7 Essential hygiene tips for Sex toys

Properly using and cleaning your sex toys is very important for both the longevity of the product and for your health and hygiene. It can be confusing to know what products to use and how though. We at Ohgee have put together a hygiene guide to keep your sex toys clean and long-lasting.

1. Always, no matter the circumstance, always clean your toys before and after use.

Regardless of using your toy on yourself or someone else, your toy should always be clean. Regardless of the toy, glass or silicone, it should be cleaned every time after use with soap and water, or better yet, a toy cleaner. 100% silicone toys can also be boiled, and put in a dishwasher! The heat helps to cleanse it of any bacteria or odours it may have picked up during use.

Cleaning your sex toys are essential for keeping your body healthy, as well as keeping your toy hygienic and odour free. Anal toys in particular.

2. Make sure your toy doesn’t house electrics before cleaning! Electric toys, like a body wand, cannot be put in water or you will damage the toy, or worse, hurt yourself!

These toys can either have the outer materials peeled off for cleaning, or you can clean them with toy cleaner. Always be careful to wipe it down rather than just lather it in cleaner, to avoid the cleaner seeping into the electrics.

3. Not all toys are created equal! When you purchase your toy it’s of UTMOST importance to know what you are buying! Stick with glass or 100% Silicone.

You get what you pay for, most of the time. Cheap off brand toys are often made out of cheap PVCs and plastics that you DO NOT want to put in your body. Especially if you are allergic to latex or plastics. Cheap toys can give you allergic reactions, and if it’s plastic or PVC, it is a porous material.

This is a big, big no. Porous materials take in smells, body fluids, soaking it up, and they cannot be washed out. The next time you use your toy, you’d be contaminating yourself with harmful bacteria. This causes harmful infection or worse. And your toys, particularly anal toys, will smell awful!

Even a toy made out of medical grade PVC is still porous, so please, rather be safe than sorry, and stick to glass or 100% silicone toys. 100% silicone toys are non-porous, easy to clean, body-safe and odour free! They are also hypoallergenic, for peace of mind.

With this in mind, we at Ohgee have gone out of our way to stock only the highest quality in body-safe toys. For your peace of mind, we promise our toys will not fall short of this standard.

4. Your toys should be sealed safely! 100% Silicone toys should not touch other silicones or plastics, or it will melt!

That’s right, we’re sure you didn’t know that. 100% silicone toys will break down with continuous contact with other silicones, be it lube, cleaner or other toys. It causes a reaction that in turn, causes your lovely body safe toy to break down, destroying it.

Silicone also loves to pick up all manner of hairs, dust and fluff. It’s like a magnet! No one wants a hairy toy.

Thus, it’s best advised to put your toys in sealed bags or wrap them in 100% cotton (synthetic fabrics and silicone do not gel well). This way, your toys will last, and they’ll remain clean and hygienic!

5. Pick your lube carefully! Never mix silicone toys with silicone lubricants!

As mentioned above, 100% body safe silicone melts on contact with other silicones. Do not, under any circumstance, use silicone lubricants on silicone toys. You can use Silicone lubricant on your glass toys but stick to water-based lube for your silicone toys. Your toys will thank you!

6. When using your toys, never go straight from anal to vaginal play or vice versa! This transfers harmful bacteria to places they really shouldn’t be.

If your partner or yourself has used your toy for anal play, wash and boil it before using it for vaginal use again. Even if you’re in the mood, and in the heat of the moment you may be swayed to risk it, don’t risk it. A ruined mood or sacrifice will go a long way to keeping you and your delicate bits healthy and happy.

If you simply don’t have the patience, we advise using a latex-free condom over your toy during anal use. This keeps the toy clean, and then you can go straight back to vaginal use without all the fuss.

7. When using a toy on a new partner, give it a good clean beforehand. You should be doing it anyway every time after use, but a good boil and clean will give your partner peace of mind.

If it’s not glass or 100% silicone, it doesn’t matter who’s using it! Throw that toy out, or always cover it with latex free condoms/silicone covers. We iterate that you shouldn’t use them. Not on yourself, and not on your partner.

Most renowned toy companies have moved to 100% silicone, but some of their products, like the original Doxy Magic Wand for instance, may have medical grade PVC. By all means, don’t throw out your expensive Doxy, it’s a very good toy. Rejoice in the good news, these toy manufacturers realise their mistakes and sell attachable silicone covers for these older toys. Take a browse and buy that attachable, and relish the new body safe head of your toy.

But even with this information, your new partner may still feel uncomfortable using a toy that was in someone else. That is fair enough! You may not want to share either. We highly recommend using separate toys then, for your own peace of mind.

Useful sex toy cleaners to invest in:

• If you own a Fleshlight, this Fleshlight Wash MBS is perfect to keep it in tip-top shape! It is an anti-bacterial spray that works fast and effectively.
• Got a few malesation toys that need to be looked after? You have found your solution with this MALESATION Cleaner – what’s even better is that you can use it after playtime to freshen up your genital area too!
• We’re sure everyone would love or loves their Lelo sex toy! For your Lelo or any other toy, in order to look after them, you can purchase this Lelo Toy Cleaning Spray – it’s fast acting and it’s alcohol and paraben free.
• For overall sex toy cleaning, be sure to get this HOT clean alcohol free spray which will keep them in mint condition.

From now on, you can enjoy safe and clean solo or shared playtime with your adult toys. Never spend a second worrying about your cleanliness again with these hygiene tips for sex toys!

As much as sex and playtime are enjoyable, it is always best to keep your body in mind and look after it the best way you possibly can regardless of the mood.

Remember, your genitals are the most sacred part of your body and deserve to be treated with care and love. With this in mind, go wild and have clean, safe fun!