How often you should be emptying your menstrual cup? 10-12 hours is the maximum for hygeine reasons but if you DO have a heavy period or have a heavy 1-2 days you are likely going to need to empty more frequently.
But HOW do you know when the cup is full?
Since we can’t possibly know (these dumb cups don’t have an alarm or the ability to text us when it’s time) you will want to remove your cup after 3-4 hours the first day you try it. You will see how much is in the cup and based on that visual, you’ll be able to gauge if you could have left it in much longer or if it was way overdue. Since a menstrual cup can hold 2-8x more than a tampon (this will range based on the tampon you’re comparing to and the cup size/capacity you have chosen) you can also try to do some quick math on how often you changed your tampon on your heavy day and double that time, then remove and check to see how full the cup is.
Survey Says…
We did an informal poll of our group members and asked
How often do you HAVE to remove and empty your menstrual cup on your heavy day(s)?
The most popular answer was “Every 4-6 Hours” followed by “Every 10-12 Hours” which demonstrates how varied our menstrual cycles can be!
Most popular answer was 4-6 Hours
Second most popular answer was 10-12 hours
Range of Normal
The average menstrual cycle is 30-60 ml which, if you’ve measure this out, is not a lot of liquid. Most people are shocked to find this out and many respond that they most definitely bleed way more than this. In some cases this is true but in most it’s an inaccurate statement based on the fact that they’ve only seen their blood soaked into disposable products, giving the appearance of a much heavier period.
The wonderful thing about using a menstrual cup is that you will get to know your body and your period better than you ever did before! In 1-3 cycles you’ll have a very good understanding of your period, which days you are the heaviest, and how often you need to remove and empty your cup each day of your cycle. Things such as seasons, stress, aging, changes in medication or birth control, etc can affect your period and this will be something you can measurably find out by using a cup.
7 Responses
Thanks for sharing this valuable piece of information.
How often should you replace your cup with a new one, like a mattress is needing replaced after 8-10 years.
Not getting your periods suck because then you might think you are pregnant!
This is new to me. Never heard of the product. However, I have sisters who suffered with heavy bleeding and could not use a tampon because their menstral cycle was very heavy, soaking up pads more than usual. OB docs told them they can’t use tampons due to their heavy cycles. So, the question is, what about women who have very heavy menstral cycles for whatever reason. AND when removing the cup does it pose the possibility to leakage, etc.?? Also, what about the possible issues with bacteria and/or infections if women do not clean the cup out correctly??? What other health issues could this cup present for women that is not being reported to women??
I do it as u have mentioned in the article thanks for the helpful information shared.
Hey, thanks for your very informative videos and posts 🙂
I was wondering something, though: I recently bought a cup, and the instructions say that you should wear it a maximum of 6h. Is it because the brand is being a bit too cautious and you can actually wear it for longer depending on your flow, or is it really a serious warning I should respect? I was hoping to wear it to sleep and everything but they don’t recommend it because of the 6 hours limit.