Q: Recently I have been working on expanding my collection of toys, and I’m getting a little confused about types of toys and materials, and types of lubes, and which don’t go together. I really like the feel of silicone lube, and I really like the feel of silicone toys, but from what I understand the two don’t mix at the risk of the toy degrading. Is that the case? What happens when the two mix?
Are there any other suitable lubes that have the same texture, or perhaps any other materials for toys that are safe to use with silicone lubes? I know to stay away from the cheapo gummy type toys (what are those made of anyway?) but what about rubber, acrylic, etc?
Are oil based lubes safe to use in general? I don’t see them too often so it seems a little sketchy. You always hear about people using Vaseline and whatnot, but I’m not really sure I want that inside me!
A: Really high quality silicone toys and really high quality silicone lubes can be okay together, but you’ll want to do a patch test on the base first to make sure they don’t interact. What basically happens is that the two bond together and your silicone toy will get a kind of sticky feel to it that will not wash off. Companies that may have high enough quality silicone include Tantus (not including toys made from O2) and Vixen Creations (not including toys made from Vix Skin). And you’ll want to look for silicone lube that has Dimethicone first in it’s list of ingredients. I recommend Gun Oil.
Silicone lube is really not going to feel much like any water based lube since the two are really quite different from each other. However, if I had to pick, I’d say that Liquid Silk would be the closest you could probably get to silicone lube while still being water based. That being said, it’s still not much like it at all. You’re not really going to get that feeling with a water-based lube.
As you touched on a bit, you may be able to get that feeling from an oil-based lube. However, you are correct in your assessment that they are a bit sketchy. Oil-based lubes should only be used for male masturbation. They can really screw with the balance of a woman’s vagina.
Materials that are okay to use with silicone lubes include glass, metals, ceramic, stone, wood, elastomer, and hard plastics. They just can’t be used with silicone, cyberskin, and anything that you’re not really sure what it’s made out of (like that jelly grossness you mentioned).
If you really want to use your (not super superior) silicone toys and silicone lube together I recommend using a non-lubricated condom. Most condoms are actually pre-lubricated with silicone lube which is why you’d have to use a non-lubricated condom and then only lube up the outside of the condom.
