✭ Call Me Raum ✭

Here’s an old chart that I’ve decided to remake for the sake of pride. 

Use toys and lubricants responsibly! Lube is a great aid, but you have to be careful where and how you use it. 

Some caveats: 

I only included the four most common types of toys. By plastic I mostly mean HARD PLASTIC. Please don’t use jelly-soft toys or the like, as they are often TOXIC.

The reason I made varying degrees of acceptability and the reason that oil lubricant looks so suspicious is because oil based lube will NOT wash out of your body naturally. And as such, it can cause infections. However, it isn’t bad IN ITSELF it’s just really more susceptible to making the environment of your genitals dangerous. Use caution.

Jelly toys are a name used to refer to sex toys which are made of soft plastic (not silicone) - PVC or another type. They may feel/look porous, and can carry bacteria more easily as well as contain things such as phthalates, which have been proven to be harmful to the human body.

If your toys feel sticky even after being washed, if they collect dust REALLY easily, or if they feel like one of those sticky jelly-hand toys you played with as a kid.... DON'T put it inside!

Unfortunately, in many countries, sex toy production is not regulated so some things used in creating them may cause serious health issues from continued use.

Body-safe sex toys include those made from:

silicone

stainless steel

Even if the jelly toy says its body safe and doesn't contain phthalates it will be porous and absorb bacteria that will be impossible to clean. I've only ever sold them as one night stand toys. If you wind up buying them for that purpose, which I don't recommend, make sure your partner isn't sensitive to jelly toys and do not try to use them more than once.

Silicone is one of those materials you have to watch as well. If you can smell the silicone really well it's off gassing which means it's probably not body safe. That's a good indicator that it's low quality silicone and probably also pourous and leaking chemicals.

Also Glass toys are nice n body safe too, but you have to check for scratches and imperfections in the surface. This also applies to metal, as it could cut you and also harbors bacteria.

There's also the Skin/skyn materials which are body safe and more realistic, but you're gonna want to keep cornstarch on it in between uses to keep it fresh bc it can be kind of sticky, just remember to rinse it off before use.

Now, and this is Very Important, don't clean your toys with soap! Toy Cleaner Is A Must, as soap can leave soap residue and that will make your body safe toy hold bacteria and viruses.

I do not work in a sex toy shop but I've taken some upper level sex ed classes and I live with a soap maker who has some pretty impressive microbiology credentials. Unscented soap is absolutely fine to use on toys. In fact, if you have sensitive mucus membranes, a truly simple bar of soap (oils, fats, lye, pretty much nothing else) may be a better option than toy cleaner.

Even if soap residue remains (which it shouldn't, you should be rinsing thoroughly and letting your toy dry completely before putting it away! letting it dry completely is a big part of what prevents bacteria growth) it will not increase the amount of bacteria that your toy can "hold onto." As for viruses. It's a lot of science but essentially, viruses aren't going to get trapped in soap residue. They might sit on top of it after it's completely dry, but even without the soap residue, viruses will still sit on top of your non-porous toys to the exact same extent. The same is also true of bacteria. Soap residue does not increase the risk or amount of bacteria or viruses being on your toys.

The risk of soap residue is that you might be sensitive to something in the soap and it may cause irritation. This is also true (in my experience as someone with super sensitive skin, is more true) of dedicated sex toy cleaners. In fact, I cannot use most sex toy cleaners because any residue left behind at all causes irritation.

The point of cleaning a sex toy is not to make it sterile and completely free of bacteria until your next use. Such a thing is not possible. Remember, bacteria is on everything, and prefers to live on surfaces. Even if you use a dedicated sex toy cleaner on your toys, even if you sterilize them in boiling water, when you take them out to use them again, they will have bacteria on them. Actually, they'll have bacteria on them even before you put them away.

This does not mean you don't need to wash your sex toys because they'll have bacteria on them anyway. You're washing your toys to eliminate the bacteria, viruses, and fungi (yep, fungi) that have gotten onto them while you've been using the toy.