Some strokers (like the Tenga Spinner, Arcwave Ion or Tenga GEO) offer stands that allow airflow inside of the tunnel. For most penis strokers, though, you'll need to try to stand them up or lay them out as best as possible to allow the inside to dry out.
This may require picking up the stroker and shaking out the water, on occasion, as you reposition it to dry in a new way.
Depending on your stroker and airflow, this may look like a few days of dry time as you occasionally repeat the process. Remember: putting a penis stroker away wet can cause bacteria growth and mold. I promise, you do not want to put your penis into mold!
Stroker Cleaning According to Materials
Note that many strokers are made with proprietary materials. In this case, always default to the manufacturer's guidelines for cleaning.
| Silicone
| TPE/TPR
| Elastomer
| Fleshskin
| Skin-Like
|
Soap & Water
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
|
|
Rinse Only
| ✔
|
|
| ✔
| ✔
|
Toy Cleaner
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
|
Bleach Solution
| ✔
|
|
|
|
|
Alcohol Wipe
| ✔
|
|
|
|
|
Boiling
| ✔
|
|
|
|
|
Dishwasher
| ✔
|
|
|
|
|
How to Clean Your Air Suction Toys
When it comes to
air suction toys, the tip of the toy is what makes the most contact with bodily fluids, so that's where we're going to focus our cleaning. Luckily for us, many air suction toys
feature removable tips, which makes for ultra-quick cleaning. Simply take the air suction tip into the sink, and clean it according to the dildo material chart, seen above. Since the tip itself should be a non-motorized material, you can use as much hot, soapy water as you need to get it super clean.
Because air suction vibrators are still new to the market and their complicated machinery may not play well with water, many air suction vibrators are not waterproof.
Since the base of the air suction vibe still probably touched fluids while enjoying the tip, you'll want to use a damp, soapy washcloth to clean the plastic/silicone toy near where you removed the tip. Avoid getting any water near the buttons or charging port to protect your toy's lifespan.
How to Clean Your Anal Sex Toys
Anal sex toys are used in the butt, which means they might come in contact with fecal bacteria. That bacteria is a risk everywhere
except where it came from.
That means your anal sex toys must be cleaned directly after use - and if you set it down somewhere between using it and cleaning it, you need to sanitize that surface too. To avoid adding unnecessary cleaning, placing mid-use anal toys on a towel or sex blanket you plan on cleaning in hot water afterwards can be a great middle ground.
Even if your anal toy doesn't have any visible poop on it, simply treat it like it always does after use, and you'll reduce the spread of anal bacterial around your household.
This anal bacteria also means that your anal toys need to be cleaned with an attention to detail. Make sure you use soap and hot water, as allowed by the manufacturer's specifications, to clean every surface of your toy. Since your hands may have touched the base after touching your anally-lubed toy, we highly recommend cleaning the entirety of your anal toy - even the parts that didn't necessarily get inserted.
If you plan on using this anal toy in other holes, take the time to do the sanitizing procedures we talked about at the top of this article. While "clean" is great, some anal bacteria might slip through a standard household soap treatment, and you want to ensure you don't accidentally spread anal bacteria. Having anal bacteria in the mouth or vagina can lead to some very unpleasant problems (think vaginal infections or stomach trouble.)
Unique to anal toys, your anal toy might smell a bit like, well, the anus, especially after all-day play (like wearing a Snug Plug all day). There's nothing wrong with this - it can even happen with non-porous materials like silicone!
To help get rid of the scent, use some of the sanitizing methods recommended above. If your toy is waterproof, simply allowing it to soak in plain water (or baking soda with water) for a few hours can reduce or eliminate the scent.
Anal Toy Cleaning According to Materials
Anal toys require special care. Clean them to the highest standard according to the chart below.
| Silicone
| Metal
| TPE/TPR
| Rubber
| Wood
| Glass
| Ceramic
|
Soap & Water
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
Rinse Only
| ✔
| ✔
|
|
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
Toy Cleaner
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
Bleach Solution
| ✔
| ✔
|
|
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
Alcohol Wipe
| ✔
| ✔
|
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
Boiling
| ✔
| ✔
|
|
|
| ✔
| ✔
|
Dishwasher
| ✔
| ✔
|
|
|
| ✔
| ✔
|
How to Clean Your Sex Furniture
Sex tends to result in bodily fluids and lube, right? And when you have sex on sex furniture, that tends to get all over that specialized bolster.
