Who says when we grow up we have to stop playing with toys? From personal vibrators to partnered dildos, there’s a world of gadgets that can amplify your sex life, bring excitement to the bedroom, and elevate your orgasms to the next level.
It’s easy to let a toy do its job and toss it right back in the drawer until the next time, but when it comes to the hygiene of both you and anyone else who may be getting in on the fun, making sure to regularly clean your sex toys is non-negotiable. It may seem like a tedious process, but it’s always worth the time investment, as it could potentially save you from exposing your body to infection or having a pretty awkward conversation with any partners.
Let’s get into the how and most importantly, the why.
How To Clean Sex Toys
Sex toys will inevitably interact with some pretty sensitive areas of the body, so it’s crucial to be very particular about what kind of cleaning products you’re using to disinfect them after use. Especially when it comes to your hormonal health, you don’t want to be using cleansing agents that could throw off your pH balance or disrupt your flora. Avoid using notably harsh soaps with fragrances, like dish soap, and instead opt for more hormonally-friendly options, like castile soap.
Beyond that, as an overall rule of thumb, remove any batteries that could be in your sex toy before cleaning and never submerge any electrical components in water. Use a damp, soapy washcloth to clean your electric toys, preferably with an antibacterial soap.
While you’re probably just wiping the surface and moving on, different materials and their porosity require an individual level of tending. Here’s Heathline’s guide on how to clean your sex toys, depending on what they’re made of:
Additionally, nylon harnesses and toys can be machine or hand-washed with a mild antibacterial soap, and you can wipe leather products using a damp, soapy cloth or leather cleaner.
How Do You Disinfect Sex Toys After an STI or Yeast Infection?
While many may think you need to throw out a toy that’s been exposed to any kind of infection, this isn’t the case! Cleaning it thoroughly is effective enough, so long as you’re following the instructions regarding whichever material your toy is. Keep in mind that if you’re using a dishwasher as a cleaning method, the sanitize cycle typically reaches 150 degrees Fahrenheit and is able to kill 99.999% of bacteria. While this is effective for most bacteria, it’s not enough to kill especially heat-tolerant viruses.
When in doubt, boiling is a safer bet. And if you’re sharing a sex toy, make sure it’s a nonporous sex toy, as that is easier to clean and can better protect from any transmission or infection. While porous sex toys can be safe for solo use, using them with a partner, especially as an anal toy, can be dangerous. Always use a condom on a porous toy, and if it changes color or starts to smell, it's time to retire it.
A last tip to note is that it may actually be more useful to invest in a water-based sex toy cleaner than to wash with the soap you have at home, as these cleaners tend to be even more gentle than most hand soaps.
Why Cleaning Sex Toys Is Important
Cleaning your sex toys isn’t a complicated process; but leaving your sex toys unclean could prove to have very complicated consequences. While some STIs die once the fluid they live in dries, others like hepatitis and scabies can live up to months outside of the body. This means these bacterial infections could spread weeks after usage, should you not maintain their cleanliness.
Using unclean sex toys can also introduce pathogens like fungi into the vagina, leading to bacterial vaginosis or a UTI. Similarly, any sperm left on a sex toy should be kept away from the vagina if you’re avoiding pregnancy. Regularly cleaning your toys after each use will greatly reduce the likelihood of any spread and keep things sexy.
And if you’re sharing a toy with someone, you can help minimize the risk of transmission by:
- Communicating honestly about STI statuses and preferred safe sex practices
- Putting a new condom over the toy for each new user
- Using a nonporous sex toy and cleaning it between partners
- Having your own individual sex toys
