How to Properly Clean Sex Toys After Lube Use
When it comes to experiencing the most pleasurable sex, lube is the most important part of the equation. It doesn’t matter if you’re having penetrative sex, vaginal or anal, masturbating with toys or your hands, giving your partner oral, or engaging in foreplay, lube should always be within arm’s reach. It not only reduces friction, helping to prevent small tears during penetration, but it enhances all other types of sexual play, as fingers, lips, and toys seamlessly glide over or in and out of erogenous zones.
But as much as lube can be a game changer, if you’re using it with toys, it’s absolutely paramount that you wash it off after each use. This isn’t just about maintaining the integrity of your sex toys, but an important step in keeping your sexual health in check. If you haven’t been cleaning your sex toys after lube use, then there’s no time like the present to start, thanks to these sex toy cleaning tips.
Why Cleaning Sex Toys After Lube Is Important
If you’ve ever used any type of lube—and there’s more than one type, but we’ll get to that—you may have noticed it leaves behind a residue. While lube residue on its own isn’t exactly the end of the world, it’s what gets trapped in that residue that can be problematic. No matter how you use your sex toys, internally or externally, they’re being exposed to bacteria.
Preventing Bacteria and Infections
When bacteria is allowed to sit on sex toys, along with lube that hasn’t been washed off, your sex toy’s hygiene plummets as it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. This can lead to a whole slew of bacterial infections like yeast infections, UTIs, and bacterial vaginosis (BV). If you and your partner share sex toys and they have an STI, then that adds another layer of possible infections. It’s with this in mind that you want to consider using a condom on your toys if you’ll be sharing them or if you know you’ll be going from anal play to vaginal. Learning how to wash your sex toys properly after each and every use is the best way to stop bacteria in its tracks, protecting you from infections.
Protecting Your Sex Toys from Damage
As much as we may like to believe sex toys, especially high-end toys made of medical grade silicone, can withstand anything, that’s not entirely true. When you take the time to wash your sex toys after using lube, you’re not just protecting your body and your partner’s body, but you’re protecting your sex toys from possible degradation and you’re prolonging their self-life. If you’ve splurged on a sex toy, by dropping a couple hundred euros - or more! - then you want to make sure it lasts. And cleaning sex toys after lube use is one of the most important ways to do just that.
Maintaining Body-Safe Hygiene
Being a sexually active person, means being responsible. Not just for your own sexual wellness, but for your partner. To do this, it’s paramount that you maintain body-safe hygiene, and learning how to remove lube residue from sex toys is just one step in a series of steps toward that.
What You Need to Know About Different Types of Lube
One of the best things about lubes is that you have options: water-based lube, silicone-based lube, and oil-based lube. However, not all lubes are compatible with all toys and every body, so knowing the basics about each lube and how to properly clean them off toys is an absolute must.
Water-Based Lube and Cleaning Tips
As the name suggests, water-based lubes are made from water. What this means is that they’re compatible with all sex toys, and can safely be used with latex condoms. If you have particularly sensitive skin, then pjur med SENSITIVE, which is free of glycerine, parabens or preservatives, is your best bet. Knowing how to clean sex toys with water-based lube is easy, because it only requires soap and warm water to get it off not just toys, but bed linens, clothing, and your body.
Silicone-Based Lube and Cleaning Considerations
Although silicone-based lube is great for those who like a thicker, more pillowy texture that lasts longer, for example, pjur BACK DOOR Relaxing is the ideal complement to penetrative anal sex, it’s not compatible with all toys. Because of this, it’s important to practice sex toy safety, by knowing what lubes can be used with what toys. As much as silicone-based lubes mix well with glass and stainless steel toys, overtime, it will damage sex toys made of silicone. When this happens you don’t only lose a beloved toy to degradation, but if you’re using it while it’s slowly breaking down, that’s not exactly the best scenario for your body either. Silicone-based lubes don’t need any preservatives or additives, meaning that they’re the gentlest on the body, if that’s a concern for you.
How to clean sex toys with silicone lube is similar to water-based lube in that you start with soap and warm water. But because silicone is thicker and therefore more difficult to get rid of, to remove the residue from sex toys completely, that’s where a sex toy cleaner, like pjur TOY CLEAN comes in handy, making your toys spotlessly clean and residue free.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Clean Sex Toys After Using Lube
Ready to learn everything you need to know about cleaning lube after sex? Of course you are!
Initial Rinse and Removing Excess Lube
As we’ve covered, the very first step, no matter what type of lube you’ve used, is to wash it with soap in warm water. In the case of having used oil-based lube, then you want a mild dish soap which will help remove the oil more efficiently, erasing all traces of residue.
