Basic safety for every play person

Practice Basic Safety With Your Dildo or Plug Insertion play is really hot. Sometimes it gets so hot a lot of people forget that some precautions are necessary to protect you and your partner. Dildos and plugs are designed to enter the body. As a general rule, any time you put something inside yourself or someone else, you risk infection and injury. A little time spent on basic precautions will make your insertion toy experience a lot safer. Here are some basic rules to help enhance your insertable adventure: Never move from one orifice to another without precautions . It's always tempting to start in one hole and move to another. Unfortunately, each opening has its own issues. The mouth (since many strap-on wearers enjoy getting sucked before they fuck, this is an important consideration) has bacteria and yeasts that could cause a vaginal infection. Admittedly, its rare, but a quick wipe with a germicidal cloth and a fast rinse with warm water before moving to the pussy is an easy way to prevent trouble. There are less hazards when traveling from either the mouth or pussy to the anus. Again, infection is possible from the mouth or pussy, but unlikely. Never even consider going from the ass to either the mouth or pussy without serious cleaning. It's a myth that a person's own germs won't infect him. The colon can contain all sorts of nasty bugs. Anal fucking with a dildo gets past the sphincters into the area of the lower intestine where this bacteria can live. Therefore, it is never ever a good idea to go from the ass to any other hole. You can avoid some of the risk by using a condom on the dildo for anal (or other) penetration. Keeping it clean The best advice for cleaning is a bit different depending on the material used to make your dildo. Latex This rubber material is actually porous. There is no foolproof way to do a full-safety clean of a latex (or jelly) dildo. The best advice is to use different latex toys for ass and other orifices. Use a marker to (I put an "A" on anal toys and leave the others unmarked) indicate what hole the particular toy is for. You can wash latex with anti-bacterial soap and hot water. Always dry completely between uses. And if no condom is used on the toy, it should not be used on more than one person. Silicone, stone, metal, and glass (maybe vinyl too). These materials are not porous. They can be cleaned well enough to safely use them in any orifice and even on different people. Silicone, metal, and glass can be safely washed in the dishwasher (top shelf, please). Dishwasher detergent and the very hot water the machine uses, does a very good job of cleaning toys. Just as you do with dishes, remember to rinse your toys to remove any lube and other matter before putting them in the dishwasher. Once toys are washed and dried this way, they are clean enough to use in a different orifice. Even though it is probably correct that running toys through the dishwasher is enough to remove most disease (assuming complete drying too), to be really safe, don't share toys between different partners. Toy monogamy is a good move in these scary times. Don't forget the lube. It's important to avoid any undue friction, particularly in the ass hole. Silicone, latex, even glass and stone require help to slide in safely. More lube is always better. Too little will result in a painful experience at best and a trip to the emergency room at worst. There are three types of lube: water-based, oil-based, and silicone. Some lubes are a combination of more than one. If you are playing with a latex (or jelly) toy, use only water-based or silicone lubes. Water-based lubes like ID or KY are nice and slippery, but they tend to dry out fairly quickly even inside the body. As a result, something that went in easily has problems coming out. This comes up a lot with butt plugs. If this happens, get some water in along side the toy. The lube will be reactivated. Oil-based lube like petroleum jelly, vegetable oil, or shortening stay slippery over time. However, any oil-based lube will actually dissolve latex toys. Also, it is not recommended to use oil-based lube in the vagina. Silicone lube is a new addition to this category. This space-age stuff is very very slippery. You only have to use a small amount to get great lubrication. It is expensive and while no one has reported problems, it isn't authorized by U.S. authorities for internal use. It is more slippery than any other lube. You can safely use it with latex toys. However, you shouldn't use it with silicone toys. It will erode and eventually destroy them. There are hybrid lubes made with silicone and water-based lube. I love Eros brand Power lube. This is one of those combinations. It works wonderfully and hasn't yet damaged my silicone toys. It is particularly well suited for anal play. It is more expensive than water or oil-based lubes but a lot cheaper than pure silicone and much easier to use. I have had butt plugs in for more than three hours with no loss of lubrication using Power lube. Regardless of what kind of lube you choose, be generous with it. Rub it all over the toy and work some in the ass hole or vagina before inserting. For anal play, put a big gob of lube on a finger and gently probe the rim of the ass hole. Work as much inside as you can while leaving a lot around the rim. This will prevent initial insertion of the toy from becoming painful due to an unlubed hole wiping the lube off before it can do its job. It takes less time to clean and protect yourself and your partner than it takes to read this article. Remember, an ounce of safety (and lube) is worth a pound of cure!