My partner tested positive for an STI yesterday. Specifically Trichomoniasis. We are still awaiting the other STI results which will come in the next 2-3 days. The worry is that the collection of toys my parter has will need to be gotten rid of. We have/use toy disinfectant that is used, but my partner is worried that it isn’t enough.
Any advice?
2 comments
The safest thing to do would be to get rid of them all. In future, on some toys you might use a condom on them for safety.
This is actually specific to the material the sex toy is made of:
If they toys are glass, silicone, or metals. It’s super easy to clean them. You can throw them into the dishwasher, boil them in a pot and they are absolutely 100% good to use again.
If they’re rubber, TPE, or basically any other material than the 3 above, its a little less clear cut. Bacteria do generally die quite quickly. And especially die when exposed to air, and UV radiation. The reality is with other sex toys its probably reasonably safe to give them a very thorough cleaning, with lots of soap and water. Ideally some alcohol after. And give them a good 48 hours to dry in sunlight (in front of a window is fine). Again because other materials are porous, there is some risk. But again STIs need a host to survive. Like the reason you can’t catch an STI from a toilet seat is because bacteria don’t survive outside of the body for any reasonable amount of time.
TLDR: Silicone, metal, and glass are definitely reusable. Other materials are a bit more at your discretion