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Whether you're exploring for the first time or you consider yourself an experienced navigator, this guide is your invitation to elevate your intimate experiences, balancing the thrill of the chase with the peace of mind that comes from knowing you're making choices that are as safe as they are satisfying.
The quest for the perfect sex toy can feel like navigating a labyrinth, full of thrilling possibilities yet sprinkled with moments of uncertainty. But fear not! Knowledge is your best ally here, guiding you to make informed choices that promise pleasure while prioritizing safety and hygiene.
There are 3 things you should look into before choosing a sex toy:
1. Body-Safe Material
When it comes to body-safe material, anything silicone, glass, wood, or metal are all safe. These are all non-porous substances. The only thing you need to check for is splinters or cracks in the glass and wood toys.
Unless you have a specific allergy to any of these materials, these are the best choices.
ABS plastic is also safe as it doesn’t contain harmful chemicals, but it is porous.
Latex, rubber, and PVC are all non-porous and have the potential to contain harmful chemicals. They are also cheap, which is why lots of people still end up buying them. If you do buy sex toys with any of these materials, don’t use them for internal stimulation.
Additionally, never buy any toys with phthalates in them.
Health Canada banned a type of phthalates in children’s toys. However, they refuse to ban phthalates in PVC material overall. According to Health Canada, PVC products containing phthalates can only harm adults if they person chews or sucks on the product for over 3 hours per day.
But people have stories of bad experiences with these types of sex toys. It’s not only the material either. Some toys have a design which makes them far from body-safe.
One user shared a story in Calagary Journal about buying a vibrator wand that came with a damaged battery. The acid leaked and left a piece of the metal coating inside her.
One way to identify unsafe toys is through the smell. They smell like new cars, pool toys, paint, or any other nauseating chemical smell you can think of. If it smells funny, it’s bad. These toys are also likely to catch on fire.
So, whether you buy online or order one, throw the sex toy out immediately if you think it doesn’t feel right.
2. The Purpose of the toy
Why do you want the sex toy? Is it for solo play? Then wand vibrators, glass sex dildos, eggs, or butt plugs could be more to your taste.
Or do you plan to use the toy with a partner eventually? Plenty of intimate toys are specifically made for couples, like double-ended dildos and panty vibrators. Pretty much anything you find in a sex shop’s BDSM category is for couples.
You also have to consider the following things:
- Do you want a battery-powered toy or a USB rechargeable one? Battery-powered toys go out of order faster, but they are useful when you are having sex. If the battery dies, you can just replace it and resume your activity. You have to charge USB-powered toys in advance. Otherwise, it might die in the middle of a sex act, and charging it back up could take ages.
- Are you going to use the toy in the bathroom or the shower? You should be looking for labels like “waterproof” or “submersible” on the toy then.
- Do you want it to be remote-controlled or app-controlled? Some toys are both. But app-controlled toys put you at more of a security risk, though they are useful if you are in a long-distance relationship.
And more than anything, what do you want the toy to feel like? Are you looking for internal stimulation? Do you want a toy for outside stimulation?
3. The Price
Well, when is price never a consideration? With intimate toys, the rule is to go for the most expensive product you can afford.
Generally, you try not to buy anything which costs less than $40. Yet, it does depend on the material. If it’s a bullet vibrator, $30 isn’t exactly a cheap price.
A good way to gauge the price is to consider the material and the technology behind it. Now, a vibrator with special quiet technology, silicone body, USB recharge, and waterproofing wouldn’t be anything lower than $180.
Similarly, glass dildos cost over $60 any day, even if they don’t have any kind of special vibrating feature.
Safety and Hygiene Practices for Sex Toys
Sex toys can’t give you an STI. But as sexologist Megan Stubbs points out, they are the breeding ground for infections.
Someone who does have an STI can give it to you. All because you did not clean the intimate toy they used before using it.
But even if you aren’t worried about STIs, an unclean sex toy can lead to several diseases. You could easily get a urinary tract infection, or bacteria or yeast infection.
It’s even possible to reinfect yourself with the toy. Say you had an infection but you got treated for it. But you used a toy on you before the infection. If you use the toy after the infection, it’s possible to get the infection again.
In fact, even switching the toy from your vagina to your anus while you have a specific bacterial infection in your vagina, can lead to transferring it to your anus.
So, how do you stay safe?
For one, you clean the toy before and after using it, in between sex acts, and most definitely before sharing it with your partner.
But, cleaning the toy between sex acts can get tedious quickly.
If you don’t want to go through a full washing routine right then, what you can do is wrap a condom on the toy. Remember to switch the condom between each act.
You should also go for non-porous materials if the sex toy is meant for internal use. Porous toys soak in dirt, sweat, and even the soap you use to clean it.
It’s never 100% clean no matter how many times you wash it with soap and water. But for non-porous material, a simple routine of submerging the toys in soapy water and rinsing them should do the trick.
If the non-porous toy doesn’t have any kind of motor or any other electrical system inside it, you can use your dishwasher to wash it as well.
Only use porous sex toys externally and for cleaning. Other than washing it with soap and water, you should also spray sex toy sanitizer on it for good measure.
Toolbox is the best place to store your sex toy. But make it a point to clean the inside of the box from time to time as well.
