How To Clean and Store Your Sex Toys. A luxury sex toy is an expensive item, so you want to make sure to keep it clean and store it properly.
Sex toys are amazing tools for your pleasure. After using your sex toy and experiencing bliss, the last thing you want to do is start cleaning. However, because your sex toy came in direct contact with bodily fluids, you must keep your sex toy clean, so that it doesn’t risk your health. It’s also important to note that cleaning your sex toy will prolong its life. Finally, your adult toys should be stored in the right way. Cleaning and storing your sex toys isn’t hard, but the result of failing to do so can have negative effects on you and your health.
THE BASICS . . .
Sex Toy Materials
High-quality luxury sex toys are made of the best premium materials. However, different premium materials require different types of care based on whether or not they are porous.
Sex toys are either porous or non-porous. Porous materials are very hard to clean effectively because they can harbour bacteria. Non-porous materials are easier to clean and are safer to use.
Although Silicone is porous, it doesn’t harbor bacteria like other porous materials. Silicone has a low surface energy and is hydrophobic, where it repels and doesn’t mix with water. Therefore, Silicone greatly reduces the risk of giving bacteria a place to live. Most bacteria need a moist environment to live and Silicone prevents that from happening.
While crystal is a body-safe material, it may be porous or has “closed porosity” — pores lay on the surface of the stone but would be very difficult for bacteria to seep through to the center.
DID YOU KNOW?
Not all toys marketed as silicone are 100% silicone. You can try a flame test on non motorized sex toys to confirm that your toy is 100% silicone: You should be able to hold a lighter to the toy for a quick spot check without the toy’s surface melting.
Common Mistakes To Avoid When Cleaning Your Sex Toy
Unfortunately, many people don’t know how to properly clean a sex toy and end up making many mistakes.
1. Not cleaning your brand new toy. Sex toys are made in a factory. Factories can be dirty places. Therefore, they are not sterile and sex toys most likely have been exposed to dust or bacteria. So, they are really not 100% clean right out of the box.
2. Not knowing whether your toy is waterproof. Not only should you refer to your toy’s manual to learn the best way to clean it, you should also double check if the toy is 100% waterproof and submergable, or if it is splashproof, which is not submergable. If a toy is splashproof, then it’s safe to get its surface wet. If a toy is waterproof, then it’s safe to totally submerge it in water up to a certain depth.
3. Using regular or scented soap. Regular soap can leave a residue and potentially change the pH causing dryness in vaginas. Soap can also leave an unseen residue on the sex toy. Some soaps contain oils that may break down toy materials. Meanwhile, scented soaps can cause irritations and infections because of the chemicals used to create the scent.
4. Not drying your toy off properly. Not completely drying off your toy before storing it could lead to damage issues. Make sure to let it airdry before placing it back in its storage. Avoid towels that could add lint to the toy.
5. Using household cleaning supplies. The vagina and anus are both absorbent parts of your body. Household cleaning supplies are very strong and contain lots of chemicals, which you don’t want in your vagina or anus.
6. Not taking out your batteries before cleaning. If the toy is battery operated, remove the batteries prior to cleaning. Make sure the toy is fully dry before reinserting the batteries.
How to Clean a Sex Toy – Basic Surface Cleaning
Virtually every kind of sex toy, whether it vibrates or not, can be surface cleaned. Although this technique does not disinfect or sterilize the toy, in most cases, surface cleaningis fine if you are the only person using the toy.
To surface clean a sex toy:
1. Remove any batteries.
2. Rinse the toy with water or wipe the toy with a damp paper towel or washcloth to remove any surface debris.
3. Apply soap or sex toy cleaner directly to the toy and scrub with warm to hot water for 1 – 3 minutes.
4. If the toy has any grooves or crevices, use a soft toothbrush to remove any debris.
5. Rinse or wipe the toy until it is clean with water.
6. Place the clean toy on a towel to air-dry. Leave battery-operated toys to dry with the battery case open.
How to Clean a Sex Toy – Sex Toy Cleaner
All waterproof and splashproof sex toys can be surfaced cleaned with sex toy cleaner. We like sex toys cleaners because not only are they made specifically to clean your sex toys, but they are quick and simple to use.
Premium sex toy cleaners are anti-bacterial and contain active anti-microbial ingredients proven to kill 99.9% of all germs. Plus, it is mild enough to not cause irritation to delicate tissue.
How to use sex toy cleaner:
- Simply spray your sex toy cleaner all over your toy, making sure all areas are covered.
- Leave the cleaner on the toy for around 30 seconds.
- Depending on the toy cleaner, you can either leave the cleaner on the toy without rinsing it off or rinse the toy with warm water after using the cleaner.
