Using Silicone Lubricant with Silicone Sex Toys

I have been compelled to write this blog post after being informed that the sex toy companies Tantus Silicone and Eros Pjur conducted research on how safe silicone lubricant is to use with silicone sex toys.

Their results found that Pjur Silicone Lubricants were completely safe to use with Tantus Silicone toys and no test done with Pjur Silicone lubricants with Tantus Silicone toys resulted in the sticky reaction that is so well-known between silicone products.

That sticky reaction is not actually the silicone melting, but rather the silicone bonding to each other. The outcome leaves the two silicone products fused together and feels tacky or sticky to the touch.

Eros Pjur and Tantus Silicone revealed through their own research that there were no incompatibilities between any of each other’s silicone products, and that Pjur Silicone lubricants and Tantus silicone sex toys were perfectly safe to use together without any reactions.

BUT, and this is a big ‘but’, their experiments also revealed that the bonding reaction did happen with some other silicone sex toys or with some other silicone-based lubricants.

Quality of the Silicone Sex Toy

So why is it ok for some silicone products to be used together, while others are not? Well, it is believed that the grade of silicone is important in both lubricants and sex toys. Tantus and Pjur only use high medical grade silicone in their products. Some other brands also use very high quality silicone in their sex toys and lubricants. But some are not as high in quality, and some use a mixture of silicone and other materials in their toys and lubricants. This is believed to be the reason why some silicones react while others do not.

Generally, I would advise to only use a water-based lubricant with silicone sex toys, but it would seem that if both the silicone sex toy and silicone lubricant are very high quality, then there should not be a reaction. However, it is sometimes very difficult to tell how good a quality of silicone is used without contacting the manufacturer.

The other problem is some sex toys that do not claim to be made from silicone, actually do have silicone content in them, mixed in with other ingredients. The silicone used in these blends is usually not as high of quality as the silicone used in, for instance, Tantus sex toys. Sex toys made from a ‘Jelly’ material are a big culprit for silicone blends, and also ‘Realistic-Feel’ materials, such as Cyberskin or UR3 often have silicone content in them. I do not advise to use silicone lubricant with ‘Jelly’ or ‘Realistic-Feel’ toys at all.

One way to find out if your sex toy is 100% silicone is to give it a sniff. Silicone is odourless, so toys that carry a chemical smell are very likely not to be made from pure, high grade silicone and mixed in with something called phthalates which are used to make sex toys more flexible. However, many ‘realistic-feel’ materials also do not carry a smell, and the sniff test does not tell you the quality of the silicone, but rather the quantity, so be cautious.

Quality Of Lubricant

The lubricant's silicone quality is equally as important. The general rule (though not exclusive) is that a high quality silicone lubricant will only contain 3 or 4 ingredients. Silicone lubricants can be made up of any of the following four types of silicone and can be found in the ingredients list.  Some may just use one silicone ingredient, while others (and usually the higher quality ones) use more than one from this list:

Dimethicone (a silicone oil)
Dimethiconol (a silicone-based polymer emollient)
Cyclopentasiloxane (a silicone-based cyclic compound)
Cyclotetrasiloxane (silicone-based compounds)

For instance, Pjur Bodyglide Original Silicone Lubricant only contains 3 ingredients, all of them silicone-based - Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimenthicone and Dimethiconol.

But things get a little trickier when some lubricants that claim to be "water-based" also contain an amount of silicone as well! Liquid Silk is a 'water-based' lubricant that contains 2% silicone amongst its whopping 18 ingredients, yet somehow, many seem to think it is perfectly safe to use with silicone sex toys. However, after doing some reading, I have discovered that Liquid Silk and other 'Hybrid' lubricants can (and have) reacted and bonded to some silicone sex toys, but not all of them, which leads me to think that the culprit could be the silicone quality of the toy, rather than the lube. But I could be wrong.

Toys that are Safe to Use with Good Quality Silicone Lubricant

As well as Tantus Silicone Sex Toys being compatible with Pjur Silicone lubricants, I can tell you that research has also been done by Standard Innovation (the company who makes the We-Vibes). They discovered through their 3 month long tests that the We-Vibe II, We-Vibe 3 and Touch by We-Vibe are all safe to use with the following Pjur Lubricants:

Pjur med Premium Glide, Pjur Original Bodyglide, Pjur Woman Bodyglide and Pjur Woman Toy Lube

Whether the other silicone lubricants from Pjur (and other brands) are compatible with Standard Innovation sex toys remains untested. But the recently released We-Vibe Thrill, is made from the same high grade silicone as the We-Vibe II and We-Vibe 3, and so it should be compatible with the lubricants listed above.

With regard to masturbators for men, the different materials used are vast. However, I can tell you that Fleshlight male sex toys are all made from 'Realistic-Feel' material. Most TENGA sex toy products (including Tenga Eggs and Onacups) are also made from 'Realistic-Feel' material These should not be used with silicone lubricant.

But specifically TENGA Flip Hole male sex toys are all made from silicone. Though I cannot say if the silicone quality in the TENGA Flip Holes are good enough to use silicone lubricant with.

 

The Test Patch

If you wish to find out if a sex toy is safe to use with a silicone lubricant, then you can do a small test patch by adding a dab of lube on to the toy. I suggest testing on the base of a dildo, or the outer-side of a masturbator sleeve, where it won’t be so problematic if there is a reaction. If there is a reaction, it will happen immediately. The only way to separate silicone lubricant from a toy if it begins to bond is to scrape it off as just rinsing is not enough. If there is no reaction and the lubricant stays slick, then it should be safe to use that particular silicone lubricant with that particular toy. But please note that it may not be safe to use that particular toy with other silicone lubricants, or using that particular lubricant with other sex toys.

To put it bluntly, do the test patch at your own risk. Be prepared for any fusing, sticky mess that may occur from a reaction.

 I hold no responsibility for any reactions or damage that occurs from testing products yourself.

 

More Silicone Advice

I still advise to use only water-based lubricants with any sex toys you are not 100% sure of the silicone content, and I will continue to only use water-based lubricants with my personal sex toys.

Silicone lubricant is perfectly safe to use with latex and condoms though. It is known that silicone will only stick to silicone, so using it with other non-silicone products should be absolutely fine.

I should also note here that any silicone sex toys, or sex toys you are unsure of the silicone content should be stored separately so that they are not touching each other and so reduce the chance of them reacting with each other. I always keep my silicone and ‘soft-feel’ toys wrapped up individually in some fabric when they are stored in my toy box.