With the help of the lovely ladies at Lovehoney, I have begun to discover that there is a sex toy for every bit of fun you can think of, and a whole load more that you can’t. Each week I shall look at a different category of sex toys but, like my last A-to-Z, they won’t always be quite what you think. As you might imagine, all links are NSFW!
Jelly sex toys are an eye catching part of most sex toy retailers’ offerings. When faced with brightly coloured reasonably priced ways to get yourself off, many people view this as a good place to start, but there is something you need to know about this type of sex toy material before you make your selection as they’re not always safe. Violet Blue wrote about the dangers of cheap jelly sex toys over on Tiny Nibbles:
“Most sex toys are made of a material usually referred to as jelly rubber […] It is known that these mystery materials contain latex and phthalates, they have a very chemical smell, they leach oils and can leave spots on fabrics and wood, and the surface breaks down over time […] No one knows for sure how safe these toys are for internal use; again, it’s the novelty industry so we can surmise that it’ll be about 800 years before clinical tests are done on the long-term effects of jelly rubber chemicals are on the cervix and lower colon.”
She highlights that the main things to be wary of are the porous surface of jelly materials – which makes them tricky to clean adequately – and we should also avoid jelly toys which contain phthalates or latex (some people have severe latex allergies). Bacterial infections and severe irritation is not something you want to be putting yourself at risk of! So, ideally, what you need to be looking for what shopping for jelly toys is reassurance that the material does not contain latex or phthalates (like with this Doc Johnson dildo).
Lovehoney specify on their website which toys are latex and phthalates free and so it’s easy to find a safer jelly dildo, rabbit, butt plug or cock ring. However, whether or not your jelly toys are of the safer variety, they will definitely have a more porous surface than silicone, ceramic, glass or metal toys and so it is advisable to use a condom with them. This will make them much easier to use and to clean, meaning that no nasties are living in the little pores on the surface. In addition, make sure that you keep a toy for anal use only after it has been there once. Better to be safe than sorry, right?
Image via Rev Dan Catt‘s Flickr photostream.
I never knew this. Thanks for sharing!