Choosing the Right Cleaner for Your Toy Material
If you want to take your sex toy washing to another level, then disinfecting them after cleaning off the lube, as well as bodily fluids, from the products is your next step. When it comes to choosing the right sex toy cleaner for you, you want to read the ingredients. For example, because silicone toys are non-porous, you want an alcohol-free cleaner that won’t damage its integrity. While, on the other hand, both stainless steel and glass, can handle a cleaner that contains a bit of alcohol. Always check the cleaning instructions from your toy’s manufacturer to be sure you’re using a cleanser with ingredients that won’t damage your toy’s material.
Proper Washing Techniques
In addition to soap and water, and a cleaner, you can also put some sex toys in the dishwasher and those that are non-porous like glass, steel, and silicone can be boiled for a few minutes. But if this is the route you take, it should be done after the initial step of washing and after you’ve removed any and all batteries from your toys.
You want to remove as much lube residue as possible by hand, before moving on to machines and boiling water. Again, make sure to check with your toy’s manufacturer to be sure that it can handle the heat of any of these methods. It’s also worth noting that any batteries should be removed before using a machine or boiling water. If your toy’s batteries can’t be removed, then skip these options.
Drying and Storing Your Sex Toys Safely
When your sex toy is clean, you want to gently pat it dry, then store it in a safe place for the next time you use it. These days most sex toys come with their own little dust bags that, when they’re sufficiently dry, you don’t have to worry about a bacteria party on the horizon.
Cleaning Lube After Sex: Tips for Your Body
No matter what lube you’ve used, when it comes to getting it off your body, all you need is a warm shower and soap. For water-based lube, mild soap is best, while silicone- and oil-based lube need a stronger soap and maybe even a loofah to get through those lubes, completely removing them from the skin.
How to Remove Lube Residue from Skin
If hot water and soap isn’t cutting it when it comes to removing lube from your skin, then you may need to bring in extra reinforcements like rubbing alcohol, dish soap, baby wipes, or even a pumice stone for residue that needs an extra push to send it on its way.
Maintaining Intimate Hygiene After Sex
After you’ve had sex, it’s important to check in with your body. Some suggest, if you have a vulva, urinating after intercourse to flush out any bacteria, while others advise cleaning the genitals with warm water and soap. Do not put water or soap inside the vagina, it can disrupt the pH and lead to infections. Then, of course, it’s important to move on to your sex toys and get them washed up so they don’t have too much time for bacteria and lube to linger.
Lube For Sensitive Skin
When it comes to sensitive skin, you can’t go wrong with pjur’s lube collection. Not only do they have pjur med SENSITIVE, as mentioned above, but also pjur med PREMIUM, pjur med HYDRO, pjur med SOFT, and of course, a sex toy cleaning spray for those with sensitive skin, pjur med CLEAN spray.
Ultimately, properly cleaning your sex toys is just as important as getting regular STI tests, practicing safe sex, and learning how to communicate with your partner about your sexual wants and needs. There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with being a sexually active person, but it’s a responsibility that is absolutely worth it.
Common Questions About Cleaning Sex Toys After Lube Use
When people inquire about how to clean lube off sex toys and how to clean lube after sex, it all depends on the type of lube you have used. Water-based remains the easiest to clean, while oil and silicone simply can boast such things.
Can You Use Soap to Clean Sex Toys?
Short answer: yes. In fact, even if your intention is to use a sex toy cleaner or other methods, soap and warm water can be the first step in removing bodily fluids and lube residue. However, pjur cleaning products are an alternative to water, so you can just reach for the pjur instead.
How Often Should You Clean Your Sex Toys?
Although people feel differently about this, it goes without saying that your sex toys should be cleaned after every use—and as quickly as possible. The faster you get your sex toys to soap and warm water, the faster you can prevent things, like bacteria, from getting comfortable on your toys and starting to evolve into a sticky phase, making it more difficult to remove.
If you really want to stay on top of your sex toy cleaning game, washing them before each use is also a good idea too, especially if you don’t have a dust bag to protect your toys from dust and other particles. Simply, you can never clean your sex toys too often.
Can Lube Damage Your Sex Toys?
Of course! All you need is the wrong lube on the wrong toy, and your toy can suffer the consequences. That’s why being a responsible sex toy owner is about understanding what lubes are best for your toys, and staying on top of their cleanliness, for the sake of the sex toys and the bodies using those toys.
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