Is it time to move to platinum cure silicone toys?

We’re in a sex toy renaissance. There’s never been more on offer when you’re looking for something to fulfill your fantasy. For better or for worse, the market is now flooded. While a few, smaller premium toy companies have sprouted up over the years, putting real thought and consideration into every aspect of their craft, we’ve also seen hundreds and hundreds of cheap products fill shelves with little consideration for the users’ pleasure, and in some cases, their health.

Let’s talk regulation

Until recently, the sex toy industry was completely unregulated. You’d have hoped that products going into intimate areas of your body at various velocities would have strict standards, but unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for most of the industry’s life. Until recently, companies could use almost any materials without proper consideration for user health. While international standards were brought in in 2021, the policy is still very in its infancy. More importantly, cheap toys direct from China can sometimes avoid these standards and cut corners.

What’s the danger?

Unfortunately, the list is sort of long. For your knowledge however, we can break down some of the common, more pressing, issues here and help you make more informed decisions when looking at toys. Back in 2018, Swedish surgeon, Dr Dahlberg noticed an uptrend in operations being performed that involved the removal of sex toys stuck in someone’s body.

‘At our hospital, about 40% of cases of retained foreign objects are due to sex toys.’

It may be something you’ve not thought about much before, but that flared base at the bottom of your dildos has more purpose than keeping them standing up on your shelf. They also play an important role in stopping a toy from getting entirely engulfed by, and consequently stuck inside particularly hungry bottoms. All toys should include a flared base for your safety.

Besides the shape of the toy, one glaring issue is the material used by the sex toy.

Quite often the materials used in plastic toys are porous. That’s a big problem. Pores in sex toys are great hiding places for bacteria when you're cleaning up after a fun night. You may notice smells develop over time as bacteria build-up, but worse, these bacteria can make you ill. This is especially the case if a sex toy has been used by multiple people.

Pores aren’t the only problem with plastic sex toys though. It’s often the case that they can’t be sanitized with boiling water. Quite simply, if you use boiling water, there’s a good chance a plastic toy will melt.

Another issue you may encounter with cheaper toys is the inclusion of chemicals that are designed to soften the toys to make them more appealing. Not only do these give the toys a ‘chemically smell’ but some of these chemicals can even leave burns.

Is platinum cure silicone the answer?

So, we’ve talked about the dangers of some cheaper toys and what to look out for - what’re the answers to this? Luckily, the industry has started to adopt a gold standard in toys: platinum cure silicone. Platinum cure silicone is a soft substance that not only feels great on the body but tackles head-on all of the issues mentioned above. Straight off the bat, as the name might suggest, it’s not made from plastic. This means it’s non-porous and won’t trap nasty bacteria while you try to sanitize your toys. Speaking of sanitizing, platinum cure silicone is also heat safe. You can clean your toys with boiling water with no concern of deforming. This also means you can properly clean your toys if you use them with multiple partners without needing to worry about passing anything around between sessions. Furthermore, platinum cure silicone can be molded into and support all sorts of fun shapes. They’re quite often used for fantasy dildos for this reason.

A note on lubes

Be careful when picking what lube to use with your platinum silicone toys. Quite often, silicone lubes will have a chemical reaction with silicone toys that can lead to melting and deformation. This isn’t necessarily always the case, but do check the website of the toy maker to make sure.

Other lubes, such as water-based, fisting and cum lube will all be perfectly fine when it comes to use with silicone toys however!

What else is safe?

While platinum cure silicone is certainly emerging as the industry’s standard, that’s no to say there aren’t other alternatives out there that avoid the same issues mentioned above. Toys made from glass and metal can also be boiled and won’t trap bacteria.

So there you have it, you should now be properly informed on what to look out for when searching for your next sex toy. While platinum cure silicone may still be at the pricer end when it comes to toys, the heightened experience, as well as safety involved certainly justifies the price.

The above covers a lot of the basics, but the best way to find out what works best for you is to get stuck in and try different things. Try different videos, try different formulas, variety is the spice of life as they say. As long as both parties are willing and happy to explore, you can’t really go wrong.

All images (unless otherwise stated): model released from Shutterstock.com