Toy Cleaner

How to Clean a Sex Toy Properly with a Sex Toy Cleaner

Sex is fun, but it can be messy. Using a sex toy cleaner before and after sex keeps your toys in their best shape while keeping your body protected from harmful bacteria. 

Cleaning Sex Toys

Mild soap and hot water aren't the only way to properly clean sex toys, especially sex toys made from specialty materials. In most cases, hot water is not suitable for your favorite sex toys. Sex toys come in a wide variety of materials, all of which can require different cleaning instructions.

If your toy chest if full of different types of sex toys, chances are you need a few different kinds of sex toy cleaners to keep those toys in their best shape. Nobody wants a rubber sex toy that isn't soft and smooth anymore because of harsh cleaning agents. What might be suitable for some sex toys can ruin other toys. It's important to be careful when cleaning your sex toys to make sure you're doing it correctly.  

Disinfecting sex toys and proper sex toy care extends the life of your sex toys while also keeping your body free of harmful bacteria that can build up in the crevices of your sex toys. When it comes to the best way to clean sex toys, it all depends on your toys' specific material. 

 Most Common Sex Toy Materials: 

Believe it or not, the materials your sex toys are made out of can degrade and lose quality over time, especially if you are cleaning them incorrectly. Harsh chemicals or alcohol-based toy cleaners are not great for all types of materials. Here's a rundown of some of the most common sex toy materials.  

• ABS Plastic (Think bullets and eggs)
• Borosilicate Glass (glass dildos, it's really a thing) 
• Soda-Lime Glass (Very pretty glass dildos! 
• Silicone (Lots of vibrators and dildos, especially waterproof ones) 
• Metal (Stainless steel or Gold- Dildos, anal beads, and plugs) 
• Thermoplastic rubber (dildos and pocket pussies)
• Thermoplastic Elastomer 
• Sensafirm or UR3 (Pockets pussys and other skin-like toys) 
• Latex

Some of these materials are porous, which means they contain tiny holes, and some are non-porous. Porous toys such as rubber and Sensafirm are great because they feel like skin; they are soft and smooth. But those tiny holes can harbor bacteria. Harsh cleaning agents can get into those small holes causing the material to degrade over time. 

Be sure to check the original package of your adult sex toys to confirm the material so that you can buy the correct adult toy cleaner. 

How to Clean Sex Toys So You Won't Ruin Them (Why You Need a Toy Cleaner) 

We want to be sure that your sex toys continue to bring you lots of pleasure and orgasms, and while it's not fun thinking about chores like cleaning, a proper cleaning routine will save the quality of your sex toys. Sex toy cleaners are an easy and safe way to maintain your sex toys before and after each use. Antibacterial toy cleaners prevent your vagina toy from growing and spreading bacteria.

Here are some of the best ways to clean sex toys based on the material.  

How to Clean Skin Like Toys:

Stretchy, rubbery, and porous materials make sex toys look and feel like the real thing. While hard plastic vibrators have their place in the bedroom, sometimes you want something closer to the real deal, especially when you're by yourself. Skin-like sex toys are generally made out of thermoplastic rubber, Sensafirm, or latex. These materials are excellent for making your pocket pussy feel like the real thing; they can also require special cleaning instructions. 

How to Clean a Pocket Pussy and Other Rubber Sex Toys

Rubber and other skin-like materials are sensitive to excessive heat. Boiling or dunking these toys in hot water can cause them to warp and lose their shape and soft texture. When looking to clean an onahole or other skin-like toy, watch out for harsh soaps and detergents can erode the material causes them to dry, crack, or become crusty. If you're cleaning a pocket pussy that doesn't vibrate, run it only warm water and use mild soap. If your skin-like toy has batteries or vibrates, wipe it down with a warm soapy washcloth. 

A spray antibacterial toy cleaner or a foaming sex toy cleaner can keep your toys clean in-between uses before you get a chance to do a big monthly clean. 

After you clean your skin-like sex toys, sprinkle it down with a powder-like Doc Johnson's Main Squeeze Refresh Powder to keep the texture of your toy from becoming stiff or sticky. The refreshing powder will help maintain the softness of your real-life like masturbation doll after cleaning silicone rubber. 

