How to Keep Your Sex Toy Like New

You’ve just purchased a new, beautiful toy of your dreams and you want to keep it looking and feeling like new. But how can this seemingly impossible feat be accomplished?

The stage is all set for enjoyment. After hours of research and comparison shopping, you finally get to open up your discrete plain, white box and lovingly take out your new acquisition: a gorgeous and gleaming sex toy. Like a box of new crayons– you can’t wait to use it, but you are reluctant to, knowing this means who may have to let go of that “new sex toy smell.” Or do you? The simple tricks to keeping this new toy like new are: use condoms, use cleansers and store it properly.

Condoms

Obviously, some toys are more porous than others. A leather strap-on harness will be more absorbent and therefore will harbor way more bacteria and fungus than say, a Glass Gem Amethyst toy will. If you are unsure of what your toy is made of, check out What is My Adult Toy Made Of? for more information.

Whether you or your partner is menstruating or you are using a toy for anal play, covering your toy with a condom can be a simple, cheap and effective way to keep your toy like new. Think of a condom as the plastic cover on your great-aunt’s couch. Simply incorporating a condom like the Crown Skinless Skin into your toy use can keep stains from sinking into even the most porous toy.

Using a textured condom can spice up your toy and prevent it from becoming shop worn or damaged as well. Have a realistic dildo like the amazing and hand-free Adam Dexter Dildo, but you want it to feel more like the Meteorite? No problem. Keep your toy looking like new, while feeling like a different toy altogether, simply by slipping a Beyond Seven Studded condom onto it!

As discussed in Is It Safe to Share My Sex Toys?, porous toys like the Jelly Rapture Pink are more susceptible to soaking up bodily fluids. While fluids are awesome and fun, they may contain undesirable attributes, such as STDs/STIs, parasites, yeast or E. coli bacteria. Slipping on a new condom on in between partners and/or when going from anal to vaginal use, can keep you, your partner and your toy safer.

Lubricants

Less porous materials like glass, metal and 100% silicone toys are compatible with water, silicone and oil-based personal lubricants, so go on and lube the hell out of it! However, toys made from any other material are best when used only with water-based lube, like ID Glide. This is because silicone can eat away at other things made from lesser grades of silicone, resulting in a malformed and less than stellar toy appearance over time. Avoid causing tears and pits in the material by following these lube guidelines.

Cleansers

Unless you are planning on using a toy once and then throwing it out, like you would with a Durex Ring of Bliss, cleaning your toy is such an important part of responsible sex toy ownership and usage. Properly cleaning your toy will keep it sparkling like new, smelling great and maintaining its original shape and texture.

Wearing rubber gloves and using hot water are essential safer sex practices while cleaning your sex toys. As mentioned in Keep Your Dirty Stuff Clean, using a specially designed sex toy cleanser like Pjur Med Clean or Wet Keep it Clean can extend the life of your toy and keep you and your partner safer from harmful elements.

If you are unable to wash the toy with water right away, antibacterial wipes like these from Tom Cat are a great way to bide some time before a proper washing. Just be sure to really get into those cracks and crevices.

Pyrex toys, 100% medical grade silicone and metal toys like the nJoy Pure Plug can be boiled to attain the most extreme level of cleanliness possible, but toys made from any other materials should never be boiled or put into the dishwasher.

Porous materials which have become wet are also more likely than others to become moldy, since they are more difficult to fully dry off before being put away for storage. Leave them out in an open, cool area until they fully dry. I lay mine on my bathroom counter, but this may not work for you if you have kids or roommates, so find a hidden away place with air flow if privacy is an issue.

CyberSkin toys like the Pleasure Sleeve need to be powdered after use in order to maintain their skin-like texture. After washing and allowing the toy to air dry completely, simply dust the toy with baby powder and the original tactile feeling will return.

Storage

If your toy came with a carrying case, satchel, bag or box– I suggest keeping and using it for storage purposes. For instance, I keep my Cunning Cactus in its original box because storing it any other way could damage the many nubs it has. This especially applies to glass toys, which can break if they aren’t properly protected while stored away.

Room temperature storage is ideal for all toys, although glass and metal toys can take much more extreme weather than other materials. Jelly toys also have a tendency to melt if they are touching other jelly toys, so even if they did not come with a bag or box, make your own in order to protect them from disintegrating. Wrapping a toy in a new bandana, a beanie cap or keeping it in a clean sock are all easy and effective options.

Toys with removable batteries should be stored without their battery in place– particularly if they will be sitting in storage for an extended amount of time. Removing the batteries ensures that no corrosion from leaking battery acid will damage the coils in your very precious mechanical sex toy. This practice also offers the peace of mind that your toy will not suddenly spring into action if bumped by something else while being stored.