Care & Cleaning

Cleaning is not optional, and how you do it depends entirely on the material.

Non-porous — silicone, glass, steel, ABS

Warm water and mild unscented soap, every time, before and after use. Nothing lives inside these materials, so surface cleaning is genuinely enough.

Silicone, glass and steel with no motor can be sterilised properly: boil for 5–10 minutes, or run through a dishwasher on the top rack with no detergent. Never boil anything with a motor, battery, or electronics in it.

Porous — TPE, TPR, jelly, rubber

Cannot be sterilised. Wash thoroughly with warm water and mild soap immediately after use, then dry completely — moisture left inside a porous toy is the whole problem.

These have a lifespan. If a toy becomes tacky, changes colour, smells off, or develops a texture it did not have, it is finished. Replace it. Do not share porous toys without a condom over them.

Motors and electronics

Check whether the toy is splashproof or fully submersible before it goes anywhere near a tap. Charge ports are the weak point — dry them completely before charging.

Storage

Dry completely before putting anything away. Store silicone toys so they are not touching other silicone toys — some formulations react with each other and go sticky where they touch. A cloth bag beats a sealed plastic box, which traps moisture.

When to throw something away

• Any crack, chip, tear, or split — especially in glass
• Surface gone tacky, sticky, or gummy
• A smell that does not wash out
• Any porous toy that has had a hard life

None of these are salvageable. Replace it — the cost of not doing so is an infection.