How to Clean Water Proof Sex Toys: 

Waterproof toys are easy to clean because they are waterproof! You want to be careful about the types of soaps and detergents you use and how hot your water is. If your waterproof adult toys are made out of ABS plastic or silicone, wipe them down with a toy cleaner spray such as Jo Organic Toy Cleaner or Adam and Eve Toy Cleaner. 

While you want something antibacterial, you don't want harsh alcohols or irritants, which can ruin your silicone sex toys or aggravate sensitive skin. 

You can clean silicone sex toys the same way you would ABS plastic with mild soap and a washcloth. Cleaning silicone sex toys with a foaming adult toy cleaner is a great way to reach all the nooks and crannies of your sex toy without ruining the material or your skin. 

A foaming toy wash or a toy cleaner spray are convenient items you can keep in your bedside table for cleaning toys before and after sex. 

Using Toy Cleaner Vs. Soap and Water on a Sex Toy

The best way to clean sex toys includes using sex toys wipes after each use and incorporating a monthly cleansing wipe down (or rinse off for waterproof toys). Soap and water clean sex toys, but you have to watch for scented soaps that can upset your most sensitive body parts.

A properly formulated and unscented sex toy wash cleans silicone and other sex toys while maintaining the proper pH for you or your partner's vagina.  

How to Clean Glass Sex Toys:

Glass sex toys are easiest to clean, but you have to be careful of what type of glass your toy is made with. Most glass sex toys come from two main types of glass:

• Borosilicate Glass
• Soda-Lime Glass

Borosilicate glass is the type of class that makes up most "Pyrex" type household products. This type of glass is heat-treated and not as sensitive to changes in temperature. The heat treatment process is why you can bake or freeze these types of glass dishes.

While it's not often that we recommend boiling toys, boiling sex toys made from borosilicate glass can clean and disinfect your glass dildos. In between sessions, wipe down your glass toys with a sex toy spray, but it wouldn't hurt to boil your borosilicate toys once a month or so. 

Soda-Lime glass toys are fun and beautiful, but they ARE sensitive to changes in temperature.  

We wouldn't recommend you wash or rinse your soda-lime glass dildos with hot water and risk the glass weakening or, worse, cracking. Extreme cold or hot temperatures can weaken the soda-lime glass. Be sure not to stick your soda-lime glass dildos in the freezer, as fun as that sounds, and do not boil them. 

You can use an alcohol-based cleaner or even rubbing alcohol when cleaning soda-lime glass sex toys. You can also safely use any of our foaming or spray toy cleaners when cleaning your glass sex toys. Just be sure you know why type of glass it is before you boil your glass sex toys. 

Always be sure to dry your sex toys thoroughly before storing them away. 

Staying Safe with The Best Sex Toy Cleaners

The best adult toy cleaner is one that is safe for your specific sex toy's material. If you maintain a chest of sex toys, you're likely to need various toy cleaners to keep those toys in their best working shape. We offer several different cleaners to choose from in our collection of adult toy cleaners.  

If you plan to use adult toys, clean sex toys mean cleaner sex. While it's inconvenient and unsexy to clean your toys right after the fun, toy cleaners save your toys and your body from infection when you follow proper toy care. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

How to clean silicone sex toys? 

Silicone sex toys can be clean with mild soap and water for regular deep cleaning and cleaned with a sex toy spray or foaming sex toy cleaner in between each use. The biggest thing to consider when cleaning silicone sex toys is whether they are waterproof or not. 

The basic rule of thumb is if your toy vibrates or has batteries, opt for wiping it down with a warm, wet, soapy cloth, rather than submerging it in water. If your toy is waterproof, you can run it under warm soapy water. 

A sex toy cleaner, especially a foaming one, can clean all the nooks and crannies of your sex toys, reaching cracks and crevices and preventing the build-up of bacteria. 

 Can I clean sex toys with Vagisil?  

Vagisil is an over-the-counter product made to help balance the pH of a women's vagina. Vagisil wash is not a sex toy cleaner and shouldn't be used as one. The jury is out on whether Vagisil is any good for your body anyway. While it might be convenient to buy Vagisil at the store, it's not a proper sex toy cleaner. Keep your toys and yourself healthy with a proper sex toy cleaner.