Is Silicone Safe for Sex Toys?

Properties of Body-Safe Silicone

Silicone is often used for sex toys, from silicone dildos, silicone butt plugs, silicone-coated vibrators, and much more. Pure silicone, in general, is a body-safe material, and here we’ll list the main properties of silicone:

• Silicone is non-porous – the surface of silicone toys is smooth, and there are no tiny pores that may trap dirt or impurities that could be potentially dangerous. As it is a non-porous material, silicone objects are effortless to clean and sterilize.
• Silicone is hypoallergenic and non-toxic – once silicone is cured, it is entirely biochemically inert, and it will almost never cause an allergic reaction. It means it does not let out any gasses or other chemicals that could be dangerous to you or the environment.
• Silicone is phthalate-free – phthalates are chemicals that are often added to hard plastics to make them more pliable and elastic. However, silicone is entirely phthalate-free, as this material is naturally elastic and does not need any additives to make it softer.
• Silicone is effortless to clean – most silicone toys can be easily washed with soap and water. You can also wash non-vibrating silicone toys in boiling water or place them in a dishwasher.
• Silicone withstands extreme temperatures – silicone toys can withstand extreme temperature differences. It will not deform in freezing temperatures and will not be damaged in boiling water. This feature of silicone is used in various medical applications, as there are many medical instruments made from silicone.

Platinum-Cured Silicone & Medical-Grade Silicone

You’ve probably read that a particular dildo or vibrator is made from platinum-cured silicone or medical-grade silicone, as these are the best silicone varieties used for sex toys. Platinum-cured refers to the process of curing raw silicone rubber; it uses platinum as a catalyst that ensures a 100% skin-safe, hypoallergenic hydrophobic, latex and phthalate-free silicone that is up to FDA and EU standards for medical applications.

Medical-grade silicone is also a very chemically stable compound, and it does not create any by-products during manufacturing. It may differ slightly from platinum-cured silicone, but it is a highly stable, body-safe compound with plenty of applications. It also means that the material is non-reactive with other substances. It is also durable in various conditions, and it can withstand prolonged contact with skin. A very interesitng use of this property is for making silicone butt plugs that you can wear for a long time, as these are comfortable, semi-flexible, and body-safe.

Silicone Sex Toys & Lube Compatibility

We have mentioned this numerous times, but we can’t stress it enough: only use silicone toys with water-based lube. There is a rule in chemistry: “like dissolves like,” meaning silicone-based lubes may dissolve the silicone coating of your sex toys, which is why it is not advisable to combine these two. The same goes for oil-based lubes, as some may contain petroleum-based oils that can potentially damage the surface of your silicone toys.

Body-Safe Silicone Is the Preferred Sex Toy Material

Because of the characteristics of silicone we described above, we can easily conclude that silicone is one of the best synthetic materials for sex toy production. It also helps that silicone can be molded in various shapes. It can be used as a coating on multiple vibrating sex toys like vibrating butt plugs, insertable eggs, prostate massagers, and a myriad of other sex toys that come in direct contact with the body.

Silicone also has an excellent tactile feeling – it feels genuine and comfortable to the touch. It allows silicone dildos to look and feel very realistic, flexible, and comfortable to use. Overall, we recommend you get adult toys made from medical-grade or platinum-cured silicone, which are the most body-safe materials you can buy today. Our blog is full of posts about sex toy safety, buying guides, and other helpful posts about how to use different sex toys. We carry an excellent selection of silicone sex toys in our sex toy store, ranging from silicone dildos and vibrators to silicone ball gags, silicone male chastity cages and so much more.

FAQs

What to look for in silicone toys?

The silicone sex toys you get should be made from 100% silicone. We advise you to check the product description or manufacturing leaflet and confirm that your sex toy is made from pure silicone, like 100% medical-grade silicone or platinum-cured silicone, as this is the only wholly body-safe option. Avoid silicone blends, as these are not 100% body-safe, and if you do get such a toy, you can use it with a condom, just to be on the safe side.

Is there unsafe silicone?

Most silicone blends are body-safe and can be used for skin contact. However, there is tin-cured silicone that is not safe for sex toys or medical applications, and there are some silicone-PVC-TPE blends that are also not suited for sex toy applications. The good thing is that you can recognize these easily, as pure medical-grade silicone does not smell, and low-grade silicone blends have a synthetic smell to them.

How do I check if my toy is made from silicone?

If you have doubts about whether your sex toy is made from medical-grade silicone or not, you can do a few simple tests. The non-invasive test that you can do immediately is to pinch or twist your silicone toy. If the pinched place changes color, then it is very likely that your toy is not made from pure silicone, as pure silicone does not change color under stress, like when it is pinched or twisted. Another test you can do is to burn the silicone. Take your silicone dildo and a lighter or a match, and try to burn a small section on the base of the dildo or the base of your silicone butt plug. Pure silicone does not burn, but it only leaves a white ash-like residue that can be easily wiped away without any visible damage to the surface. Silicone-plastic blends will burn or melt, and this is a clear indication that your toy is not made from pure silicone.