Cleaning Your Toys

Posted by Lovedreamer on 11/25/2015 to Sexual Wellness

Sex toys are a tremendous way to explore your sexuality, either with your partner or alone. In order to ensure the utmost pleasure every time, it is important that you understand the importance of cleaning your toys after each use. Many users are unaware of why they should keep their sex toys clean, while others decide to ignore any relevant information on hygiene all together. The fact is, despite the concrete believe that sex toys are 100 percent safe; they may actually posse more threat than you would ever imagine especially if they are not well maintained. In a real sense, just like you wouldn’t re-use a condom, using a dirty sex toy would also be extremely imprudent.

So, why, how and how frequently should you clean your sex toys? Find out below.

Importance of Cleaning Your Sex Toys

The first and most obvious reason is to avoid STDs. Sex toys have been found to cause these diseases especially if you share them without proper cleaning after every use.
To avoid exposure from harmful bacterial infections that can easily grow in unhygienic environments. For example, hepatitis C virus can easily survive for days outside the body and still cause harm when re-introduced in the body.

How to Clean your Sex Toys

To start, before you get started in cleaning your sex toys, it is good to first know the kind of material they are made of since each material has its unique cleaning method. This does not suggest that if you have multiple toys made of different materials you should be worried; not at all! In fact, almost all sex toys can be adequately and thoroughly sanitized and cleaned either with warm water or regular soap. Nevertheless, for the purpose of long-term care and hygiene, here is a breakdown of how to clean each material.

Silicone: Silicone can easily be cleaned using warm water and antibacterial soap, together with an adult toy cleaner. If your vibrator is not totally covered with silicone or not labelled as waterproof, then you need to be extra careful while cleaning the silicone portion and the rest of the toy covered by plastic- particularly around the buttons.
Skin/Realistics: While cleaning CyberSkin, Neoskin, or other realistic materials, it is advisable to use a spray on sex toy cleaner instead of mild soap which may clog the froths and pores. After spraying your toys, soak them for a few minutes before rinsing and drying them with a lint-free cloth. Later when it is dry, you can go ahead and sprinkle cyber-skin powder on them.
Jelly: For jelly-like toys, water and mild soap is your best bet, but some toys can have a porous surface. It’s good to first understand the kind of jelly you are using before you get to work, as some are flexible and smooth. Condom use is a safe bet if you're not sure.
Plastic, Vinyl: Both plastic and vinyl sex toys can easily be cleaned with a mild soap or a sex toy cleaner. Some can even handle rubbing alcohol, but it's best to read instructions that come with the toy.
Rubber: Rubber toys can be cleaned with water and mild soap, with sex toy cleaner after. However, you can use together with condom to make the cleaning easier.
Metal, Glass, Wood: There are lots of options for metal and glass toys- many even put them in the dishwasher. Metal and glass toys can be easily cleaned using boiling water and a bleach solution, but you should ensure they are thoroughly rinsed, and any metal is completely dry after cleaning to avoid rust. While for the wood toys, it is recommendable to use a clean and very soft cloth.

All in all, you should ensure that you clean your sex toys after each use, by the manufacturer's recommendations if available. This will eliminate the chances of germ build-up. It's always recommended to avoid sharing sex toys, and storing your toys safely away from one another and away from direct sunlight.