Cleaning Sex Toys?

Dear Eva,
Is it safe to share sex toys? Will soap and water be enough to clean them?

What a great question! If you take precautions for your health and clean your toys appropriately, yes, toys can be safely shared. To know how to approach sharing your toy, you need to know the material of your toy.

Non-porous toys are made from hard plastic, glass, acrylic, Pyrex, glass, and silicone. These toys can be washed gently with warm water and antibacterial hand soap, and this will be sufficient.
If they do not contain electrical components, silicone, Pyrex and stainless steel toys can also be boiled or run through the dishwasher. Boil for 2-3 minutes before removing your toy. Silicone toys in particular can be shared safely and fully disinfected, and for this reason I highly recommend them if you plan to share your toys with your partners or to swap them between anal and vaginal use.

When you are dealing with a rubber, latex, skin-type or jelly toy, you must bear in mind that these toys are porous. Rinse them very thoroughly with warm water after washing with warm water and gentle soap; any left-behind soap can damage the material of the toy or cause irritation to the soft tissues of the body. Realistic, skin-type toys such as UltraSkin or CyberSkin should be washed with mild soap and warm water, then dusted lightly with cornstarch. This will prevent the toy's surface from becoming sticky. Do not use baby powder or talcum powder, as this has been linked to certain types of cancer.
Be aware: Even if you clean them thoroughly, these toys cannot be completely disinfected due to their porous nature.

In my opinion, the best way to keep a toy clean and yourself healthy is to cover it with a non-lubricated condom, then use a separate condom-safe lubricant. This keeps bacteria and fecal matter off the toy's surface, and is especially useful if you are planning to switch between anal and vaginal use, or if you are using the toy on multiple partners. After use in one orifice, simply remove the condom or swap it for a clean one before using it in the next. This will also extend the life of jelly and skin toys by protecting the surface.
Health risks have been associated with the use of jelly and CyberSkin toys; the sex toy experts at BabeLand recommend that a condom always be used with these types of toys.

The quick and dirty version is: for personal use in a single orifice, cleaning with soap and water should be sufficient for non-porous toys. If you want to share a toy with a partner or trade it for use in vaginal/anal play, if the toy is made from a porous material, or if it may contain harmful chemicals as in jelly and CyberSkin toys, a condom is the best way to go.

Happy playing!

- Eva

PS. If you're particularly paranoid or lazy, you might just buy a separate toy for every partner and every orifice!