Silicone Dildo by Tantus

Now you’re ready to select the perfect sex toy to add the spice to your next play time.  There are so many to choose from that it is difficult to decide where to begin looking.  Do you want a G Spot dildo, a Rabbit vibrator, or some other kind of vibrator that will give you extra buzz?  Making the decision on what to buy can be incredibly difficult.

But you can make the selection process simpler by learning about which sex toys are healthiest for your body.  Selecting a body healthy sex toy can give you fun with peace of mind.  But even more importantly, sex toys that are built with body health in mind are almost always made from higher quality materials, which means that the toy itself will be more durable and a better value for your money.

The number of debates about sex toy materials have grown in recent years.  Let’s take a moment to sort out the facts.  Some people claim that all jelly sex toys are toxic.  Incendiary as the next statement may be, it must be written.  There is no scientific support for the assertion that ALL jelly sex toys are toxic.

And the Phthalate debate is still unsettled.  True, the United States banned the use of Phthalates in toys for children, but the body of evidence concerning Phthalates does not allow the conclusion that Phthalates always directly cause the maladies (including cancer) that some people have asserted they cause.

Just the same, there is a growing collection of evidence that points to problems with some sex toys.  The Dutch EPA commissioned a study (Which Tantus Inc. provides in its entirety here) that leads to some alarming conclusions.  I include a sampling below:

“The chemical substances include solvents, degradation products from accelerators and other rubber chemicals and plasticizers. Several of those are reprotoxic and a few have other injurious health effects, e.g. neurotoxic effects.”

That’s a fairly sobering paragraph that should make us all stop and think before we make our next purchase.  While not all toys contain these chemicals, if we don’t know how to shop, we could accidentally get a nasty surprise.

It should be noted that this report takes a tiny sampling of toys from a very large pool of possible sex toys.  But the point is, we should be careful when choosing what we will put on, or in, our bodies.  What if you could choose a toy that had the following qualities? (Source)

- Manufactured under strict Good Manufacturing Procedures in a controlled environment
- Platinum cured for the highest degree of purity (least extractables)
- Reusable — will withstand repeated sterilization
- Nonreactive to body tissues and fluids

Those properties sound like a far better alternative to use.  And when you get a Platinum Grade Silicone dildo, you get those exact properties!  Now you get a great dildo and a great, healthy alternative to a lesser quality material.

Glass dildos are also a good alternative, as are aluminum and hard plastic sex toys.  The point is this, you can still find a wide variety of fun sex toys without giving up the healthy options that eliminate many of the concerns associated with lower quality materials.

Shop carefully and you’ll discover that fun and quality can be intertwined.  Throw healthy into the mix and you have a sex toy that comes guilt free.  Think it through; you’ll see that you can get what you want and feel good about the purchase.  And that alone can make your next play session even more fun!

So that condom is no big deal, right?  Safe sex is just a matter of being selective?  If you agree with either of those ideas, you really should read on.  And if you’re a fan of safe sex, we have some facts you might want to know as well.

When an airline pilot is preparing for takeoff, he goes through a rigorous checklist of his aircraft’s mechanics and functions.  Your odds of being in a fatal crash on the top 25 safe Airlines in the world is 1 in 13.57 million (Source).  Would you be surprised to discover that unprotected sex gives a woman 1 in 2 odds of catching Gonorrhea and 4 in 10 odds of catching Chlamydia (Source)?  That’s in just one unprotected encounter!

In 2007, slightly over 1 in 1,000 people contracted Gonorrhea, and that’s just the reported cases (Source).  So 1 in 13.57 MILLION people are involved in a plane crash with fatalities on highly safe airlines, 1 in 1,000 people contract Gonorrhea.  I think maybe it’s time we contemplate a safe sex checklist.  Those pilots may be on to something.

The right lubricant is critical to safety

So here is a checklist we suggest you try out to improve your sexual health by engaging in safe sex and play.

First, if you are with a partner, do you have your condoms?  Think about it, if one unprotected encounter exposes you to a 50/50 chance of catching a nasty infection, each subsequent encounter almost guarantees that you’ll catch something that you’d really rather not have to treat.  And if you’re among the hearty sorts who doesn’t fear disease, perhaps you should have a look at the new resistant strains.

Unless you are in a long term, completely monogamous relationship with a partner who is disease free, you shouldn’t ever be without a condom when you’re ready for fun.  For everyone else, make sure the condom is number one on your safe sex checklist.

