sterilization

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27 May 2013 @ 09:30 pm

Hello everyone,

I have a question I have been using menstrual cups for four years now. I normally boil my cups before the 1st use and then only use hot soapy water to clean them after. I was thinking of doing the boiling again after each cycle but I was wondering does this make the cup wear out or get softer when you boil on a frequent bases?

Tags: cleaning - boiling

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trejoy on May 28th, 2013 06:42 am (UTC)

Which cup are you using? Pretty sure cups will respond differently based on material and design. After two years of constant use, boiling at the beginning of my cycle, my soft MeLuna got progressively softer. The Keeper didn't seem affected at all, but I used it less than a year. My other cups I haven't used/boiled long enough to comment on.

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curlydeva on May 28th, 2013 01:38 pm (UTC)

I currently use a Miacup and a MCUK on a regular. I have a meluna classic, keeper, and yuuki which I don't wear as much.

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curlydeva on May 28th, 2013 01:46 pm (UTC)

Trejoy,
Thanks for your comment this leads me to believe that over time boiling would make it softer which means a replacement sooner. The Miacup is already soft enough "perfect" as it is and so is my MCUK so I will just continue with hot soap and water.

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m03m on May 28th, 2013 06:50 pm (UTC)

That's a Meluna though. It's a TPE cup, and yours is made from silicone. So those results do not relate to your cup.

Nevertheless, soap and hot water are fine.

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curlydeva on May 28th, 2013 07:04 pm (UTC)

Oh Ok humm.

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melissa569 on May 28th, 2013 09:12 am (UTC)

If you like, you can also sterilize the cup with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol. Just wipe it all over the cup and let it dry. Easy. cup is sterilized.

But don't soak your cup in a container of alcohol. It just needs a thin layer and it needs to dry. Its the drying process which sterilizes.

I spoke (via email) with a medical silicone expert a while back, asking him about the best ways to care for items made of medical silicone, and I copied his reply to me in a post here on LJ. Here is the post if you would like to read it:

http://menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/1649971.html

Edited at 2013-05-28 09:13 am (UTC)

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melissa569 on May 28th, 2013 11:50 am (UTC)

Hmmm... Not sure.

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teacupcake89 on May 28th, 2013 12:43 pm (UTC)

I don't know where you are but in the UK rubbing alcohol is called Surgical Spirit.

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checkerdandy on May 28th, 2013 04:14 pm (UTC)

Not sterilized, but disinfected. http://www.diffen.com/difference/Disinfect_vs_Sterilize

/microbiologist

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m03m on May 28th, 2013 11:46 am (UTC)

If your cup is silicone, it should not have any bad effects.

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kuradi8 on May 28th, 2013 12:29 pm (UTC)

Boiling does not sterilize. Google the difference between clean, sanitized, disinfected and sterile. Washing with plain old soap and water sanitizes nearly as well as boiling or chemical means so why go through the hassle, (edited to add:) cost and risk accidental damage of the other methods?

"As clean as cutlery."

Edited at 2013-05-28 12:30 pm (UTC)

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curlydeva on May 28th, 2013 01:41 pm (UTC)
Thanks

Thanks everyone.

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