All that seems to be talked about these days is COVID-19, and understandably, as it has changed everything about our world, our way of living, taken away our freedom, clean air, sapped all the goodness from the world, and made rainbows monochrome… too far? Hyperbole aside, a result of this pandemic is that we are becoming very conscious of our bodies, our hygiene, and the cleanliness of things around us.
To reiterate the message of the moment:
Aside from becoming a bubble-boy, personal hygiene and social distancing are our best protections right now. So like Eric says, wash your hands, and please keep your distance. This unfortunately will have a toll on how we interract with each other intimately, so the time is now to get better acquainted with your solo playtime. Welcome the smooth transition from Sex Education's Eric Effiong to how best to clean our sex toys. In order to stave off infection, transmission of harmful bacteria, and just not be a total grub, there are some necessary processes to go through.
Repeat after me: I will clean my toys AFTER. EVERY. USE.
But this doesn’t consist of simply running some lukewarm water over ya dild’ and sending out thoughts and prayers. So – how do we keep our toys as clean as possible without using nasty chemicals? I asked our resident walking sex-toy encyclopaedia to give us the run-down on how to do a thorough clean.
1) Always wash any surface debris off the toy directly after use. Using a mild detergent, scrub away, until the toy looks brand-spankin-new and glorious. If you skip this step, you can do step 2 twice, but the most important thing is that all bodily fluid is removed BEFORE the anti-bacterial spray can work. This should be done after EVERY use. If your toy is porous, you should wash as soon as you can after play.
2) Let dry, then clean the toy thoroughly with a specialist anti-bacterial toy cleaner. Spray thoroughly until you’re satisfied the toy is wet. These cleaners are toy material safe, and the good ones are gentle on skin.
3) Allow to sit for 30 seconds or so. This just makes sure the cleaner can get into all the bacteria hidey holes like around buttons, in seams etc.
4) Rinse and dry the toy with a clean cloth or disposable paper.
5) Store the toy to the manufacturer’s instructions.
6) Hot tip: If your toy is 100% silicone, you can boil it!
It’s important to note here that not all cleaners are toy or body compatible. Pine ‘O’ Clean, for example, should not be used as an intimate cleaner. Hand sanitiser, although liquid gold at the moment, is also not a good option. Keep to neutral foaming washes, like baby shampoo, and a good quality toy cleaner. Our pick is Sensuva ‘Think Clean Thoughts’, with anti-bacterial and anti-microbial qualities, which kill 99.9% of bacteria on non-porous surfaces.
Sanitised is not the same as sterilised
Toy cleaning sprays or antibacterial hand detergents are sanitizers NOT sterilisers. That means they are only anti-bacterial, not antiviral. They cannot kill infection causing viruses, like the common cold, hepatitis, HIV, OR COVID-19. They should be able to handle bacteria found in and on the body, that if allowed to grow can cause UTIs and thrush. If you would like to know more about something of particular concern to you, ask your health care professional.
With this virus on the loose, it’s best to firstly clean yourself, clean your clothes and sheets, before moving onto your toys for playtime. THEN give them a good ‘ol scrub.
This is a brief run-through on how to clean your sex toys best. Coming soon will be a WAY more in-depth three part post on cleaning your toys, as well as how you can sterilise at home (trickier than you might think). For now though, we don’t need to overwhelm you with knowledge, the news is doing that for us! Just keep clean, stay healthy and remember:
Isolate, lubricate, masturbate!
With love,
MB xxx