Second, if you plan to use lubrication (and if you’re planning on anal play, plan to use lubricant), make sure your lubricant is compatible with the condom or toy you’re using.  I was curious about how fast a latex condom would deteriorate with a silicone lubricant, so I ran a test using a condom on a rubber dildo.  I stretched a condom over, and applied silicone lubricant by hand.  The condom began to disintegrate on contact.

When I say disintegrate, I mean that in the literal sense of the word.  The condom was melting into goo in front of my eyes.  The dildo wasn’t doing well either.  Always use water based lubricants with latex condoms.  As you can see, checklist point two is critical to the safety of checklist point one.

The rest of our checklist relates specifically to toys.

Third, when using a sex toy like a dildo, make sure that you get into the habit of washing it before and after use.  A clean sex toy prevents the spread of infections.  Also, some materials can pick up small debris, which can lead to uncomfortable, unsanitary play.  A simple wash eliminates this problem.

Fourth, inspect your toy for any damage.  A chip on a glass toy can lead to painful issues.  A damaged retrieval mechanism on an anal toy can be dangerous as well.  If your toy has wiring (like a vibrator with a wired remote), make sure the wiring is not damaged.  Never play with a damaged sex toy.  The risk isn’t worth the sensation.

Fifth, make sure you intend to use your toy in the way it is intended to be used.  This is a simple rule that can save you from potentially dangerous play.  If you aren’t sure about your toy’s uses, contact us with our Ask an Expert button in the top right corner of this blog.

Finally, safe sex requires that you know your body.  Know your allergies and select toys that won’t affect them.  Silicone dildos and vibrators are great hypoallergenic choices for play.  Make sure the lubricant you select is body safe for you.  Know what size of dildo you can safely use.  Body safe toys are critical to safety, and for that matter, fun!

This is just a rudimentary checklist.  You may have even more items you want to add to yours.  But if you have a safety checklist, and you follow it well in advance of your next play time, when it’s time to have fun, you can focus on the whole point of adult play – HAVING FUN!  So take the time to make sure you’re prepared, then go out and have fun!

And follow your checklist.

Pjur Med Clean

We love Pjur products because of the high quality, safe materials that they use.  Pjur makes some of the best lubes available, and they use ingredients that are friendly to the body as well as effective for fun play.  So when we came across Pjur cleaners, we knew we’d found a great product for personal cleansing.  We weren’t surprised to find out the Pjur Med Clean is great for cleaning sex toys as well.

From Pjur:

“Spray Pjur med CLEAN Spray is the only alcohol-free cleaning product on the market today that provides protection against bacteria, fungus, and even lipophilic viruses.

It’s completely alcohol-free formulation makes it the ideal cleansing product for sensitive skin or mucous membranes. For gentle cleaning of intimate areas.

The mild formula of Pjur med CLEAN Spray has also proven its value when it comes to cleaning toys, particularly since they don’t have to be rinsed with water after cleaning. Alcohol-sensitive materials such as rubber, latex, or silicone are not affected. Bottle is 3.4 fl. oz.”

It’s products like these that demonstrate how high quality can make play time even better.

Nothing sexier than a guy who plays it safe and that’s why we’ve chosen this variety pack of quality Durex condoms as one of our current featured products.

No.

Anal Mini Tongue Try this instead

You’ll probably find varying points of view on that question, but we want to make sure that you understand why we offer our answer.  The fact is, anal sex can be made safer with the use of a condom, just like vaginal intercourse.  And as we’ve mentioned before, a dental dam can make most oral sex safer as well.  But setting aside the usual STI’s that can be present in felatio or cunnilingus, analingus presents a whole other set of dangers, specifically bacterial infections.

Putting your mouth in direct contact with the anus can expose you to:

Cryptosporidiosis (Which achieved some fame in Milwaukee)

Hepatitis A

E Coli

And we could keep this list going for a while.  The point is, the anus can easily contain small amounts of feces and blood (it tears easily), even when you think it looks and smells clean.  And assuming your partner has no STI’s to transmit to you, everyone has a supply of harmful to potentially deadly bacteria stored in the anus.  So it isn’t the same as felatio or cunnilingus on that point alone.

And your mouth is a direct conduit to your throat, stomach, intestines, and you don’t want to collect bacteria in your mouth.

If you enjoy anal stimulation, think fingers and toys first.  Even anal sex with a condom is generally safe.  But analingus is a bad choice.  I’m not aware of anyone who finds vomiting and diarrhea as a result of bacterial infection to be sexy.  Why open that possibility?

Our readers know that we prefer to keep it safe, so if you’re going to engage in analingus, please use the dental dam for protection.  Or, you could take our idea and go for something safer and more fun in the long run!