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After Purchase:
Anything you purchase should first be inspected to make sure there are no rough edges. This is especially true of anything that is plastic. If you find a rough seam it can easily be smoothed down with a nail file. If the product is rubber you will probably want to let it air out so that any of the plastic odors will dissipate. Always clean anything new before you use the product. How you clean it will depend on the materials that the product is manufactured from.
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Take some time to note what your toy is made from. Only the more expensive toys seem to have directions, probably assuming that most people know how to stick it up their ass. So it's important that when you purchase the toy you note what general material it's made from so you can know how to care and clean for it.
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Selecting Lubricant:
The brand of lube you use is primarly a choice of personal taste (and some lubes actually DO have flavor... not terribly useful for most anal play though :)
In all cases a water based lube is recommended. It will not break down condoms and does the slippery kinda thing quite well.
Oil-based lubes and even massage oils are the most dangerous lubes to use with your toys. Oil-based products will destroy and disintegrate all latex products, many jelly products and some silicone or acrylic toys, depending on its mixture. Best advice, use water based.
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Using a Condom on-em:
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The BEST way to keep your toys clean is to not actually get them dirty :) by first covering the toy with a condom. Now for some toys this is just plain silly because they are SO simple to clean (such as plastic, silicone, acrylic.)
The jelly/latex (rubber) type toys are a different story. The material is very porous. It has minute holes that can hold onto bacteria and other unfriendly things. For these kinds of toys condom use is the best way to keep them clean. Also if you are going to share a dildo or use it vaginally after using it anally, using a condom on it is just standard procedure.
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Cleaning:
Jelly/Latex:
Jelly or latex (rubbery) dildos are common. These dildo's take special care. The best way to clean jelly dildos is with soap and warm water, but this does not sterilize the surface. Never use rubbing alcohol to clean jelly, jelly will degrade if it is exposed to rubbing alcohol (or oil based lube.)
If you decide on a jelly dildo, it might be a good idea to pick up some cleaner specifically designed for sex toys. The porous nature of jelly makes it harder to remove germs from the surface, but a good sex toy cleaner (like Safe Suds) will kill any bacteria and leave a clean, fresh scent. Always put the toy away dry. Bacteria and viruses can not live on dry surfaces.
Plastic
Plastic/vinyl is a common coating on butt plugs and simpler shaped dildo's. Plastic is easy to clean by using soap and water, followed by some rubbing alcohol or sex toy cleaner to kill germies.
Silicone
Most silicone products are pretty durable and of very high quality (thus the price.) They are easy to clean because they are naturally non-porous. Clean by using soap and water, followed by some rubbing alcohol or sex toy cleaner to kill germies. It's also often suggested that they are top-rack dishwasher friendly... so your kids can find them easily :) Do make sure that the entire product is silicone and that it does not have any plastic parts. Even though silicone is very durable it can crack and a crack can lead to a tear, so be careful with nails and teeth when you are handling silicone.
Cyber-skin
Cyber skin (also called by other names such as Ultra Skin) toys must be cleaned with mild soap and water followed by cyberskin friendly cleanser will keep your cyberskin toys feeling like real skin. Most cyberskin toys come with a sample kit to get you started.
Lucite/Acrylic/Glass (clear)
Acrylic is extremely smooth and nonporous. Easy to clean, with soap/water or sex toy cleaner. The material is nearly indestructible, but will scratch.
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Storage:
No matter what the material might be, leather, rubber, silicone, etc., moisture, direct sunlight or excessive heat will cause damage to the toy. So storing in a dry place and at room temperature is a good idea.
Any product that has a battery you might want to remove the battery between usage to keep them from corroding and also from accidentally turning on and running down the batteries. (What is that vibrating sound in the drawer?)
Also know that some dildo's don't play nice with each other in storage. Some of the materials will discolor the other materials on extended contact. Vinyl and jelly don't play nice together.
Here is one of my not so favorite jelly type dildos that was stored for a while touching against some pink vinyl dildos. You can see it effected the green jelly and made it look... well kinda diseased. There is nothing wrong with it... it just looks really bad.
One of my realistic silicone dildos also got stained by a vinyl one. So don't store them all thrown into the same box or they might do funky things on you! :)
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Placing the dildos together in one box may not be a good idea unless you wrap the dildos up in something first.
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Todd Perkins - Oct 2003
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