I’m thinking about buying either the njoy pure wand or the le wand stainless steel toy. I did some research on stainless steel toys and read about how to take care of steel toys and apparently there are certain chemicals that are not compatible with stainless steel toys. There’s even a whole compatibility chart that shows which chemicals are compatible with stainless steel.
I currently have the lovehoney discover gel lubricant and the Lovehoney Delight Extra Silky Water-Based Lubricant which i wanted to use with all my toys but a part of me is worried that the water based lubes I currently have might damage the steel toys. Maybe I could be overthinking this.
I know abrasives should be avoided for steel toys but I’m wondering are there any other harmful ingredients in lubes that can potentially damage stainless steel toys? Is it worth buying a silicone lube so I don’t have to worry about damaging a steel toy? I don’t react well to natural or organic lubes so silicone lube is the only option if I can’t use the lovehoney water based lubes for steel toys. Any suggestions on what the best option is?
If an ingredient in a lube can damage stainless steel, I really wouldn’t want to be using that lube in my body.
I use Lovehoney delight and have definitely used it with my stainless steel toys and had no issues whatsoever. All lubes should be compatible with stainless steel toys though
I have been using the discover gel with my stainless steel with no problems. I would be surprised if a water-basted lube caused any problems. That said, I am waiting to get an order of oil based lube to try with the stainless and silicone toys, as it should be safe for both of those materials.
I thought I’d ask just in case because I was looking at a le wand toy from another sex toy website and when I asked them something about the quality of the le wand toy they said to use a good silicone lube to maintain the shiny surface of the steel toy but I guess they’re probably saying that just to get more people to buy silicone lube
I noticed many online articles promote using lube with natural ingredients without ‘harmful chemicals’ but it doesn’t help that I don’t react well to some natural ingredients
Le wand themselves say their stainless steel toys are compatible with all lubes and I’ve only ever used water based lube with the one I own and it’s still just as shiny.
Sometimes the use of the phrase “harmful chemicals” can be a bit of a marketing tool for more natural products, as they never really go in to details as to which chemicals they are using and why. Sometimes there is an environmental impact of certain chemicals and there are things like parabens that have been linked to cancer, but it isn’t as simple as using a product with Parabens with give you cancer as it’s about exposure over time and we come in contact with these things way more than we think and there isn’t enough research into it.
You can use cosmetics ingredient checkers to see what the ingredients in your lube are doing and then you can search anything that worries you or doesn’t make sense. But if you have a lube that works for you then I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Any quality stainless toy( like say 316 stainless)won’t be affected by any ingredients in lube and should easily withstand going through the dishwasher like glass toys can, i suspect its the manufacturer trying to limit claims?
I have a 316 stainless PA ring thats been in years with no issues whatsoever
The only substances which will attack a high grade stainless steel alloy are the strong mineral acids (hydrochloric, sulphuric, nitric) or very strong alkalis (sodium/potassium hydroxide).
I’ve yet to ever see any product advertised as ‘contains no skin dissolving concentrated acid’ or ‘100% free from toxic waste’…even though I’m sure most are.
There’s definitely a lot of people that can be swayed into buying something based on what’s NOT in it as much as what is. Marketing companies know how to push a product and will often use some quite shocking tactics.
I can’t say I’ve been a saint when it comes to caring for my steel toys and gear but they still look out of the box new these days, so it can’t be that easy to find something that’ll destroy it!
As someone majoring in cosmetic formulation science, it is 100% just marketing (most of the time, especially for the ingredients most of the “natural” (which has no legal definition) companies demonize) Your example with parabens are a good example, as they actually aren’t harmful to human health (we’ve done toxicological profiles on them before), but they’ve been demonized by the mainstream so companies have had to find different (and often not as good) preservatives to use Most toxicological/skin irritant tests were done on animals at 100% ingredient concentration so it’s no wonder a lot of ingredients were labeled “toxic” when in practice they aren’t at the concentrations used (and since animal testing was banned in the UK and human testing has ethical and cost issues it’s unlikely much more testing will occur in the near future) Water is toxic and “harmful” if you drink too much of it Anyway, tangent over, and any ingredient that could degrade a stainless steel toy would never ever be put into any lube
Your example with parabens are a good example, as they actually aren’t harmful to human health (we’ve done toxicological profiles on them before), but they’ve been demonized by the mainstream so companies have had to find different (and often not as good) preservatives to use 
Most toxicological/skin irritant tests were done on animals at 100% ingredient concentration so it’s no wonder a lot of ingredients were labeled “toxic” when in practice they aren’t at the concentrations used (and since animal testing was banned in the UK and human testing has ethical and cost issues it’s unlikely much more testing will occur in the near future) 
Anyway, tangent over, and any ingredient that could degrade a stainless steel toy would never ever be put into any lube