Safer sex

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Toys

When you were growing up, your mother probably told you to share your toys. Well, for sex toys, forget it! Anything that goes into a person's ass (rectum) could transmit HIV, Hepatitis C virus (HCV) or other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), if it's shared. Any sex toy that draws blood can also be a risk.

If you're a bottom, the best idea is to have your own toys and get your top to use them on you. If you're a top, ask the bottom what toys he owns. Or, if having sex with various bottoms, you should assign and mark toys only for them.

TIP: If you spank someone with a sturdy wire brush, you're going to draw blood. So, tape the bottom's name onto the back of the brush.

Cleaning Your Toys

You'll need these things to clean your toys:

• soap and hot water
• one part household bleach to nine parts water
• 10% hydrogen peroxide solution

TIP: It's a lot easier to clean a dildo after playing if you put a condom on it before you use it. If you are a top, you can probably think of lots of ways to make your bottom put the condom on the dildo!

Wither you’ve thought of it ahead of time or not, wash the toy in soap and hot water, let it soak for 20 minutes in the bleach solution, rinse it in hot, clean water and then let it dry thoroughly (preferably overnight) before using it again. The same goes for douche nozzles. HCV is very hardy. We now know that bleach does not ensure that the virus has been killed. This is another reason for keeping your toys ass-clusive.

TIP: If you enjoy anal beads (balls for anal insertion that are connected like beads), please note that because the balls have holes and are connected by string or a leather thong, they are nearly impossible to clean even for exclusive use. Your best bet is to splurge for the more expensive kind that is made from a single extended latex mold. No holes, no porous fiber to trap bacteria.

Leather toys are a bit different: to clean a leather toy (like a whip, flogger or leather dildo), first wash the tips or ends with a strong foaming cleaner using a hard bristle brush to get at nooks and crannies in the leather, then spray the tips or ends with hydrogen peroxide, wipe away the excess with paper towels, and let them air dry for at least a few hours (preferably overnight) before using them. Cleaning dries out leather very quickly, so your toy should be treated with an acceptable leather conditioner immediately after it has dried, or it will become brittle and crack.

It may sound complicated, but it isn't really; just make sure any toy with cum, blood, or shit on it, or anything that's been in someone's ass is cleaned. Make sure you get any bleach or soap off the toy by flushing it with clean water. Remember, uncleaned toys can transmit STIs - which could affect your whole immune system.

Adapted from SaferSM.org with permission