The Best Way To Clean Your Sex Toys
Durham suggests washing toys with a mild soap and water or an antibacterial sex toy cleaner (no harsh ingredients, although all-natural toy cleaners are ideal). You can clean these toys using mild soap and warm water, or a damp, soapy washcloth, much like the toys above. As an added bonus, if your borosilicate glass, silicone, or stainless-steel toys don’t vibrate, you can boil them for 3 to 4 minutes to fully disinfect them. Finn doesn’t suggest boiling sex toys made of gold, since many of them are only gold-plated and may contain other materials.
I suggest throwing them out, as not even a condom can provide adequate protection from the harsh chemicals it’s loaded with. That being said, I’m also not one for policing what people do with their bodies, so if you find yourself too attached to the gadget to toss it, using it won’t kill you. InStyle may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Stubbs notes that you should also wash your toys right when you take them out of the package. “Even though they’re new toys, the factories they came from aren’t clean rooms,” she says. Place your toy in storage bags or pouches to keep clean in-between use.
Virtually every kind of sex toy can be cleaned with a thorough scrub. But in most cases, surface cleaning is sufficient if you are the only person who will be using the toy. “100 percent silicone, glass, and steel toys can also be cleaned with liquid soap or a toy cleaner and then air dried,” Deysach says. Because of this, cleaning your sex toys is as important as practicing safe sex.
If you like to keep things private, washing your toys in a communal sink might not be ideal. For safety’s sake, here’s a rundown of suggested sex toy materials. Anything else, quite frankly, not only makes for super low-quality toys, but toxic ones too. Fine recommends Dame’s sex toy storage pouch, ($30, dameproducts.com), which also features small zippered compartments to hold chargers and smaller toys. No matter a toy’s material, avoid storing it in cramped or damp quarters, like rolling around in a drawer, where it can touch other items, suggests Hodder-Shipp.
Here’s exactly how to clean your sex toys before and after you use them. Even if you’re diligent about thoroughly cleaning your toy every time you use it, you should think about cleaning it before you use it too. There’s a chance that it might have come into contact with dirt, lint, dust, and other materials since you last used it. We’re guessing you don’t want to expose yourself to those elements, so you should consider washing your toy beforehand. Your vagina is home to myriad bacteria and fungi that help to keep it healthy. When you use a sex toy, odds are some of these microorganisms will attach themselves to the toy.
Depending on your budget or what you and your partner are comfortable with, either use a separate toy for each partner or use condoms. "To maintain the cleanliness of the toy it’s best to cover insertive toys with a condom and switch out the condom when switching orifices," Bard says. "Oftentimes, cleaning our products is the last thing we want to do—or think to do—and having a dedicated product just for this purpose can help to remind us that our products need special care and attention," White adds. After they're washed, both cyberskin and vinyl may need a dusting of cornstarch. This keeps the material from becoming sticky or degrading quickly, Watts explains, but always check the instructions to verify this step.
The most accessible options available are either soft material bags or rigid containers. Of course, you could always splurge on sex toy-specific storage if you want the best for your vibe. Only 57% of men clean their sex toys after they use them, according to a 2017 survey by adult superstore Adam & Eve. That's a big problem, because experts say that failing to wash sex toys, especially porous toys like the Fleshlight or other strokers, can have some alarming consequences.
Porous materials may melt, or become disfigured if doused in alcohol, and though you may rinse the alcohol off after cleaning, remnants of alcohol can wreak havoc on your most intimate body parts. It’s safe to steer clear of alcohol or harsh disinfectants completely and opt for toy-friendly soaps, or other recommended cleaners. That said, not everybody knows that sex toys can encourage bacteria growth which leads to infections, and even transmit certain STIs – regardless of whether they’re made of something porous or not. If you want something higher-tech, this sanitizing and charging storage system for adult toys is pricey but worth the investment, notes Chavez. “It uses UV light to kill 99.9% of bacteria on the surface of the device in less than 10 minutes,” she explains. Set the stage for an easy sanitizing session by setting up a cleaning station best way to clean sex toys bleach with all the supplies you need ahead of time.
Without the last step, Cyberskin tends to get sticky, making for unpleasant play the next time you try to use that particular toy. A few examples of porous materials include elastomer , latex and Cyberskin. Non-porous materials from which sex toys are frequently made include borosilicate glass , silicone, ABS plastic and metals. Moreover, sex toy cleaners exist, and at a shop, representatives typically advise customers to purchase a cleaner as an addition. Remember to remove the batteries, spray the cleaner directly onto the toy, and rinse with warm water.