How to Clean Sex Toys – Properly

How to Clean Sex Toys – Properly

Your all-in-one guide on how to clean your sex toys.

We all love using our favourite toys, but do we know the ins and out of how to properly maintain and clean them? This blog is gonna give you all the best practices to ensure your toy sticks around with you for the longest possible time!

A sex toy that is not thoroughly cleaned after usage may trigger a series of problems and is potentially detrimental to your health, including bacterial infections, STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases), or even unwanted pregnancies if your sex toy has been recently exposed to any semen. Thus, it is of the utmost importance that you sanitize and maintain your sex toys to prevent these issues. 

Identify if your toy is Porous or Non-Porous?

Before you begin to clean your sex toys, it is also important that you identify and check whether it is porous or non-porous, as each one warrants its unique cleansing method.

To put it simply, porous sex toys are made up of a looser material, which allows air and liquid to pass by quite easily. Thus, porous sex toys, even after a thorough cleanse, may still have some lingering bacteria. Common porous materials include latex, leather, PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), nylon, and rubber.

Non-porous sex toys are built up of more tightly constrained materials, meaning that air and liquid cannot bypass the material. Non-porous sex toys are generally considered safer and more hygienic. Common non-porous materials include silicone, strengthened plastic, stainless steel, and glass. 

Regarding porous sex toys, it is recommended that deep cleaning should be conducted, whilst for non-porous sex toys, some basic cleaning may suffice for warding off pathogens. Thus, for this article, it is still highly advised that all sex toys be deeply cleansed after usage, and below is a three-step guide on how to do it.

  1. Washing 
  2. Sterilizing
  3. Storing

Washing Your Sex Toys

The first step is straightforward – wash it. Simply take your toy, place it under a running tap or water (preferably warm water), and wash it. Additionally, you may want to add some soap to clean your sex toys more thoroughly. This will help you to remove any dust, germs, or debris that may have remained on the surface of the toy. After cleaning it, use a towel or napkin to pat it dry, or, if you can, use an air-dryer for a faster and smoother drying process. 

If your toy is electric or battery-powered, you should definitely try to avoid submerging it underwater. You should also check the instructions on how to properly clean it. If the instruction manual does not include any directions on how to clean it, you can definitely look at buying specially-formulated sex toy cleaning wipes or sprays.

Sterilizing Your Sex Toys

This is arguably the most important step as it is responsible for exterminating almost all the bacteria and germs which may be populating your sex toy. The best method to sterilize your toy would be to place it in boiling water. Simply take a pan or pot, or any container which can hold boiling water, and place your toy(s) inside it. Wait for around 10-15 minutes and remove it, then, repeat the drying or air-drying step. You must note that the boiling process is only applicable to most non-porous toys (silicone, glass, and stainless steel).

For porous toys, an adequate sterilizing method would be bleaching. Create a mixture of water and bleach (five tablespoons of bleach per one gallon of distilled liquid), place the toy inside the mixture and let it rest for 10-15 minutes, before drying it.

Storing Your Sex Toys

Listen up, this last step is important! Regardless of how meticulously you’ve cleaned your toy, if you don’t store it in a suitable space, you’re exposing it to dust, debris, and germs all over again. And by the time you’re using it again, it’ll already be just as dirty as before you’ve cleaned it. Where and how to store your sex toy also plays a big role in maintaining its cleanliness.

Some toys come with a case or container for you to store them in when you’re not using them. If not you can always purchase a sealable pouch or even a Ziplock bag to do the job.

If you’re looking for the best hiding spots for your squeaky clean toys, check out this blog!

Looking for the best sex toys? Visit XOXTOYS for anything you might desire 😉

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