Cleaning, Storage and Lifespan by Material

Wash before first use and after every use with a mild, unscented soap and warm water, or a dedicated toy cleaner, then rinse and pat dry with a clean, lint-free cloth. Avoid scented, antibacterial or harsh soaps, and rinse thoroughly — leftover soap is an irritant. A solid, seamless, non-motorised 100% silicone toy can generally also be sanitised more thoroughly, and many manufacturers say a brief boil or a dishwasher top rack (no soap) is fine — but check that specific product's instructions first, and never do either with anything that has a battery, motor, charging port or control panel.

Lubricant: use water-based only. Silicone lubricant degrades a silicone surface and the damage is permanent.

Store it dry, ideally in its own breathable fabric pouch, away from direct sunlight and other heat sources. One habit worth knowing: silicone items left touching each other, or touching soft PVC or jelly items, for long periods in storage can bond or mark one another — keep them in separate pouches rather than piled together.

Lifespan: with this level of care, the material itself can last for years, often effectively indefinitely for a non-motorised item. On motorised products, the electronics and battery are usually what wears out long before the silicone does.

Wash before and after every use with mild soap and warm water, rinse thoroughly, and make sure it is completely dry before it goes back into storage — trapped moisture on a porous surface is exactly what you are trying to avoid. Because the material is porous at a microscopic level, cleaning it is damage limitation rather than sterilisation: you can clean the surface, but you cannot reach inside the material. A barrier method such as a condom is the more cautious choice if the item will ever be shared.

Lubricant: water-based. Silicone lubricant can degrade the surface, and oil-based lubricant is very difficult to wash out of a porous material.

Store it separately from other toys in its own pouch, out of direct sunlight, and give it plenty of air before it goes away. Some soft items are dusted with cornstarch after drying to stop them going tacky — check what the manufacturer says for yours. Never boil it or put it in a dishwasher; heat can warp or melt it.

Lifespan: shorter than the other materials on this page — treat it as a consumable rather than something to nurse along. Replace it when the surface turns tacky or sticky, looks duller than when new, or develops a smell washing does not clear. Those are signs the material is breaking down rather than just dirty.

Clean with mild soap and water or a toy cleaner, wiping every surface, then dry fully before storing. Avoid abrasive sponges or scouring pads — ABS scratches more easily than glass or steel, and a scratched surface is both harder to clean thoroughly and more likely to dull or crack over time. Do not boil it or put it in the dishwasher; the heat can warp the plastic. Keep water away from any seam or charging port on a powered item, and do not submerge anything that is not rated for it.

Lubricant: water-based or silicone-based are both fine on ABS itself — but if the toy also has a silicone part, follow the silicone guidance for the whole thing.

If the product pairs an ABS housing with a silicone sleeve or a separate soft-touch coating, treat each part according to its own material — the housing under this guidance, the soft part under the silicone or TPE/TPR guidance, whichever applies.

Lifespan: the plastic itself is durable and does not degrade the way a porous material does. On motorised products, the motor and battery are the more likely point of failure long before the housing wears out.

Wash with mild soap and warm water. For a more thorough clean between uses or partners, glass can be sterilised with a brief boil or a wipe-down with rubbing alcohol — it is one of the few materials here that tolerates both well. Always inspect it for chips or cracks before use; that check matters more for glass than any cleaning step does.

Lubricant: any type. Glass does not react with water-based, silicone-based or oil-based lubricant.

Store it somewhere it will not knock against other hard objects — a padded or lined case is worth the small investment, since an impact chip is the main way a glass toy fails.

Lifespan: effectively indefinite as long as the surface stays intact. Retire it immediately at the first sign of a chip or crack rather than waiting to see if it gets worse.

Wash with mild soap and warm water, or sterilise by boiling or wiping with rubbing alcohol — steel handles both easily. Dry it fully before storing to avoid water spotting, and keep it in its own pouch rather than loose with other metal or hard objects, which is the main way a steel surface picks up scratches over time.

Lubricant: any type, as with glass.

Because the surface is so hard, day-to-day care is genuinely low-effort compared with the other materials here — there is no porosity to manage and no lubricant compatibility to think about.

Lifespan: essentially indefinite with basic care. The thing to watch for over years of use is surface pitting or scratching rather than any breakdown of the material itself; heavy scratching is the point at which it is worth retiring, since scratches can eventually harbour bacteria the way a porous material does.