Well, I think I’ll clarify this one, as I had assumed that, until this comment, you had a vagina. See, most women excrete some sort of discharge during the day. (Think of the uterus/vagina like a self-cleaning oven. ) A good deal of the time, the excretions are either expelling impurities or to reduce friction. Of course, it doesn’t expel enough of this to do anything more than leave a small dot on one’s underwear in the areas that have closest contact. (Of course, things change when one menstruates. Any rules regarding clothes change when one bleeds more than 2 ounces per day out of any orifice.) My sheets get nowhere near this close to my body, so it’s not an issue. I change them between two to four times a month, depending upon what the weather has been like and whether I’ve had any “monthly flood” problems of the menstrual sort the night before. My pillows get washed once a week, mostly because I break out easily and my hair seems to be a common cause of breakouts.
Another one is that I’m female, and I’ve noticed a few things. Guys tend to get heated up and sweat a LOT more easily than I do. I rarely sweat if it’s less than 83 degrees in the environment that I’m in. Most rooms are comfortably cool to me or a wee bit chilly. In fact, after having sat in a 74 degree room since 8am, I’m feeling a bit chilly. I use deodorant when I see fit, and I don’t sleep in a room warm enough for me to sweat in. I also exfoliate my skin quite often, as my soap distribution system of choice happens to be an exfoliating washcloth. This all reduces the kinds of things you appear to be concerned about.
Fair enough. If I don’t change my sheets twice a week in the summer, my room smells like a hamster cage. It’s once a week in the winter even though I always wear boxers – I am hirsute. I shed, lots. The great thing about hair is it holds odor - a small spray of cologne on my chest and there will be a sublte scent all day. The bad thing about hair is it holds odor. This probably partially explains my obsessive cleaning. Still, I have to at least do an under and up on my gear after a session.
I am currently going through my first menstruation cycle with the DivaCup. I have found that, even when removing the thing, emptying and cleaning it, and then reinserting just before I head to bed, I will still end up having it break the seal with too much “stuff” when I get out of bed in the morning. It’s not like I sleep more than 7 hours. It is, however, wonderful otherwise. I almost feel like I am not menstruating.
Any tips on how I might be able to reduce that issue? I end up having 1 inch diameter stains on my underwear in the morning because of this. Thank goodness I don’t wear white underwear, or else it’d look like a bizarre day at the Japanese Flagmaking Company.
DivaCup related TMI in spoiler.
Does it make your poo funny shaped? Mine ends up coming out like the oval-shaped Play-Doh extrusions when I’m using the DivaCup.
Edit: Whole Bean– my shortage on body hair would also be a reason why I can be more lax about changing the sheets and what I wear to bed. It happens.
Yeah we have totally different experiences we’re working from, here. I have never, that I can remember, been able to detect any kind of odor on my sheets, no matter how long it’s been since I’ve changed them. Not to gross you out, but typically I change them once a month, just because it seems like I should. A few other factors, however: 1) I bathe at night, so when I get into bed, I’m fresh and clean. 2) as stated before, I don’t tend to sweat and virtually never have a body odor unless I’ve eaten something really weird, or I’ve been way more active than usual, in the heat, and haven’t bathed for days. 3) I don’t wear perfumes/colognes/deodorants/hair products or things like that that would rub off on the sheets. 4) I have a queen size bed to myself, and it has six pillows on it, which means that any given side of any given pillow only has a 1/12 chance of being in direct contact with my head on a given night.
Trust me, though, if/when I had sheets that got stinky or stained* I would wash them immediately. I have an extremely oversensitive sense of smell, which is actually an annoying curse. Additionally, when I move in with my boyfriend in Ohio this summer, and teh h0tt sexx becomes a more common thing than just an occassional “when Dan is in town” thing, the sheets will no doubt be needin’ to be changed more often. (Yay!)
My first guess is that perhaps you aren’t getting a complete seal. If it’s really just volume, though, maybe the only answer is a pantyliner on those nights. As for the TMI question, no, but then mine aren’t solid enough to have really defined “shape” to begin with, due to my special digestive issues
Your Edit reminded me: I also have a shortage of body hair. All of mine is either shaved off or so thin and light as to be unnoticeable. This may help decrease my chances of having an odor.
I’m “blessed” with having a ridiculous sense of smell as well. It makes me really glad that I rarely get BO. However, it makes me miserable that other people’s senses of smell are not as good as mine.
I’ve only gone through one cycle with the DivaCup, so I’m not an expert, but I am an extremely zealous recent convert. I’m with OpalCat, and betting that you’re not getting a perfect seal, and it leaks when you’re prone as opposed to standing/sitting. Unless and until you perfect the seal, or if you’re really actually filling the thing, I guess a liner is needed.
Don’t you wish you had discovered the DivaCup years ago? I do. I called all my friends and told them about it. They think I’m a little odd, but that’s not especially new.
In answer to the TMI question, I’ve never noticed a difference.
On preview: sorry, kid. Go on and scrub your brain, you’ll feel better.
Oh, no, it’s not an issue of a bad seal. It’s an issue of me having a waterfall of blood erupt from my vagina overnight in the past couple of nights. I was the bizarre creature that the Ultra absorbency tampons were made for.
Other than having a uterus that wants to shed a Noah’s Ark sized mess overnight, I’m quite happy with the DivaCup. No more smelly wastebaskets!
Sorry, Kid. I just had to ask. Uhm, maybe you shouldn’t have read this post either. It’s also kinda TMI-y, but without a spoiler.
Are you my sister? She told me once that she has night-time and day-time undies because of a nocturnal squishy-fart problem.
As for me, nekkid - since I was about, um, born.
I have always hated to sleep in clothes. I had to when I was younger and shared a room with my sisters and then later when I was a foster child. But, anytime I had the room to myself - off the close would come. I have enough problems with insomnia, I don’t need clothes adding to my misery.
I’m with OpalCat, and betting that you’re not getting a perfect seal, and it leaks when you’re prone as opposed to standing/sitting. Unless and until you perfect the seal, or if you’re really actually filling the thing, I guess a liner is needed.