Sex toy hygiene - vibrator care and cleaning
A little TLC goes a long way when it comes to keep your sex toys in tip-top condition. Love them and they'll love you - long time!
As we alway say, never take the "clean" out of "good clean fun". Just as you wouldn't leave a fork to get mouldy overnight before sticking it right back in your mouth, so you really don't want to go sticking unwashed sex toys in your holiest of holies. Most toys can be kept clean and safe by washing with soap and warm water whenever you've used them, but it depends on what they're made of – porous toys need a bit more care. Use an anitbacterial wipe or better still something designed to do the job - Sex Toy cleaner - for example.
See below for more details on cleaning different materials. First, here are a few top tips for keeping any sex toy clean:
- Remove any batteries when you aren't using your toy, and especially when you're cleaning it. Water + batteries = gooey sparks of the very wrong kind.
- If you're sharing toys with your partner or using the same toy for vaginal and anal use, clean it before passing it back and forth. However...
- If popping out to sluice down your Rabbit Pearl at the heavy peak of sextime sounds like a turn-off (it does to us), then use a condom. One condom for anal, one for vaginal, and another for your partner if required.
Clean machines: what's your material?
Jelly
Exercise care when cleaning your porous jelly toys. Don't just cover your precious Pearl Shine 8 Inch Waterproof Vibrator with Cif Kitchen and Bathroom and hope for the best, and never clean it with alcohol as it'll break down the jelly (which means you can't use your Jessica Rabbit as a cocktail-stirrer, either). Harsh soap or boiling water will warp the surface, so we'd advise sticking with warm water and a gentle touch, or best of all, some of Honey's Sex Toy cleaner.
Easy-to-clean rating: ***
Silicone
Ahh, silicone. If only this stuff weren't so pricey. As well as feeling as silky as Ritz sheets and being as near as darnit hypoallergenic, silicone is the easiest toy material to clean because you can just submerge it in very hot water. That means you can stick G-Twist in the dishwasher, though possibly not when your mum pops round to help out. For the odd special spruce-up, bleach your silicone toy in a 10 per cent solution or boil it in a saucepan of water for three minutes. Just make sure it's rinsed and dried before you put it away.
Easy-to-clean rating: *****
Rubber
Rubber is even more porous than jelly, so you can't really sterilise your rubber toys. Your best bet is to use a condom and wash your toy in mild soap and water.
Easy-to-clean rating: ***
Leather
Treat your leather toy with all the love and cleanly kindness you'd show a vintage leather jacket. Rub it down regularly but gently with a damp rag, and your Spartacus Leather Single Strap Dildo Harness will be good to go for years.
Easy-to-clean rating: ****
Metal
As with silicone, metal is a hardy beast and can be disinfected, boiled and made to face assorted forms of abuse in the name of cleanliness – but always make sure to dry it properly.
Easy-to-clean rating: *****
Plastic
A gentle rub with a cotton wool ball soaked in alcohol is the best cleaning solution for plastic, though rinse your toy afterwards so the alcohol doesn't come into contact with your precious genitals. Otherwise you could find the experience a bit, well, drying.
Easy-to-clean rating: ****
Comments (6)