If you use, clean, and store them the right ways, using sex toys can be safe and fun!
Sex toys are toys that are used in sex or masturbation. There are all sorts of them, from vibrators to masturbation sleeves to dildos! Once you choose sex toys you want to use, it’s important to know how to use sex toys safely, and how to clean and store them.
Is it safe to use sex toys?
There’s some risk for giving or getting STIs (sexually transmitted infections) when you share sex toys with a partner. You can lower this risk by using sex toys with a condom or dental dam! A dental dam is a thin sheet of latex you hold between the toy and the vulva, anus, or mouth. Dental dams are good for toys that don’t involve penetration. You can put condoms over toys that do!
If you use sex toys by yourself, you can’t give yourself an STI that you don’t already have. But if you have an STI on one part of you body, like your mouth or throat, you can spread it to other parts of your body, like your genitals. You can also transfer bacteria that aren’t considered STIs. This is especially true if you’re going from the anus to another area. To lower the risk for this, you can clean your toys between uses, and put a condom over toys that you use for penetration!
Cleaning sex toys
Many toys can be adequately cleaned with soap and water. But toys made of porous materials like jelly, latex, PVC, or vinyl can trap and grow bacteria. This bacteria can carry a risk for infections, like a UTI or yeast infection. Following the cleaning instructions that come with your sex toy and cleaning it often will lower this risk! Using barriers like condoms and dental dams with porous toys can help make them even safer.
You can sterilize many non-porous toys by boiling them or putting them in some dishwashers. Non-porous toys are usually made of medical-grade silicone, metal or glass.
A handful of toys, like Fleshlight masturbation sleeves, can only be cleaned with water. You can usually find special instructions for toys like this on their packaging.
After you use a sex toy, it helps to clean it by following the instructions it came with, and let it fully air dry after. For more information, check out Babeland’s guide on cleaning sex toys.
Storing sex toys
Some sex toys need to be stored in specific ways. This helps them last longer and helps keep them safer for your body.
Toys that are 100% medical-grade silicone, high-quality plastic, metal, or glass usually don’t need any special storage. But toys made of other materials, like latex, PVC, or a mixture of silicone and something else, can break down when you store them next to each other. This is caused by chemical reactions between the toys. For these toys, you can help them last longer by by storing them in separate ziploc bags, or at least making sure they don’t touch.
To help keep their charge when you’re not using them, it helps to “lock” any rechargeable vibrators that have a “lock” setting. Similarly, it helps to store battery-powered vibrators with the batteries removed.
Silicone toys and lube
Silicone is body-safe and easy to clean, making it an ideal material for sex toys. However, sex toys aren’t strictly regulated. So, some toys that say they’re silicone may actually be a blend of different materials, which may or may not be silicone-friendly. Because of this, many sex toy manufacturers and sex shops don’t recommend using silicone lube with silicone toys.
But, medical-grade silicone stores well and it’s typically safe to use with silicone-based lube! High-end toy manufacturers like Fun Factory even used to sell silicone lube with their silicone toys.
Because it’s hard to be sure sometimes, it’s always a good idea to do a “spot test” with a new toy to see if it’s OK to use with silicone lube. Choose a small area of the toy that wouldn’t go into your body. Then, rub a small amount of silicone lube on the area with a finger and see what happens. If the lube breaks down the toy, you can see it get sticky or gummy within a few minutes.
If you’re worried about keeping your silicone toy at its best, you can use a water-based lube instead of silicone. While coconut oil might be another option, it’s best to do a spot test with that too. Oils can also irritate some people’s vaginas, and cause clogged pores or acne around the groin area.
