Sex Toy Safety

Unfortunately, or fortunately, the sex toy industry is not regulated

It is very easy to buy unsafe sex toys which can expose your body to lots of problems including infections, diseases and even linked to cancers. To add insult to the injury, choosing safe sex toys is easier said than done.  There is so much to look for and there is a lot of contradicting information here and there, given that sex is the most widely discussed topic on earth.

How to Choose Safe Sex Toys For Couples

There are many things to consider when introducing couples sex toys to your relationship, and safety is paramount. Couples need to follow the following guidelines to choose the safest sex toys that will make their sex life kinkier.

1. Read the package carefully

A sex toy is not like any other product that is packaged in the same way and has the same ingredients every time. Given the overwhelming number of sex toys in the market, you can’t rush to buy a sex toy before you have to read the package. The package contains essential information such as the material and other bits of information that will help you know whether the toy is safe or not. On the material section, look for a label that says –“phthalate-free”. 

But be careful, as having these words does not always mean that the toys are phthalate-free. Check the manufacture date as well. Make sure that everything is as per your expectations before you buy the toy.

2. Check the toy itself

After reading the package, scrutinize the toy itself out of its package. If it bends easily, you have all reasons to get worried. If they toy has a rubbery smell, it could contain phthalates, so be wise. Look at the design of the toy to ensure that it does not have sharp edges and vertices. Remember it is going to be used on the most sensitive parts of the body, and as such, the toy should be designed to follow the natural curve of the body. Overall, a sex toy should be designed in such a way that when it is being used by an expert, every slight move made on the body will move someone’s emotions a notch higher, just like it would be during a real sex scene. For instance, if it is being used on a woman, she will unconsciously nudge her legs apart to make her sweet spot accessible with ease.

3. Certifications

Sex toy business is not regulated, the sex toys chosen should pass the safety and quality requirements of the European Union, United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ISO, GMP, TGA and any other national or internationally known bodies or certificates. This means that such toys have met the minimum safety requirements from these bodies.

4. Choose sex toys that you both comfortable with

Just like sex itself, sex toys mean different things to different people. A sex toy that is safe for you may not be safe for your friend because of size and other specifications. If you are buying toys for mutual masturbation, for instance, you should both be comfortable with the toys. Sex toys help couples get wilder orgasms, but there are some toys that can hurt as they provide these orgasms. Be careful to note how long a sex toy can be used without harming your body.

For instance, dildos are safe to use for about 15 minutes every week. If you use them for more time, they may cause blisters which may lead to further problems.

5. Stick to the sex toys you like

Variety is said to be the spice of life, but that is not always the case. In fact, changing toys every now and then makes it easy to get unsafe ones which may interfere with your sexual life. If for instance, if a sex toy makes a woman’s clitoris feel as large as an apple without hurting her, there is no need to change the sex toy as far as it continues to give her the pleasure it should give her.

6. Material

The material is perhaps the most important aspect of safety in sex toys. Sex toys will allow you to do your bodies some justice before you get into the real dirty business safely as long as they are made of the right material. Sex toys made of glass, stainless steel, silicone, latex or phthalate-free plastic are normally safe for use by human beings. There are some sex toy manufacturers who are still making soft plastic as well as jelly rubber toys using phthalates. Phthalates could be harmful, especially to the male reproductive system and they should thus be avoided.

Be careful when choosing TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomers) Sex Toys. This material feels the same as silicon but it is porous, meaning that it could be a breeding place for bacteria and other disease-causing organisms.

7. Environmentally friendly toys

On the same note, eco-friendliness is the daily global warming mantra as environmental conservation has become everybody’s business. For this reason, on top of sex toy material being safe for human use, it should be eco-friendly. Obviously, a sex toy is made of a non-eco-friendly material will harm you both directly and indirectly.

8. Durability

Glass, silicone, and stainless steel sex toys are more durable on top of being safe. They can also be reused several times. If you buy a less durable sex toy, it may not be safe because you may never know when it will break. It may break when it is inside you, opening a can of worms in your sex life.

