Inspired by a student who saved thousands of dollars by 3D printing his own braces, 20 year-old Casey Owens decided to take matters into her own hands and 3D printed her own menstrual cup. But what started as a brave act of self-reliance quickly became a complete fucking nightmare.
“I just thought, why should my money line the pockets of big Diva when I can do this myself?” said Owens, a Comparative Literature major at Vassar College. “I just had no idea that it would just be like, this one huge period-induced hellscape.”
After thorough research that distracted from her pressing term papers, Owens found an online service for custom-ordered 3D printing.
“I was excited to print my own a menstrual cup so that I’d never have to purchase one from a homegrown, female-run business again,” Owens says. “At least until the warm gushes of blood because uncontrollable.”
Without the skills to render a digital model of the menstrual cup, Owens created a physical model of her vagina for the mold.
“I went to a Michael’s and grabbed anything that seemed like it might work — wax, plaster, this putty stuff. None of them got me the mold I needed, but they did all send me to the emergency room at least once.”
Friends were concerned with Owens’ process.
“I offered to give her an extra one I have if she’d stop doing this,” roommate Bre Littman says. “Instead I’ve had to deal with her seven yeast infections this year.”
“I found out that menstrual cups are actually made of medical-grade silicone and mail-order 3D printing services use a toxic, degradable plastic that no one should ever put inside their body,” Owens says. “And after having to evacuate the school lab for toxic fumes three times, I really should have known that this was a bad idea.”
If you want to 3D print your own menstrual cup, here’s what Owens recommends:
“Don’t do it. Don’t even fucking think about it. I spent over a thousand dollars, missed several key deadlines for my courses, and can now I only use pads.”
Cool! Thanks for the tip, Casey!
