it was just a bit of a drop and I I dont think there was any sort of drastic reaction, although its really hard to tell on 2-3mm area (I used something with pointed tip to drop it). And I dont feel like doing bigger area, as I dont think I will use the lube often anyway (for same reason like Pixie, it does stain things a bit - I think all silicone lubes do, and its hard to get off - water resistivity).
Just to add to the confusion for you Liquid Silk, which everyone seems to accept is ok with silicone toys contains dimethicone (check the label) and this is a silicone oil (the same one as Pjur Original).
My point about mineral oils is that there are substances that react with silicone rubber such as mineral oils and that there may well be other non-mineral oils or other lube additives that do likewise and that these may be part of the cause of the issue. Incomplete curing of the silicone rubber may also be an issue, making it liable to bond to other substances (much as un-vulcanised natural rubber tends to stick to all manner of things including itself)
Anyway, some of our silicone toys are over 10 years old and have been in regular contact with silicone oils and look as good as the day they were bought.
Generally there isn't a dramitic reaction between silicone products in a short period of time. As far as I'm aware it is only when they are together for a long period of time that the reaction happens and is noticable, for instance, keeping two silicone toys touching each other in storage, or not cleaning silicone lubricant off thoroughly after using it.
So basically using silicon lube can be ok, but if it stays on it may cause problems? Considering how hard it is to be washed by water (my silicone vibe is waterproof so I do cleaning under water, not bothering with sex toy cleaner).
Gyrator53 wrote:
Just to add to the confusion for you Liquid Silk, which everyone seems to accept is ok with silicone toys contains dimethicone (check the label) and this is a silicone oil (the same one as Pjur Original).
My point about mineral oils is that there are substances that react with silicone rubber such as mineral oils and that there may well be other non-mineral oils or other lube additives that do likewise and that these may be part of the cause of the issue. Incomplete curing of the silicone rubber may also be an issue, making it liable to bond to other substances (much as un-vulcanised natural rubber tends to stick to all manner of things including itself)
Anyway, some of our silicone toys are over 10 years old and have been in regular contact with silicone oils and look as good as the day they were bought.
seriously, if there are oils in silicone lube shouldnt those be considered as oil base?! or shouldnt be there a serious warning against not to use with a condom? I am really confused but I dont want anything oily in a lube without being warned about it, as I am on condom and last thing I wish for is a failure due to some hidden oils in lube! or are those which have label of not being safe with condom those with such ingredienses?
Generally there isn't a dramitic reaction between silicone products in a short period of time. As far as I'm aware it is only when they are together for a long period of time that the reaction happens and is noticable, for instance, keeping two silicone toys touching each other in storage, or not cleaning silicone lubricant off thoroughly after using it.
As for the timescale, Metis says the reaction, if there is going to be one, is immediate so that does not fit with the long-term reaction theory. I must say that we simply pile our toys into the drawer and have never had even the slightest issue with them sticking together - unlike jelly toys that seem all too keen on amalgamating!
We don't really have a problem with cleaning the silicone oil off. It seems reasonably easy to remove with detergent.
As for the condom safe vs silicone toy safe thing I see them as totally independent issues as the chemistry of silicone and natural rubbers is totally different so the substances that are harmful to one may or may not be harmful to the other. Unfortunately, some lubes have a very long list of constituents so you could be doing a lot of searching to determine what they all do.
Well, the lubes I have dont have long lists of ingredients. And I am not sure I would use detergent for removal, but guess depends on what you mean by it. I am using feminine care soap to clean my toys and it seems to be working all right.
Then why people say that the toys, including silicone, reacts together? I came accross it myself, someone actually said it happened to him, you may be lucky with that. I keep mine in satin bags, separated. This warning had to start somehow, likely by experience?
Well, the lubes I have dont have long lists of ingredients. And I am not sure I would use detergent for removal, but guess depends on what you mean by it. I am using feminine care soap to clean my toys and it seems to be working all right.
Then why people say that the toys, including silicone, reacts together? I came accross it myself, someone actually said it happened to him, you may be lucky with that. I keep mine in satin bags, separated. This warning had to start somehow, likely by experience?
Take a look at Liquid Silk - a pretty big list on that one!
A lot of liquid hand-wash 'soaps' are actually detergent based not soap. This is what we use for cleaning our toys and as I said they work fine for removing silicone lubes.
As Metis said in her article if there is a possibility of a problem it's just easier to issue a blanket "do not..." than to start talking about exceptions. Most companies play this sort of thing really safe as they don't want to open themselves up to possible customer issues - note all the "novelty item only" wording on some sex-toy packaging.
The liquid silk thing has come up before. I asked about it because I didn't want to buy it if it wasn't toy safe and apparently the silicone is a very, very small proportion of the lube itself. =)
I dont want normal soaps on anything which comes in touch with my lady bits because I had have enough problems in the past with certain not so nice problems. And it would be hard to make sure its all off the toy by water.
Well, the problem is, if you start with exceptions then the companies may face up returned items because people just did not read properly. Sorry, but lot of people dont care about exceptions, they are after simple yes or no answers. They would just do it and then complain. Also a company is very unlikely to be able to test the silicone toys with every single lube on the market, because there are so many. You never know what your customers come across. And if all toy making companies start to recommend one silicone based lube, they may be in huge trouble in court I think if the others complain.
