How to Care for Your Sex Toys

Silicone

Silicone is a great material for sex toys because it's high quality, can last a lifetime, is body safe and easy to take care of. When looking for a new sex toy, make sure the packaging says 100% medical grade silicone and when looking for a lube to combine with your toy, be sure to steer clear of silicone based lube. While they may contain the same ingredients, silicone lube will actually break down your toy. Stick with water-based.

As for caring for your toy, you'll want to wash it with soap and water. Antibacterial soap is going to be your best bet since it will kill any lingering bacteria. The coolest thing about silicone is that you can boil it, so skip the scrub session and just throw your toys into a pot on the stove.


Rubber and Latex

Rubber or latex toys are a great option if you don't want to spend a lot of money, but want something that feels great. However, they tend to be very porous and can attract bacteria and dust. In general, it is important to not share sex toys, but you'll really want to make sure you aren't sharing these ones.

Unlike silicone sex toys, you can use water based or silicone lube with them, just make sure to pass over the oil based lube. When it comes to washing them, you're going to want to spend some time carefully scrubbing them in order to get all of the bacteria build up out. Use hot soap and water and be sure to wash them after every use.


Glass

Glass toys have been making a come back recently and for good reason. Glass is strong, safe, hypoallergenic, non-porous and the easiest to care for. You can also heat it up or cool it down to change up your bedroom fun. Combine these toys with any kind of lube, unless you're a girl then you'll want to avoid using oil based lube.

Clean up is a breeze with glass sex toys. Just wait until you're about to run your dishwasher and throw the toy in. One 45 minute cycle can kill off all the bacteria. You can also boil these toys, just be sure to watch it so it doesn't crack against the sides of the pot.

Jelly

Jelly toys are highly controversial as they are known to contain Phthalates, which is a chemical used to soften plastic. This chemical has the tendency to breakdown over time and begin leaking out of your sex toy and potentially into you. Be sure to assess the risk before purchasing one and to routinely inspect all of your current jelly toys.

Feel free to combine any sort of lube with this toy, but just know that it will be hard to clean off, so water-based will probably be your best bet. When cleaning your jelly toy, avoid using really hot water. Stick with warm water and a very mild soap.


Metal

Metal toys are a great option for anyone looking for a toy with some longevity and strength. The firmest of the sex toys, metal allows you to get more pressure in your play, to heat up or cool it down, and to use any kind of lube with it. Metal is extremely safe because it is non-porous and easy to sterilize.

This is another toy you can throw into the dishwasher or a boiling pot, but you don't even have to go that far, you can simply wipe it down with a sex toy antibacterial wipe, like the ones you can get from Adam & Eve and you're good to go.

Other sex toy maintenance facts:

Be sure to take out the batteries after every use. This will help preserve the life of your batteries and ensure that the batteries do not breakdown or leak out overtime. You can also be reassured that your toy won't start randomly vibrating in your drawer when you least expect it.

You will want to avoid submerging sex toys in water if they have an electronic component. This seems like common sense, but many vibrators will note that they are waterproof. This is does not mean you can take it with you to the tub or run the battery section under water. You will ruin it. Wash these toys carefully and take out the batteries when doing so.

Keep your sex toys out of direct sunlight or excessive heat. Both of these factors can cause your toys to either discolor or melt! Store them in a cool, dark and dry place and be sure to store them separately from each other. Some toy materials don't play well with others. Avoid toy breakdown by keeping each toy in a separate pouch or separated by pieces of cloth.

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