Luckily for us, they're usually pretty simple to clean.
The most popular sex furniture manufacturer, Liberator, creates specialty covers for their sex furniture. For most of their products, you simply unzip the outermost cover and toss it into the washing machine. (Gentle cycle on cold or tap cold!)
When it's done, you allow it to hang dry (for the longest lifespan), and you rezip the cover back onto the sex furniture shape when you're done.
Depending on the sex furniture shape, this might be a two person job as the sex furniture covers have a snug fit. Small shapes, like the Liberator Wedge or Liberator Jaz, can be zipped on by a single person, but if you're trying to get your Liberator Equus Wave or Liberator Black Label Esse Chaise back into service, you might want a second set of hands.
If your sex furniture does not have a removable cover, it's probably made of a synthetic leather designed for easy cleaning. In that case, use your standard methods to clean synthetic leather, like a slightly damp washcloth and disinfecting wipes. You can see this type of furniture in action with the XR Brands Queening Chair and the XR Brands Extreme Sling.
What about sex toy cleaners?
Specialty sex toy cleaners can be helpful, but most sex experts agree that they aren't necessary for most people. Standard, mild, hand soaps (free of lotions and "skin softening" ingredients) will work well to clean most sex toys.
Avoid dish soaps, soaps with bleach, or soaps that irritate your skin. Preferably, go for unscented hand soaps for even safer results.
A few health and safety organizations are noting the potential danger of Benzalkonium chloride on vaginal health, so if you want to further minimize health concerns, you may want to do further research and choose hand soaps without this chemical.
Now, that's not to say that you shouldn't use sex toy cleaners. Sex toy cleaners can be really helpful in some instances. They:
- They're easy. If your post-orgasm brain is likely to try to use your lotion-infused hand soap on your sex toys, having a separate bottle of sex toy cleaner can be really helpful.
- They're travel-friendly. Hotel bar soap may not make the best sex toy wash - and you can't control what ingredients are in the soap when you visit friends or one-night-stands. Travel-sized bottles of sex toy cleaners can ensure you don't destroy your $200 dildos.
- They're convenient. Let's be real: sometimes you don't have easy access to a sink or soap after sex. That's OK. The spray-on versions of sex toy cleaners can be a great half-way point of sex toy cleaning. They can tide you over until you're able to reach a sink and do a thorough clean of your sex toy.
- The manufacturer recommends them. If your sex toy is made from a proprietary, unique material, picking up the manufacturer's cleanser can genuinely be the best way to take care of the material. If the instructions specifically state to never use a cleanser on your sex toy, you might have one of those specialized toys. Non-silicone, "flesh-like" materials tend to be the biggest culprit of this.
Maintaining Your Sex Toys By Using the Right Lube
While cleaning is vital to the health of your sex toy, how you use your sex toy can be just as important. That is, you need to use the right lube.
Some sex lubricants are not compatible with some sex toy materials. In fact, if the two meet, it can destroy the material of your favorite sex toy, making it gunky, tacky and impossible to fully clean. Ewww.
So which lube should you use? When you want an easy answer, choose a water-based lube. Water-based lubes are compatible with all types of sex toys and sex acts. (Now it has its own downsides, too, but that's a quandary for another article)
If you need a longer-lasting lube or just prefer a different lube type, here's a handy chart that'll help you sort out whether it's compatible with your sex toy's material.
| Silicone Lube
| Water-Based Lube
| Hybrid Lube
| Oil-Based Lube
|
Silicone
|
| ✔
| ✔
|
|
TPR/TPE
|
| ✔
|
|
|
Wood
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
Metal
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
ABS Plastic
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
| ✔
|
Skin-Like Materials
|
| ✔
|
|
|
Jelly
|
| ✔
|
|
|
Cleaning Makes a Difference
We get it: post-orgasm laziness is a real thing, and cleaning your sex toys can seem like so much
work!
But we promise: properly cleaning your sex toys can make a huge difference. Not only will you be able to keep your sex toy longer, but it'll be less likely to give you an infection - and that's something we can all get behind.
Plus, there's something awfully satisfying about a squeaky-clean sex toy. It just looks more inviting.
Happy cleaning!