First thing first, congratulations on buying your first Lovense sex toy! Buying a sex toy is always a fun and exciting experience, but once you have it you have to make sure that you keep in good working condition so that you can continue to, well, work it.
Here are 4 tips on maintaining your Lovense toy in good condition:
- Regularly clean your toy
- Lube your toy properly
- Store your toy properly
- Be wary of sharing
All Lovense toys are made of either silicone or ABS plastic but, whether your new friend is made of silicone, ABS plastic, glass, wood, metal, or stone (those are all of the body safe sex toy materials) these 4 tips will help you maintain your new best friend.
Tip 1: Friends Don’t Let Friends Go Uncleaned
Whether you are having a good time with your new friend all the time or just pull it out every once in a while for some fun, keeping your toy clean at all times is the most important maintenance tip that I can give you.
Keeping your toy clean is not hard at all. The best way to clean your body safe sex toy is to use warm water and a sex toy specific cleaner. Sex toy cleaners are safe for your most sensitive areas and will also kill the bacteria on your toy.
If you can’t find a sex toy cleaner that works for you, try a pH-balanced intimate soap. There are many different finds of intimate wash that you could use.
Whether you use a toy cleaner or intimate soap, be sure to remove any batteries before you start cleaning and make sure the battery compartment is tightly fastened. You are going to want to apply
the cleaner to your toy and gently rinse it with the warm water. Don’t submerge the toy in the water in case the battery compartment isn’t completely closed.
To dry your toy, you can either dry it with a clean towel or leave it to air dry if you are comfortable with your little friend being out in the open.
Lovense also carries the Max and Max 2 which both feature a lifelike TPE (or thermoplastic elastomer) material. The process for cleaning this is essentially the same, but after this type of toy is all dry, you are going to want to put some renewer powder on it. The renewer powder will keep your lifelike toy feeling more like skin and less like plastic.
If you can’t find a renewer powder that works for you, then a little cornstarch will do the trick. Whatever you do, don’t use talcum powder. It will destroy the porous material.
Tip 2: Lube Up Properly
There is absolutely nothing wrong with needing a little lube to get things started when natural lubrication isn’t cutting it. However, when you are choosing a lube to use with your new toy, you need to be sure you pick the right one for your sex life and for the well-being of your toy.
There are three different types of lube: water-based, silicone-based, and oil-based.
1- Water-based Lubes
Water-based lubes are a safe bet in any type of sexual activity and is great when using toys. Since the main ingredient is water, you won’t have to worry about it reacting negatively to whatever Lovense toy you have bought.
Another great thing about water-based lube is that the clean-up will be easy, which is great for people that are new to cleaning sex toys. The only downside to water-based lube is that you may have to reapply it more often than you would like.
2- Silicone-based Lubes
Silicone-based lube does not work well with toys made with silicone. All Lovense sex toys are made with either body-safe silicone or TPE—which also doesn’t react well to silicone-based lube. Contact with silicone-based lube will cause the material f your toy to slowly deteriorate.
The slow damage will upset the good condition of your toy and make it less sanitary over time as the material wears down.
Silicone-based lube does have a few good points if you aren’t using a silicone toy. It is a great type of lube if you have highly sensitive skin since it is hypoallergenic. Also, it typically lasts longer than most lubes. If you want these benefits when using your Lovense toy, I recommend using a condom as well to avoid damage.
3- Oil-based Lubes
Oil-based lubes are a great option for toy play because they are perfectly safe to use with all toy materials. They also last the longest during intimate times. Many users have said that just one application is all that you need for the whole night!
Though oil-based lubes can bring hours of fun, it can also be a bit of a headache. Since they are made with oils, they tend to be associated with infections. It can be hard to clean up at all after using oil-based lube, so cleaning your intimate area properly can be difficult and cause possible bacterial infections.
If the possibility of a yeast infection doesn’t scare you, maybe the idea of throwing away all of your sheets and bedding will. Oil-based lubes are notorious for permanently staining clothes and linens.
Tip 3: Store in the Right Places
Storage for your toys might seem as simple as throwing them back in your nightstand after you’ve cleaned it, but if you have bought more than one of Lovense’s toys, then it is a bit more complicated.
Just like silicone toys don’t react well with silicone-based lube, silicone toys can have bad reactions if they are stored in close quarters with other silicone toys. The science behind it is a molecular issue, but essentially, the toy can deteriorate or even melt if not stored correctly.
To keep your sex toys in good shape while they wait for you to play with them again, you can simply store them in their individual packaging. Lovense—and hopefully, all sex toy companies—package their toys in materials that are safe for the toy to be around. If you want to keep it simple, just wash, dry, and put it back in its box.
If you don’t want to deal with all those bulky boxes, you can buy some discreet storage bags or wrap them individually in small towels. If you decide to go the towel route, make sure to find some lint free or microfiber towel to keep little fuzzies off of your little toys.
Luckily, all Lovense toys are made with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries but if you get yourself an old-fashioned battery-operated toy, always remember to remove the batteries before storing them away.
Tip 4: Beware of Sharing
Whether you want to spice up your relationship’s sex life by bringing out your personal toy or you really want your friend to try this vibrator that you have fallen in love with, sharing sex toys is a more common practice than you may think. Sharing sex toys is no big deal at all, but doing it safely definitely is.
If you are ever considering sharing sex toys, you have to remember three important things:
Clean it immediately after you get it back.
Obviously, you should clean your toy every time it is used, but when it is used by someone else, it is much more important that you clean it thoroughly.
Consider taking extra steps during cleaning that you wouldn’t normally do. For example, if you usually use an intimate soap, maybe try upgrading to a sex toy cleaner.
All Lovense toys have some sort of mechanical feature making it accessible via Bluetooth, but if you ever have a toy that is silicone and not mechanical, you can boil your toy for about two – four minutes to disinfect it.
Do not do this for vibrating or mechanical toys because it will ruin the toy.
Don’t use it for a little while.
After you have thoroughly cleaned your sex toy, you should give it a little break before using it again. In 2104, there was a study done showing that certain STIs can remain on the surface of a shared sex toys for up to two days after being properly cleaned.
You should always know the sexual medical history or the person you share a sex toy with, but even if you feel you’re sure of the person’s history, I would recommend waiting at least a week before using it again.
Clean it again before the next time you use it
You should always be washing your sex toys BEFORE and after each use, but this time, in particular, is important. With something as intimate as a sex toy, you would rather be safe than sorry.