Sex toy cleaner without Triclosan, which has shown to alter hormone regulation, is recommended to clean your sex toys. We also recommend using organic or all-natural sex toy cleaner.
When to Disinfect/Sanitize A Sex Toy
Sometimes a simple surface cleaning is not enough, and we recommend disinfecting when:
- The toy will be shared by multiple people. (You can also cover the toy with a condom when sharing it.)
- The toy has come into contact with genitals during a yeast, bacterial, or sexually transmitted infection, and it might be harboring the associated pathogens.
- You want to use the same toy both anally and vaginally. (We recommend using a condom.)
- You want to remove odor from an anal toy, specifically silicone toys.
How to Clean a Sex Toy-Boiling
Boiling your sex toys will kill most pathogens. To disinfect 100% silicone, stainless steel, borosilicate glass toys, stone, ceramic, and wood non-vibrating sex toys:
1. Surface clean the toy.
2. Submerge your toy in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. For glass toys, we recommend adding a washcloth at the bottom of the pot as a cushion to preview them from cracking or breaking.
3. Remove the boiled toy from the water with tongs.
4. Air-dry on a towel.
How to Clean a Sex Toy – Dishwasher
Although you can sanitize a toy in the dishwasher, it will only kill bacteria. The NSF certifies and requires residential dishwashers that have a sanitize cycle to reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit, which is able to kill 99.999% of bacteria. This is hot enough to effectively kill most bacteria, but not always enough to kill viruses and fungi.
However, the dishwisher will deep-clean your 100% silicone, stainless steel, and borosilicate glass toys, stone, ceramic, and wood non-motorized sex toys.
To clean sex toys with your dishwasher:
1. Surface clean the toy.
2. Place your toy on the top rack of the dishwasher.
3. Run the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle (or regular cycle if you don’t have a sanitize cycle) WITHOUT soap.
How to Clean a Sex Toy – Bleaching
Only certain sex toys can be cleaned with bleach. 100% silicone, stainless steel, and borosilicate glass toys non-motorized sex toys can be disinfected using bleach.
To clean your sex toys with bleach:
1. Surface clean the toy.
2. Make a 10% bleach solution using the ratio of 5 tablespoons/⅓ cup household bleach per gallon of water.
3. Spray the toy and let sit for 10 minutes or submerge a toy for 10 minutes
4. After 10 minutes, surface clean the toy again.
5. Air-dry on a towel.
How to Clean a Sex Toy – UV Sanitizer
We love cleaning sex toys with a UV Sanitizer. Although it might be more expensive than other methods, it is much easier and quicker. However, UV light can only disinfect areas that it is able to reach. So, we recommend doing additional surface cleaning if your toy has any grooves or crevices.
How to Clean a Smelly Anal Sex Toy
Unfortunately, some anal sex toys, such as 100% premium silicone butt plugs or silicone prostate massagers, can retain an order.
Since Silicone is porous, it is possible for it to smell. Despite being washed or bleached, the Silicone can absorb the sticky gases.
To remove the smell:
- Heated your sex toy in a 350 degrees oven for 30 minutes to bake out the smell.
How to Store a Sex Toy
If you treat your possessions well, they are more likely to last longer. Follow these few simple rules to keep and store your great sex toys in the best condition.
- Most luxury sex toys come with their own storage bag, fabric pouch, case, or box that can be used for storage. However, if yours does not, you can store your toys in a sealable pouch/case or in something specifically designed for sex toy storage. Storage that is washable is even better. All sex toy storage will keep your toy dust-free and lint-free.
- Never store your sex toys together in the same storage bag. Sex toy materials, especially the less expensive materials, can react badly towards each other and potentially melt. So, it is best to keep it safe and not let any of your toys touch one another.
- Store anal sex toys in something that breathes – not plastic – to reduce odor.
- Store sex toys in a cool, dark, dry place away from places that may have oils, powders, and perfumes.
- Keep toys out of direct sunlight or anywhere they might get wet, such as the bathroom.
- When storing battery-operated toys, remove the batteries. Batteries can drain or corrode if left in toys.
- When storing rechargeable toys, charge them occasionally to keep them working.
- Keep your toy’s manual. Having it handy is much easier than searching for the manual online.
Try our popular sex toy storage products – Warm Sex Toy Heating Device and Lockable Sex Toy Storage Box.
SEX EDUCATOR TIP:
If you store your sex toy in a drawer, make sure to put it in some kind of storage pouch/bag so that it’s protected from dust, lint, and bacteria.
Final Thoughts
If you clean and store your luxury sex toys properly, you will get many moments of pleasure out of them! After all, aren’t you and your health worth it??
