Body-Safe Sex Toy Materials: What to Buy & What to Avoid

The short version: silicone, glass, borosilicate, stainless steel, ceramic and ABS plastic are non-porous. They can be properly cleaned, they don’t degrade, and they’re the materials to buy when you want something that lasts. Anything sold as jelly, rubber, vinyl or PVC is porous — which doesn’t make it unusable, but it does change how you should use it.

Why this is your call and not a regulator’s

Sex toys aren’t regulated the way anything else you put on or in your body is. They’re sold as “adult novelties,” and that classification means no FDA oversight and no industry-wide material standard. A 2006 Danish study — and the American testing that followed it — found phthalates, PVC and polystyrene in some of the most popular toys on the market, at a time when nobody was required to disclose any of it.

That loophole hasn’t closed. It’s why the material matters more here than it would in almost any other purchase, and why we’d rather tell you plainly what something is made of than let a product photo do the talking.

The three tiers

Non-porous — silicone, glass, steel, ceramic, ABS

These have a sealed surface. Nothing soaks in, so they can be genuinely cleaned rather than just wiped down, and they can be shared between partners once they’re washed. Silicone warms to body temperature quickly and holds that heat. Glass and steel do the opposite and can be warmed or cooled deliberately. All of them last for years rather than seasons.

One thing worth checking even here: if you have a latex allergy, confirm the toy is latex-free. Some blends combine the two.

TPE and TPR — the middle ground

Thermoplastic elastomers are softer and more affordable than silicone, and they’re a genuine step up from old-style jelly. They’re also slightly porous. Treat them as personal items, keep them clean and dry, and replace them when the surface starts to change. Plenty of very good strokers and sleeves are made this way, because the softness is the point.

Porous — jelly, rubber, vinyl, PVC

Porous materials have microscopic openings that hold moisture and bacteria. You cannot fully sterilise them, and no amount of scrubbing changes that. They’re also the materials most associated with a strong chemical smell — that smell is usually the softeners used to make PVC flexible.

This does not mean throw them out. It means using them differently: keep a porous toy as your own rather than sharing it, or cover it with a condom and change the condom when you change partners or orifices. Wash it after every use and let it dry completely. Used that way, a porous toy is a reasonable thing to own — and it’s often what makes a shape or a price point possible at all.

How to spot a problem before you buy

A strong chemical or “new shower curtain” smell. The most reliable warning sign there is. Body-safe silicone is close to odourless.
Vague material claims. “Body-safe material” with no name attached tells you nothing. “100% silicone” tells you something.
A price that doesn’t add up. Real silicone costs more to mould than jelly does. A large, very cheap, very soft toy is rarely silicone.
A surface that turns tacky or weeps. That’s a material breaking down, and it’s a reason to retire the toy.

Cleaning, honestly

Non-porous toys wash in hot water with a mild soap between every use. Silicone without a motor or battery pack can be boiled for around three minutes, or run on the top rack of a dishwasher. Glass and steel take the same treatment. Let everything air dry fully before it goes away.

Two caveats worth knowing rather than glossing over. First, “sterilised” is a strong word — research on HPV has found the virus can survive on silicone for up to 24 hours even after a thorough soap-and-water wash, which is a good argument for condoms on shared toys regardless of material. Second, toy cleaners are themselves unregulated; a mild soap and hot water does the same job as most of them, and you know what’s in it.

What we do about it

Every product on this site carries a Phareros Score, and material is one of the largest inputs. Silicone, glass, steel, ceramic and ABS score at the top. TPE and TPR score in the middle. Jelly, rubber, vinyl and PVC score at the bottom — and we label them Porous rather than “unsafe”, because that’s the accurate word and because how you use something matters more than a scare label.

Where we’ll be straight with you: we can stand behind the material on about 4,100 products — either because the supplier stated it, or because it was confirmed when we scored the item. Around another 1,000 are identified as TPE/TPR or porous. For the rest of the catalogue the supplier hasn’t given us a material we’re willing to state as fact, so we don’t. A missing material chip means we don’t know — not that it passed.

If a product’s material matters to you and the page doesn’t say, ask us. We’d rather answer than guess in public.

Body-safe, in stock, highest scoring

Material confirmed non-porous. Ordered by Phareros Score.

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This article is general educational information, not medical advice. Everyone's body is different — if you have pain, a health condition, or specific concerns, please talk to a qualified healthcare provider.

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