Wondering About Sex Toy Materials
Q: I was wondering if you can help me learn and be able to identify the differences between silicone, latex and other sextoy materials. I need to be very careful when ordering sextoy products and the sex toy boxes and descriptions often do not list the sex toy materials.
A: Sex toys can be made of a variety of different materials including silicone, cyberskin, jelly, pyrex glass or acrylic glass, latex rubber, plastic or metal. Pyrex glass, plastic and metal sex toys feel much like any common household object made of these materials but these sex toys are noted for their superior ability to retain heat, conduct vibrations and for their highly erotic smoothness. Silicone, glass, plastic and metal sex toys are non-porous which makes them easy to clean and sterilize after use. However, cyberskin, jelly and latex rubber sex toys are very porous and can harbor bacteria. We recommend using a condom with these sex toys to prevent infections and to increase product life.
Silicone is reputed to be the Cadillac of sex toy materials. Silicone sex toys are hand made to be extremely realistic, soft and lifelike. Silicone warms up quickly, retains heat well and is one of the easiest materials to clean as silicone sex toys can be cleaned up with a mild soap and water or boiled if you really want to sterilize your sex toys. Silicone sex toys, as they are hypoallergenic and nonporous are, next to glass, the least likely sex toy to cause any kind of allergic reaction.
Cyberskin sex toys are a relatively new material on the market that is the closest material on the sex toy market to real-life skin. Cyberskin, made of a combination of silicone and plastic, simulates the softness of skin yet retains its hardness like a real penis. As Cyberskin material is very porous, a Cyberskin sex toy must be cleaned very thoroughly with Cyberskin cleaning solution or antibacterial soap and water. Silicone based lubricants cause Cyberskin sex toys to deteriorate. Cyberskin also appears in various manufacturers' catalogs as "Ultraskin, Eroskin, Softskin or Cyber Jel-lee.
Jelly sex toys are a top seller due to their reasonable price and yet they are still a very nice sex toy material. Jelly sex toys are a rubber-based material that is very firm and as a plus most jelly sex toys come in an array of fantastic colors. Like the Cyberskin sextoy, Jelly sex toys are quite porous, so little more care is needed when cleaning. Always use a water-based lubricant and never clean jelly sex toys with rubbing alcohol as it will break down the material.
Latex rubber sex toys, evidently constructed from latex rubber, are also a popular sex toy material that resembles the jelly sex toy in feel but not in scent. Thankfully latex sex toys are also inexpensive and soft but firmer than jelly and silicone sex toys, which makes the latex sex toy a perennial favorite of beginner sex toy users and experienced sextoy users alike. On the downside, latex rubber is a very porous material making it difficult to clean and unless condoms are being used on the sex toy, a rubber sex toy should never be shared. Latex rubber sex toys also wear out quicker than silicone and jelly and some people may be allergic to this kind of material, although using a lambskin condom or a polyurethane condom minimizes the risk of having an allergic reaction to the latex rubber.
Plastic sex toys are a hard, smooth material that gets right to the point, leaving nothing between you and the intense vibrations. The most popular plastic vibrators are the traditional slim and bullet vibrators. Traditional vibrators are an inexpensive sex toy and a very easy clean up, using a wet cloth, sex toy cleaner or rubbing alcohol. Plastic vibrators work best with direct clitoris stimulation.