9. Ease of cleaning

Cleanliness is second to godliness, especially when it comes to sex. Sex toys make your sparks fly. They can make you feel completely blown away. After using a sex toy properly, pleasure and satisfaction are always plastered over your faces as if a heavenly angel has already shown you the direct way to paradise. As this happens, a lot of body fluids are exchanged and most of them accumulate on the sex toy. If you are not able to clean your sex toy properly, then you may just use it once while you are alone. If you are a couple, washing the sex toy after use is recommended.

10. Choose sanitisable sex toys

It should be possible to disinfect and sanitize your sex toys and keep them for later use. It should be easy to use various disinfectant on the toy so that when it is used later, it is safe from any form of dirt and germs. Remember sex toys transmit venereal diseases among other types of diseases just like real sex itself.

11. Is the woman pregnant or not?

When a woman is pregnant, her hormones dictate what she loves and what she hates. At this point, a sex toy you have used for years will become useless. Another one that has never been used can lead to a miscarriage. All in all, it is important to consult a doctor to know which toys will be safe for a pregnant woman. Sex changes during pregnancy, and it changes differently to different people. Some will want more while other will want less sexual activity during pregnancy. Others get confused because they can’t control their emotions. For instance, too much use of dildos is not allowed during pregnancy. This means that however much the woman wants a certain unsafe sex toy when she is not pregnant, she should not be allowed to use it.

12. Choose sex toys that elicit sexual positivity

The sex toys you choose should recognize that sex is an essential part of a healthy and happy life. They should make your sex life better, not worse. Remember we are looking at the overall health status. Sex toys should allow people to have fun without forgetting their roles in conventional sexual intercourse.

13. Consider porosity of the sex toys

Porosity has to do with the cleanliness of a toy. If a sex toy is porous, then it is quite likely that some bacteria may hide in its pores. It is not easy to get rid of the bacteria because of the tiny size of the pores. This makes such a sex toy a health hazard.

14. Choose toys that can be covered with a condom enhance safety

When you are sharing sex toys, do so with care. With some couples, sex toys can be shared freely but with others, that is a story of the past. Either way, a condom on top of a sex toy is an additional layer of safety. This rule should be followed especially among discordant couples, where one is living with a sexually transmitted disease.

15. The toys should allow you to change roles or to switch from one position to the other safely

If you are using a vaginal toy, it should usher you to the next love spot southwards without causing harm. This is important because sometimes the toy has to be used continuously to sustain one’s orgasm for instance.

16. Always buy your sex toys from a trusted company

If you don’t get the manufacturer and the dealer right, nothing else will seem alright from the start to the finish. A sex toy may make your genitals feel like an electric fence that can electrocute even the largest animals on earth but if it has been manufacture by an unexperienced manufacturer, you are in for trouble. That is why we noted earlier that you should stick to the same sex toys so that you develop trust for the manufacturer of such toys. There are many new manufactures of sex toys, and most of them are worried more about their sales than human health factors. If we are buying from such companies, we were just experimenting with our bodies, and anything can happen.

17. Research

Information is power, so don’t shy away from looking for information online and offline. For instance, there are several people you know who have used sex toys in their relationship safely. Ask what these people do to get safe toys. Learn the tricks of maintaining sex toys so that they can serve for a long time without exposing the user to sicknesses

18. Avoid cheap toys

We are living in tough economic times when financial crises do not cease to rock the world economy. Saving is a step in the right direction here but not on sex toys. Save on food and other things but if you aim at saving on sex toys, you will end up buying unsafe sex toys which will bring more bad than good to you. Always remember that sexual pleasure is a birth right. That is why everyone talks about it. It should be accepted, understood and cherished. This said, spending on sex toys should not be a problem

19. Listen to your heart carefully

Sex is said to be in the mind. If a certain sex toy makes you feel horny just by the sight of it, it is likely to be safe for you. If you are a fan of toys that vibrate or those that strap on, make sure that you choose the right ones on your mind. Sex toys that look and feel like real flesh are perhaps the trickiest to choose. For instance, you should not buy an oversized vibrator simply because you love big cocks. Here, you have to listen to your heart sparingly.

Indeed, couples can make their sex lives easier by using sex toys.

They set the wheels of your love engine into motion. They help couples go the extra mile in orgasming. Women squirt, letting out a stream of warm, colorless and odorless fluid while men get hard erections and consequently explosive orgasms. This however, occurs only when the toys are safe.