Talia wrote:
Have any reliable ones be done?
The two points I'm mainly wondering about are:
Porous materials and germs: I've read countless times that only glass, silicone, metal and possibly ABS plastic are non-porous and able to be cleaned perfectly. Everything else can harbour mold and bacteria in its pores and should be thrown out after x uses.
But nowwhere have I read what happens when one soaks one of those porous toys in alcohol for half an hour (the vet tells me that alcolhol does disinfect skin if left on long enough - a quick wipe just before the injection is basically useless). Or how about boiling the whole toy for half an hour (or longer)? Microwaving it?
Secondly, the disintegration/decomposition of non-silicone soft toys: It's been reported often enough that "plastic" toys (not true silicone ones) melt together when they are in contact with each other. People have drawn the conclusion that these toys are therefore not body-safe. But I know for sure that my clit/vagina/rectum are not made from plastic! Just because two chemicals react with each other does not mean that either of them reacts with a a third substance... So what does actually happen to a rubber toy in/on my body?
There's apparantly a great number of students among the forum members - anybody in biology or chemistry who'd like to do a few tests? I'm sure there's quite a few subjects for end-of-term papers, master's thesis or even dissertations...
Science tiiiiime!
Right, I think everyone else has got the 'novelty' thing down, but it basically comes down to that the maufacturer will take no liability for you getting it stuck somewhere, or burning yourself on a hot vibrator, or whatever.
If you soak a porous toy in alcohol for half an hour, all sorts of things could happen.
First off, it has to be 100% ethanol, or close enough. Other alcohols (eg methanol) can be toxic to the body if they cross a mucous membrane or are absorbed via soft tissue- aka rectum or vagina. Getting this is both tricky and costly, and you'd have to get rid of the alcohol after each use, so it's all round cheaper to buy high quality, safe toys.
Secondly, it depends on the material used. Some may melt...
The thing when talking about porous toys isn't just that they can harbour bacteria, but also that they're generally more reactive as a material, and this is what people are on about when they say they can melt together- it's a reaction to other materials.
Now no, your vagina isn't made of plastic, but you could have other contaminants in there from underwear, tampons, loo roll, other toys... And if they react? You could have melty plastic sticking in there. This could be an exothermic reaction- meaning it gets hot, or release unpleasant or toxic gasses.
You have to think about it not just in the big scale of 'will it hurt me?' but on the level that anal and vagina flora- the bacteria that live there- are highly sensitive, and if upset can cause a lot of problems and susceptability to illness, infection and disease.
Using non safe and porous toys runs a higher risk of this, and isn't one many people are willing to take. This is particularly relevant to people who suffer from thrush, vaginisimus, use tampons regularly, have open wounds due to play or surgeries, etc.
So yes, sticking it in alcohol, if you leave it long enough, will technically kill all the bacteria, but it's not ideal, it won't kill viruses (y'know, STDs), it's not the best plan of action.
Microwaving sex toys is possible with some, but it's really hard to know when. Ambiguous materials could contain metalloids- and this includes glass- which could fuck up your microwave, and your toy.
Also it's unknown the effects of low level microwave radiation on all the pathogens that may be present on a used sex toy. And, do you really want to put them in your microwave? I wouldn't.
Dishwashing is a good idea if you use a high setting and an antibacterial wash. This can only be used for toys that will not melt at a high temperature, or have no metal parts.
You can boil toys, but again this is temperature safety dependant. Many non-silicone toys have relatively low melting points, so you run the risk of smooshing a toy.
Even if there is no visible melting, there may be alterations to the composition of the toy, such as oxidization or reduction of some of the compounds. This can be very harmful.
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I've already talked about the melting toys, vagina not made of plastic thing, but here's a little more:
Vaginas get hot. Friction makes heat. Whilst a rubber/plastic/etc toy may not melt at 40ish centigrade, it may begin to, releasing harmful chemicals and such like.
Also, vaginas are a little bit acidic.
Acid+ most other things = something you do not want.
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I am a biochemistry student, and I am looking at doing a research project this year, and I was hoping to look into the issues people have been having with glass dildos, especially ones from Pipedream.
I can't use the facilities.
I live in one of the UKs top research cities for the sciences and while this means we have the best equipment, it means everyone else is using it for funded research, phD's, other post grads, and degree work.
The cost of hiring the labs out to do tests like these are astronomical, and noone will ever do it with the pure focus of 'what if...sex toy?'.
If you want more hard evidence, look into results from material testing for specific materials themselves. This will have been carried out for the food, medical and automotive industry, and there is a wealth of information out there, you just have to find it and then apply it to the situation.
In terms of doing something like this for a thesis or end paper, you'd be pushing your luck. There is a lot of potential as a whole study, but it's basically just materials testing and there's minimal actual science. It could just as easily be done as an editorial combining other peoples research from materials testing from highly funded and rigorous studies.
You also have to contribute the the field you study when you do something like this, right from A Level onwards, and again, you're not really contributing anything, you're just looking at stuff and drawing basic conclusions. It's not enough.
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In reference to Stuburns comment about novelties and exemption from testing, he's right. That does fly in Europe for imported toys as long as they are sold as novelties.
EU made toys have slightly stricter regulations, but not as much.
There is no legal area for sex toys, you either have novelties or medical equipment. It's not viable for them to be medical, so....
I think it may be ideal for a new set of regulations to be brought in, but by and large it's not a priority.
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boop be doop, what else...
Oh yeah.
Not all glass toys are fit for purpose. By and large you will be fine, but it's been discovered (by myself and a couple of bloggers who I'm not naming because they might not want to be named) that some toys have nickle and cadmium compunds used for colour. Generally okay, but not if you're allergic. And they don't declare this.
K. I think I'm done.
*takes off lab coat*