Sex toys are an investment if you’re a cam model. They’re part of your kit — the tools of your trade — and some of them are pricey. As such, looking after them is vital to making them last and getting the very best out of them.
One of the strange quirks of sex toy packaging is it often doesn’t state how to wash or care for them. So, let’s have a look at the best way to do this for the range of materials in our collections.
Porous Toys are Gross
Obviously, washing toys between each use is hugely important. I’m sure nobody would throw an unwashed toy back into the toy box or drawer ready to use it again. Yet, people still buy porous sex toys. If your toy is jelly or rubber, then bacteria and bodily fluids are permeating the surface. This is a cold hard fact.
You can use every antibacterial toy wash on earth, and you are still never going to make that toy completely clean. Essentially, each time you use porous toys, you will be adding to residual bacteria leftover from previous uses. This is even more ick if you share toys or don’t make a distinction between anal and vaginal toys.
Double check your toy box and new purchases to make sure they’re all non-porous, body safe materials.
Silicone: Cleaning and Storage
Silicone is non-porous, so it’s a great material for internal toys. Silicone is also one of the easiest toy materials to clean and store. It can be washed in hot water with anti-bacterial soap, or even washed in your dishwasher. This is handy if you have a bulk of toys. You can even boil silicone toys to ensure disinfection.
Storing silicone is easy. You may have heard the myth that silicone toys will melt if stored together. This is total BS. I have drawer and boxes full of silicone toys crammed together with no melting or sticking at all. This appears to have been adopted from the issues with dubious sex toy materials such as TPE, rubber and jelly, which canbegin to break down and melt if stored against each other.
The one thing silicone is very guilty of is collecting dust and lint easily. The surfaces are super grabby and almost attract particles. An easy way of preventing this is to keep them in storage bags. Some toys even come with these included. If not, then a simple and cheap solution is sandwich bags.
Glass
Glass toys are another very easy to clean item. Unlike silicone though, they should never be exposed to high temperatures! Even Borosilicate glass can crack and fracture under temperature extremes, so don’t put these beauties in your dishwasher or attempt to boil them. Bonus though: The lovely smooth solid surface of glass means they don’t even need this.
Glass is completely non-absorbent so a wash in warm soapy water will be fine.
Storing glass sex toys requires a little more thought than silicone. You don’t want to expose them to knocks or impacts as even hardened glass can be damaged and chipped. Some come with velvet type bags to offer some protection. Occasionally, they’re packaged in foam inserts which make a straightforward way to keep them safe.
If you’re short of storage space, perhaps invest in some thick material or thin foam to roll your glass toys in to keep them safe in your toy box or drawer.
Steel
Caring for steel toys is very easy. Much like glass, they are impervious to bacteria and bodily fluids. You can boil them or wash them in the sink or dishwasher.
Steel toys are almost indestructible. In fact, they’re much more likely to damage something else as opposed to themselves, and for this reason I usually store them separately from other toys. Assign them a different drawer or invest in a small box to keep them together.
Vibrators
Some vibrators are waterproof, but you need to be very sure that’s what your dealing with before plunging it into a sink of water. You will need to check anything with batteries or a power supply before submerging.
You can buy toy cleaner sprays for non-waterproof toys, and this is a fantastic way to clean vibrators and other powered toys. Simply spray over the surface and wipe off with a damp cloth. Most sex toy retailers sell their own brand of sex toy cleaner which is fairly inexpensive.
Storage
A great way to keep your toys safe and well organized is to invest in boxes for them. This can be expensive if they’re purpose-made, but tool boxes make a great cheap alternative. Another bonus: Lockable boxes keep small hands and eyes from prying where they shouldn’t.
If you don’t have to worry about prying eyes but your collection is too expansive, pretty carboard archive boxes are another workable solution. Plastic boxes are hardier if you’re not worried about aesthetic.
Regardless, take some time to properly care for your toys and they will do their part to help properly care for you!
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Katy Seymour is a super-sex-positive writer in the U.K. who believes kink is life. Email her at katy@ynotcam.com.
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