How Often do you clean your Sex toys

 “65% of Britons ‘don’t wash sex toys after every use”

Stay safe and stay clean Nearly two in three adults in Britain have admitted to not always washing their sex toys after use.The poll found that only 35% of the respondents cleaned their toys every single time they were done with them. Meanwhile, 53% said that they washed them ‘regularly’ with 12% answering that they never clean them.  Now us over at You Only Wetter stock some great products to help make it easier click for our range of toy cleaners.

Sterilizing non-porous sex toys

Sterilizing non-porous sex toys is necessary at times beyond the normal washing with soap and water and letting it dry after playing with it. This is assuming no barriers were used with the toy at all times. But even if barriers were used all the time, it’s easy for body fluids to get on the part of the toy not covered by a barrier and thus risking re-transmission via hands/fingers. So it’s probably a good idea to sterilize it to be sure anyways.

You are using a non-toxic material and non-porous sex toy from a reputable sex toy manufacturer aren’t you? Because your health is important! And porous material sex toys cannot be fully sterilized. Here’s a quote from an educational article from Tantus’s web site :

Is it non-porous? Porosity is not a feature that the manufacturers will discuss, but it is important. A sex toy made from porous materials can absorb and retain things like bacteria, mold, mildew, harsh cleaning chemicals and more. Continuing to use a sex toy after it has grown mold or absorbed dyes can possibly make you very sick.

This is when sterilizing is necessary:

• If you get some sort of genital, digestive for anal play, or mouth/throat infection (Some examples: fungal, yeast, bacterial) and unknowingly used the toy while you had this.
• You had a skin infection on the genitals, anus, or mouth (Some examples: fungal, bacterial, staph) and unknowingly used the toy while you had this.
• You had an STI and unknowingly used the toy while you had this.
• You are wanting to use the toy from it’s previous anal usage to vaginal or mouth.
• Or you are going to use it on another partner of unknown health and STI status. (Make sure you do not swap the toy back and forth between people in this circumstance without sterilizing each time before using it on the next or other person)

So the easiest way for most people to sterilize sex toys is to completely immerse your sex toy in a 10% plain bleach to water solution for twenty minutes. Then rinse the toy and wash it with soap and water. You can then immediately use it or allow it to dry. Please remember that your toy must be 100% water proof to do this. Of course I’m referring to any electronic toys that can be damaged from water getting in them. If you are not sure, contact the manufacturer to find out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterilization_%28microbiology%29#Bleach[3]

There are other ways to more thoroughly sterilize your sex toys, although they are not as easy or convenient due to the equipment needed. One is to Autoclave them for sixty minutes. The other is to put them in a pressure cooker with water for sixty minutes from the point of when boiling and pressurized temperature is reached, which does much the same thing as an Autoclave. Keep in mind that you cannot do this to toys that cannot withstand heat without being damaged like plastics and toys with batteries and electronics in them. And as far as glass toys go, I think in the pressure cooker scenario, as long as the toy is suspended above the boiling water so it does not physically rattle around inside from the steam bubbles coming up through the water, and that you do not submit the material to fast changes in temperature it should be alright.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterilization_%28microbiology%29#Steam_sterilization[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterilization_%28microbiology%29#Heat_sterilization_of_foods[5]

So it seems to be common advice that open pot boiling your sex toys is sufficient to sterilize them. Based on the information I’ve seen in the wikipedia.org article, boiling is not suitable for sterilization as it is ineffective against prions and many bacterial and fungal spores. It is only useful for reducing viable levels if no better method is available.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterilization_%28microbiology%29#Other_heat_sterilization_methods[6]

Now go have fun with your clean and sterilized sex toys! 🙂