡Que horror! La pobre chica con su taza sangre…no podemos ayudarla. Que malo. A couple more splurging attempts and it came out and remained in my control. Once again, not for crowded bathrooms…it seems high maintenance.
But I can tell I like it and it works….or will work when I get the hang of it. I want to tell my mom to use this – or ask her what she was thinking…but she is beyond menopause now. I think she had used a cup before though. In any case, she cannot use it now, but I feel like she missed out something good.
Schwinn
I had every intention of trying this thing out prior to having my period this month. It seemed challenging enough to merit some getting used to – but it was now or never as I had pushed my wait to the max and had no choice…no surprise there. Alas, I was spotting. Quickly, I boiled it, washed my hands like a surgeon and folded it once, twice maybe. Popped it in with remarkable ease and no bother. Suddenly I had this hollow feeling inside. For much of the day, my cramps were intense – reminding me of the cup’s presence...as if they somehow were related. Silly, of course. Several hours passed and I decided to empty the cup before a swinging party was about to ensue. Positioned over a toilet, I tried for the tip, the bottom, felt it slide somewhat and pulled it out oh so successfully, about to watch the first cup-full of blood…dark mucosal blood…spill out until PLOP – it slipped out of my hand and fell into the toilet.
Now as I grabbed it and ran it under hot water for several minutes before deciding to boil it again, I could only envision that I was in a crowded bathroom at any number of places beginning with Coney Island, NYU medical center, the mall, MMC…women are standing in line and hogging sinks and here I am with this bloody mess of a cup that has now fallen into the toilet. Smooth. Herein I decided without reservation that every woman needs two of these...one for emergency back up. Can you tell? I’ve been sold.
Schwinn
She had recently gained my full respect and was now before us, passing around a sizeable silicone cup and its junior. Soon a satin blue bag reached me complete with a mini pamphlet on its purpose and directions of use – without more advertisements aimed at making me feel embarrassed or proud about my period. Though, I tend to be pretty neutral on these things. Here I am, an avid tampon user (I prefer the Tampax Pearl WMD wicked menstrual device), a masturbator, a sexually active (though on an extended voluntary hiatus) woman and an irregular visitor of the gynecologist. I have no qualms about putting useful and helpful objects in my vagina and have so far enjoyed decent outcomes barring momentary discomfort…but until now, I’ve not considered being a menstrual cup user long enough to try it.
Tampons and the issue of the “bleach leech” never quite worried me, nor did the threat of TSS despite my mother’s warnings and my sister’s recent admonition that “I better never sleep with a tampon”. Even flushing has rarely been an issue – after all, the single experience I have with a clogged toilet will forever be questionably the fault of my tampon, my distressing bowel movement or the crossed Q-tips that managed their way down there by the owner of the toilet. I can’t say I am green enough to consider the environmental effects without stumbling upon stray applicators on beaches, in bathrooms and curbside.
I’ve regretfully lined or double-bagged, flooded thin maxis and worried when overnights were overloaded in under the time limit noted on the package. I’m not a fan of anything lingering where I can feel it, leaking when I don’t have time to change it or shifting to a chafe. But given the options, that’s what I’ve used…and have seldom complained.
But there was something there – was it a freeing feeling associated with the blue in the bag? Was this a blue period, the kind Always says I should be happy about? Was it the smoothness of the curious cloudy silicone, a refreshing vacation from cotton and gauzy gluey (bloody) catch-all? Was it my own intrigue in a self-constructed taboo? I would never catch my blood in a cup…I mean, what do you DO with that after? Suddenly I was enchanted with this chalice। It was worth a try as I’d have nothing to lose but a week…and that is to say only if it were a nightmare. Imagine if it were better than the rest?
Schwinn
I had no problem with sleeping in it. I did get quezy at the sight of the blood this morning when I pulled it out which is weird for me but maybe it’s because its 7:30am. It hurt pulling it out but I was fine putting it back in. On to school!
So I can feel the cup inside of me and it’s a little annoying. But as I am getting used to it, I am slowly starting to feel it less but I am still aware of it being there. It is actually really cool because I have already pulled it out once and saw the blood collecting on the bottom. It will be really interesting to see how much I actually bleed a month. I know that I am not going to keep a record of how many ml I bleed because I just don’t have that kind of time and I don’t have the brain power/memory to try to remember. I will also remember to keep the cup away from animals especially rodents… so I guess I won’t be lying naked in the subways. So I just sneezed and it moved the cup a little and now it is pinching me or something... Ahh! Pain! I am afraid to take it out or move it around because I don’t want to have problems putting it back in. what sucks is that my bathroom is public and I can’t just clean it out in the sink and put it back in. I would have to walk over to the sink rinse it and then go back into a stall and put it back in. What a hassle. I know at school it wont be so bad because I can just use a single person stall. Ugh.. it really hurts so I am going to go fix it because I don’t want another freak infection!
i posted the lunette cup website incase you want to check it out... just click on "Day 1" at the top and it will direct you there.
Ok so pulling it out was so painful!! I am wearing a tampon tonight. I’ll try again in the morning. This is a lot harder than I thought.
Well even the tampon is hurting.. so I guess I hurt myself trying to use the cup. I think I may have done something when I was trying out the cup. OUCH!
VyNL