And really, if there were cases when silicone toys reacted to each other, it is likely that there were cases when lube and silicone toy did not work properly together. To be honest, after trying silicone based lube I am not sure they are sooo much better to be worth the risks. They may last longer, but they are problematic in many other ways.
The liquid silk thing has come up before. I asked about it because I didn't want to buy it if it wasn't toy safe and apparently the silicone is a very, very small proportion of the lube itself. =)
If the problem is as stated - that the silicone oil bonds strongly to the rubber - then the low concentration is not going to make much difference (chlorine bonds strongly to natural rubber and I have confirmed that this reaction works in very dilute solutions when chlorinating rubber garments). So my bet is that if you get a silicone toy that would be an issue with silicone lube it would show up with liquid silk as well. This only adds to my belief that issues with silicone rubber and silicone lubes are far less common than popularly believed.
That's fine. However, the OP seemed to be under the impression that silicone toys were subject to all sorts of problems which we as silicone toy fans just don't see.
People bang on about the cost of these toys but if you think what you can spend on a restrant meal with taxis both ways for a couple of hours pleasure I don't see the cost of a silicone toy that can give you pleasure over years as unreasonable.
Some people here dont do restaurants because its a luxury they cannot pay for (I am one of them, if I buy a toy I end up being unable to even go to pub for drink for the next month-2months, if I did not get money from my grandparents the Mia would take me likely about 5 months or more to save up for with no money at all spare for me as I only have like 5-10 pounds spare per month after just paying accommodation, food, travel and some cloths if I need those and I mean need not want). Especially us students are often on rather tight budgets, which may be why some people go for jelly toys. Or plastic. I do like plastic vibes for clitoral stimulation more, its better, as I like firm. I think thats why I hated your sentence that the stories are there to sell us cheap jelly toys, because it is important to keep in mind that not everyone here has large income to get all my toys in silicone versions. So keep that also in mind, that some people may not have the money spare and costy toys may take them months to save for.
I spent 8 years as a student so I know about being short of money. I certainly didn't spend money on the pub or sex toys - it's the sort of sacrifice one has to accept for a university education.
I dont do pub, but to be honest, without toys I cannot often orgasm, or it takes really really long time (even with partner like an hour if unlucky) and when solo there is no chance whatsoever with just my hand. So I actually was ending up pretty frustrated often and got very nasty from the frustration. Sex toys actually made me more relaxed, because I finally got the tension out. There is nothing worse than being horny for over a week and not being able to do anything about it. It was distracting me from work at times. Also the frustration when woman does not orgams also can be frustrating for their partners and can actually cause serious problems in the relationship. So I do understand when people go for cheap toys, but there are some plastic from eg Lovehoney that work just fine, or cheap bullets.
I spent 8 years as a student so I know about being short of money. I certainly didn't spend money on the pub or sex toys - it's the sort of sacrifice one has to accept for a university education.
Not necessarily. Why sacrifice your sex life for an education....happiness is important. My sex life would be non-existent without toys. It's not about sacrificing, it's about prioritising. I'm lucky with accommodation, but I've managed to put money into savings and have everything I want/need because I'm careful with my money.
Personally, silicone is great but since I don't insert many of my toys, only use the vibrations then it's not good value for money. I'd rather have a cheap toy with a strong motor - again it's prioritising what you're after in a toy,
And even if I did insert toys, silicone is difficult for me as it yields too much, I need more firmness for insertion.
We all have different requirements from a toy so it makes sense to have other options on the market.
oh yes, not sure sacrifising all happiness until I finish university would be healthy, considering I will be 28 if I get into the PhD program. I think I would end as pretty neurotic and nasty woman if I decided not to have any fun and just duty and nothing but duty. I do have to be careful, but I need some fun, so why not sex toys?
You have my sympathy - being a student will probably never be easy. If you are going all the way you do need a powerful belief in the deferred rewards, though a PhD is more for its own satisfaction than any material advantage. However, the magic words "congratulations doctor" are good for an instant orgasm when you finally hear them 8-)=
If you happen to be in certain science disciplines, you need at least MA, in my home country you need MA and 2 years of experience to conduct research and lead your own excavation. PhD sounds much better in that sort of enviroment, because it stands apart a bit, especially if you are after a grant to do some pure research. Even in the UK with only undergraduate title you are limited a lot by the sort of work you can do, MA is better, but some institutions do prefer PhD, so its not for my own satisfaction, but I am being pretty practical and realistic in why I do this.
Sure - if you want to stay in academia you pretty much need a PhD - in industry it can often be as much of a hazard as a help. And of course in the UK academics are not well paid (hence the point about a PhD being no material advantage)
In my discipline, archaeology, you need MA at least or you are basically only site technician without any rights to do your own project what so ever. Its the law. So even museum would not accept you, only commercial company and likely on short contracts only - why bother with staff which is no use to them in terms of offially being responsible for the excavations. And museums want staff which does have qualifications ensuring they would be able to conduct their excavations and research (MA and 2 years field experience at least). Even in museums PhD does look better when applying for any sort of sponsorship. So hence in archaeology most people I know aim for a least MA if not higher.
Academics are always badly paid anywhere in the world
It is a shame PhDs are so vital in so many fields...and then there's the fact that there's a lot of competition from people who are just doing them because they don't know what else to do, won't stay in the field but take the spots of people who want to be in that field for the rest of their career.
Luckily, at least in my field, the financial support for PhDs can often be fantastic, at least if you can get on to the more prestigious ones....but the big use of that is that you can pour some money into savings for when you take a step down in pay for your first post doc!