The pull tab, explained
Look at any menstrual cup and you'll see a small tab at the base. On most cups, that tab has one job: help you break the suction seal. On Elys, suction never forms — so what does our tab actually do?
Conventional cups create a vacuum seal once inserted: the rim opens against the vaginal wall, air gets trapped, and a seal forms. To remove the cup, that seal has to be broken first — usually by pinching the base or sliding a finger along the rim. The tab (or stem) at the bottom is mainly a handle: something to reach for once the seal is already broken, so you don't have to grip the cup itself.
What a pull tab does on a conventional cup
The Elys cup has a patented air channel that lets air flow in and out continuously, so a suction seal never forms in the first place. That means our tab isn't there to help you break a seal — there's nothing to break. Instead, it does two things:
- It's a cut-to-fit sizing tool. Because there's no suction to interfere with, you can trim the tab to whatever length feels most comfortable for your body — shorter for a higher cervix, longer if you prefer more to hold onto.
- It's a grip for removal. Since there's no seal to break, removal is closer to removing a tampon: reach the tab (or the base), and ease the cup out at an angle.
Why Elys has a tab too
With the Elys cup: simply pull the tab. That's it.
With most other cups: you'll need to break the suction seal first — see our practical guide for how.
Removal, side by side
No — it's genuinely useful, just for a different reason than on other cups. Think of it less as an “emergency release” and more as a convenience feature: adjustable length, easy to find, nothing to fumble with under pressure.
So is the tab just cosmetic?
Most menstrual cup design still assumes suction is unavoidable, so most tabs are built around managing it: bigger tabs, ridged tabs, seal-release grooves. Elys took a different starting point — remove the suction, and a lot of that hardware becomes unnecessary. The tab that's left is simpler, because the job it has to do is simpler.
The bigger picture
Curious how the air channel itself works? See the full design, or if you've already got a cup and it feels like it's not budging, read what to do if a cup feels stuck.
This article is for general information and isn't medical advice.
Elys Cup
The only suction-free menstrual cup in Europe.
The Elys Cup features a patented suction-free design, engineered for easier, calmer removal — the part of cup use most people worry about.
Reliable protection and all-day confidence, with the simplicity of tampon-like removal.
- Up to 8 hours of protection
- Patented suction-free removal design
- Easy insertion with fold guidelines
- 100% medical-grade silicone — BPA, latex and phthalate free
- Designed in Belgium, made in France
Why "up to 8 hours"? Because that's what we tested — not what marketing hoped.
8 out of 10 testers preferred Elys to any other menstrual protection (independent study, 100 women).
Find your size ▾ (tap to open)
Size 1 – Small · Ø 35.4 mm · 68 mm — first cup, teens, light to medium flow
Size 2 – Medium · Ø 39.5 mm · 70 mm — most users, medium flow
Size 3 – Large · Ø 42.6 mm · 70 mm — heavy flow, or after vaginal childbirth
Not sure? Every Elys cup has a cut-to-fit tab — with no suction to break, the tab is pure convenience. Trim it to your perfect length.
Package content:
1 menstrual cup
1 carrying pouch