Medical-grade silicone — no, I’m not talking about Doctor Dildo, who struggled through medical school. Although, I am pretty sure the right silicone dildo can cure many a problem!
Medical-grade silicone is one of the finest sex toy materials out there — it’s soft, safe, and super satisfying!
Sex toy experts often wax lyrical about silicone, particularly medical-grade silicone. However, you might be wondering why we love it so much.
What is medical-grade silicone?
To earn the title of medical-grade, medical-grade silicone must meet the quality control standards set by the US Food and Drug Agency.
This ensures the silicone is suitable for use in medical products that will be used inside the body.
Therefore, it makes sense that a sex toy that will be going inside your body should meet the same standards!
Unfortunately, there’s a real lack of regulation when it comes to sex toys.
Consequently, many sex toy manufacturers get away with using toxic or porous materials (like jelly dildos) that can end up causing more pain than pleasure!
But we don’t want you spending your money on unsafe or low-quality sex toys, so we’ve gathered all the info you need to choose the right silicone sex toy for you!
Does my sex toy have to be made of medical-grade silicone?
Of course, only buying medical-grade silicone sex toys gives you the peace of mind of knowing it meets certain standards.
That being said, it doesn’t mean that other silicone sex toys are bad. Many sex toy brands use high-quality silicone, which is still body safe!
Most importantly, only 100% silicone is non-toxic and non-porous.
Where possible, try to avoid silicone blends and any other porous or toxic materials, such as jelly, PVC, rubber, or soft plastics in general.
Want to know more about the dangers of PVC sex toys? Check out Edwina’s post!
The pros of using medical-grade silicone for sex toys
Here’s why we love medical-grade silicone, and silicone in general:
- Silicone is non-toxic, meaning it won’t leak any nasty substances into your body when you use it. In particular, it doesn’t contain phthalates — plasticizers that are found in cheaper materials such as jelly, rubber & PVC and known to be harmful to the body.
- It’s a non-porous material. Porous materials have tiny holes that can harbor bacteria and mold. Combined with the warm, wet conditions, porous sex toys are the perfect breeding ground for lots of nasty things that you don’t want to be putting inside you!
- You can sterilize your silicone sex toys. As long as they don’t contain any electrical parts, you can boil your silicone sex toy for a deep clean.
- Silicone quickly adapts to your body temperature.
- There’s no plastic smell with silicone sex toys.
- Silicone sex toys can have a super smooth velvety texture, making for easy insertion.
- There are many different levels of firmness, so there’s a silicone dildo to suit all tastes.
All of these factors are especially important for insertable toys like vibrating dildos, butt plugs, and anal beads. Anything that goes inside your body should be non-toxic, non-porous, and body safe!
Insertables come into contact with areas that have a very specific bacterial make-up and are more absorbent than regular skin, meaning it’s much easier to disturb that natural balance or cause some kind of infection.
Silicone, Food-Grade Silicone, and Medical-Grade Silicone
Luckily, silicone sex toys are becoming the industry standard, and there are plenty of options to choose from, including silicone dildos, silicone cock rings, silicone anal beads and silicone sounds. However, it can be tricky to figure out what quality of silicone you are getting.
What are the different grades of silicone?
| ✅ | Silicone | Many sex toy websites will simply state that a sex toy is made of silicone rather than specifying the grade of silicone. If you want to check, it’s best place to go to the manufacturer’s website. |
| ✅ | Food-grade silicone | Food-grade silicone has to meet certain standards specified by the US FDA. This ensures that the product is safe to use with food. Silicone is a popular choice for food storage and baking items. |
| ✅ | Medical-grade silicone | Medical-grade silicone has higher standards than food-grade silicone, as it must also be biocompatible, meaning it doesn’t react with your body when used internally over a longer period of time. Products such as medical implants or menstrual cups use medical-grade silicone, and it’s also a fantastic choice for sex toys! |
| ❌ | Silicone blends | If a sex toy is advertised as a silicone blend, it means the material is a combination of silicone and some other material. These other materials are likely to be some form of soft plastic that is porous and can contain toxic materials. Avoid silicone blends where possible and stick to buying only 100% silicone sex toys. |
A word on secret blends from sex toy brands
Many companies come up with their own blends of materials and give their own names, making it even harder to figure out what it’s made of. Some common examples are Cyberskin, Fanta Flesh, and SuperSkin. These are usually some form of TPR/TPE — thermoplastic rubber or thermoplastic elastomer, which are porous and cannot be sterilized. You’ll want to avoid these materials altogether for insertable toys, but they are pretty hard to avoid when it comes to masturbator sleeves. Just remember you will need to clean them carefully and replace them more often.
