Making Your Own Sex Toys: When It's a Good Idea (and When It Really Isn't)

So you're stuck at home, self-isolating and social distancing. And, if the increase in traffic to our site shows anything, a lot of you are also experimenting with new sexual adventures while you're staying home.

In these bouts of adventuring, you may be venturing into the world of making your own sex toys. The thing is, sometimes that’s a great idea and other times it’s the opposite.

But where does one stop and the other begin? When all is said and done, how do you figure out what’s a good idea for a homemade sex toy and what’s a really bad one?

Well, sit tight, put your tray tables into the upright position and we’ll get into the when's and when-not-to's of making your very own sex toys.

Where Are You Going With This?

The first big question you need to ask before getting out your tools is what are you thinking of making and, even bigger than that, where this toy is going to be used?

If you’re thinking of crafting something to be used on a person, rather than in them, then your options are much larger and, best of all, the risks are considerably lower.

Let’s get into the idea of putting something in someone first.

While people have no doubt been inserting all matter of objects into their orifices—probably for as long as people have had offices—there can be some pretty serious repercussions from using the wrong shape or the wrong material.

By serious, we mean everything up to and including, severe allergic reactions, tearing with serious blood loss, toxic shock syndrome, devastating infections, lack of sensitivity, and possibly even exposure to potentially lethal carcinogens.

In other words, don’t make homemade sex toys designed for internal use.

Sex toy manufacturers have spent decades perfecting their devices to avoid all these potential problems—and more we don’t even know about. Trying to do the same, even if you are a master craftsman, is just asking for trouble.

Read: Things People Use to Masturbate (and Why You Shouldn't)

Any doubts about this, then just ask emergency medical personnel about how many “things” they’ve had to extract from people who thought that this, that, or the other thing might be fun to stick into their bodies.

But if making your own insertable sex toy is far from a good idea, when and how do you satisfy your erotic making urges?

On, Not In

While you absolutely need to be aware of what you’re making things out of, doing something on the surface of the body carries with it much less risk. Don’t get us wrong, there are still risks—but not as many as with an insertable.

Remember to only use hypoallergenic materials for anything that’s going to be making direct skin contact. If you’re using anything made of wood, there is no way to totally sterilize what you’ve made. Thus, make your wooden 'whatever' a single-person toy; no passing it around to other playmates!

For example, for breast or nipple play, the humble clothespin can be a delight to modify and tweak to your creative heart’s desire. Dip them in plastic, tweak their shape, paint them fancy colors, attach weights to them… they’re practically perfect in every way for homemade sex toy play.

Read: In Praise of the Humble Clothespin

Another great toy to make for yourself are paddles. In fact, if you check out many BDSM player’s play-bag you’ll no doubt find all kinds of artfully repurposed hairbrushes, ping-pong paddles, cutting boards, and the like. Again, always use materials or decorations that won’t needlessly irritate the skin.

Right behind paddles, canes or light striking toys are also tons of fun to make. Yet again be aware of what you’re using, materials-wise, and if there’s wood involved it’s not a toy to be shared.

Never Make Bondage Toys

While we’re touching on the subject of BDSM bondage toys are another class of sex toys that should never be made at home.

As many people have addressed here at Kinkly, bondage can be an extremely (and we’re not using that word lightly) risky activity and using something that hasn’t been designed, built, and perfected by a skilled practitioner is just asking for problems—including the possibility of permanent injury or even death.

Read: The Ultimate Guide to Using Household Items as Sex Toys

Making Your Own Fun

Can you make your own sex toys? Absolutely, but only if you totally understand the potential risks involved—and even then accept that there are many times when doing so isn’t just a bad idea, but a horrible one.

Paddles, canes, clothespins… there are many things you can, in relative safety, make yourself.

For anything else, though, we have dozens—maybe even hundreds—of excellently designed, superbly manufactured, and thoroughly tested sex toy manufacturers out there with products that can do the job so much better than anything you ever could whip-up in your workshop.

So do yourself, and anyone you play with a favor, and take to heart what we've discussed here and know what to make and what not to.

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