Sex

How to Keep Your Dirtiest Sex Toys Squeaky Clean

Cleaning your toys is just basic hygiene: It helps extend their life and protect your health.

[SCREENSHOT: Cassandra Corrado holding a pot that has dildos in it]
Some toys can be turned into a steaming pot of sex toy soup. YouTube

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Turns out scouring surfaces may not lower your risk of contracting the coronavirus after all. Proper cleaning can, however, protect you against other kinds of infections: bacterial vaginosis, urinary tract infections, yeast infections, even sexually transmitted infections.

So if stocking up on Monistat or Lotrimin sounds like a pharmacy trip you’d rather avoid, it’s not door handles you need to clean and disinfect thoroughly and regularly. It’s your sex toys.

Unfortunately, too many of us fall short in that department: In a 2020 online poll of 1,000 U.S. adults, 33 percent admitted to never cleaning their sex toys. (Um, ew?) Another 10 percent said they cleaned their intimate playthings “every once in a while.”

Just 58 percent reported cleaning their sex toys after every use. Take it from a Rewire News Group contributor who knows: If you forget to clean your toys before moving houses and mistakenly leave them in a box in the trunk of your car for months, all the soap and water in the world won’t save you—or them.

In the latest episode of You Deserve Good Sex, sex educator Cassandra Corrado gives a how-to lesson in sex-toy maintenance, including the how, when, why, and what (you should use) to keep your sex toys in tip-top shape. You want that brand-new butt plug or vibrator to last, don’t you?