Medical Grade Silicone Dildos
So, now we’ve cleared up all the confusion about silicone, let’s get onto the good stuff — sex toys of course! Some brands, such as Fun Factory, Dame, and Lora DiCarlo, pride themselves on only using medical-grade silicone in their products, so you know you are getting top-quality silicone every time! Here are some fantastic medical-grade silicone dildos to give you the luxury ride you deserve!
Fun Factory Limba Flex
Bend it shape it, any way you want it! This flexible dildo from Fun Factory is made with medical-grade silicone, and you can bend it into whatever shape you desire! The medium (pictured) is 7 inches long and the small is a more modest 4,7 inches.
Maia Kendall Swirly Silicone Dildo
This medical-grade silicone dildo has a swirly texture that delivers delcious sensations with each movement. The curved tip is sits at an angle to help you hit all the right places.
Medical-Grade Silicone Vibrators
Top-quality materials aren’t only for dildos! There are plenty of options for medical-grade silicone vibrators, so you can enjoy powerful stimulation and premium materials!
Fun Factory Manta
This penis vibrator from Fun Factory has a layer of soft medical-grade silicone. When combined with a slik of water-based lube, the silicone glides up and down your penis delivering delightful vibrations wherever you want them!
Dame Arc
This g-spot vibrator from Dame is perfectly angled to provide intense g-spot stimulation. This medical-grade silicone vibrator is fantastic for clitoral or vaginal stimulation and you can enjoy it alone or with a partner.
Lora DiCarlo Ose 2
The Ose 2 from Lora DiCarlo combines the g-spot pleasing come hither motion with clitoral suction for some mind-blowing dual stimulation. The unique design and medical-grade silicone make for some lavishly luxurious masturbation! Edwina, was quite the fan!
Other silicone related jargon
You’ve most likely come across these phrases on your sex toy adventure without actually knowing what they mean and most importantly, how they affect your experience of a product.
Platinum cured silicone.
There are two methods of binding silicone — one uses platinum as a catalyst and the other uses peroxide. Platinum cured silicone is of higher quality, which is why many sex toy brands use it!
Dual-density silicone
Dual-density silicone sex toys, most often dildos, have a firm inner core and a soft outer layer that gives the toy a soft, realistic feeling while also holding its shape. If you are looking for a budget dual-density dildo, Colours Dual Density dildos are fantastic value for money!
This purple pleaser is 8 inches of silicone satisfaction, but there’s a great range of sizes and colors to choose from. The rainbow beauty next to it is from Vixen — a luxury dildo brand that creates some of the most realistic feeling dildos out there.
Shore hardness scale
This is a measurement scale that’s used to determine the hardness or rigidity of a material and can be used to classify different levels of hardness in silicone sex toys.
Unfortunately, sex toy manufacturers and sex toy websites rarely use it, so you are better off looking for how the product is described.
For example, sex toy websites often use words like soft/squishy, flexible, and firm to describe how rigid a silicone dildo is.
How to clean medical grade silicone
Medical-grade silicone is generally a strong material and even can withstand boiling, but it’s still important to take care of it and protect it from damage.
Once you’ve found that magical dildo that hits all the right spots, you want it to last as long as possible!
- Clean your medical-grade silicone (all silicones for that matter) using a fragrance-free soap and water or a sex toy cleaner. If the toy has no electrical parts, it can also be boiled to be sterilized. You can even clean your non-electrical, medical-grade silicone sex toys in the dishwasher! As well as cleaning between uses, you should always sterilize your medical-grade silicone or silicone sex toys if you share them with a partner or if you switch from anal to vaginal use.
- Store your medical-grade silicone sex toys in their own storage bag or box to prevent damage and stop them from collecting dust and debris.
- Silicone lubrication can cause the silicone to degrade over time, so it’s best to stick to water-based lubes to completely avoid the risk of degrading your silicone sex toy.
- If it does show signs of damage, it’s time to part with your beloved sex toy and start shopping for a replacement!
